Hachinohe Line

The Hachinohe Line (八戸線) is a railway line in the Tohoku Region of Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It links Hachinohe Station in Hachinohe, Aomori with Kuji Station in Kuji, Iwate. The line stretches 64.9 km along the Pacific Ocean coast with a total of 25 stations. The section between Hachinohe and Same stations is also known as the Umineko Rail Hachinohe-Shinai Line (うみねこレール八戸市内線).

Stations

 * Legend
 * ◇, ∨, ∧ - Trains can pass each other at this station
 * ｜ - Trains cannot pass

Rolling stock
New KiHa E130-500 series diesel multiple unit trains were introduced on the Hachinohe Line from 2 December 2017, displacing the ageing KiHa 40 series DMUs. All services on the line will be operated by KiHa E130-500 series DMUs from the start of the revised timetable on 17 March 2018.

The fleet consists of six two-car units and six single-car units.

History
In 1894, a spur line connecting Shiriuchi (now Hachinohe) on the Tohoku Main Line with Hachinohe (now Hon-Hachinohe was completed. This line was soon extended south to the now-defunct Minato Station. After the nationalization of the Nippon Railway in 1907, the spur line was renamed the Hachinohe Line in 1909. From 1924, the line's name was written with its current characters, and the southern terminus of the line was extended to Taneichi in Iwate Prefecture. The following year it reached Rikuchū-Yagi, and in 1930 it reached its present southern terminus of Kuji where it connected to the Sanriku Railway Kita-Rias Line, which links Kuji with Miyako in southern Iwate. Freight operations were phased out at most stations between 1982 and 1986.

With the privatization of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987, the Hachinohe Line came under the control of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), with remaining freight operations transferred to the Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) at Hachinohe Freight Terminal.

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The line was damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and services were suspended on the section between Taneichi and Kuji, with a number of vehicles trapped at Kuji Station. Services over the entire line resumed on March 17, 2012.