Sōya (train)

The Sōya (宗谷) is a limited express train service between Sapporo and Wakkanai in Hokkaido, which is operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). It was named Super Sōya (スーパー宗谷) between 2000 and 2017.

Service pattern
There is only one single daily return working per direction, with an average journey time between Sapporo and Wakkanai lasting approximately 5 hours 10 minutes. Trains operate at a maximum speed of 120 km/h.

The train operates over the same route as the Sarobetsu, which operates between Asahikawa and Wakkanai.

Station stops
The service calls at the following stations:

Sapporo – Iwamizawa – (Bibai) – (Sunagawa) – Takikawa – Fukagawa – Asahikawa – Wassamu – Shibetsu – Nayoro – Bifuka – Otoineppu – Teshio-Nakagawa – Horonobe – Toyotomi – Minami-Wakkanai – Wakkanai

The stations in the are only served by the northbound service.

Rolling stock
Services are normally formed of 4-car KiHa 261 series DMUs, which were introduced from the start of services on 11 March 2000, with car 1 at the Wakkanai end. Car 1 consists of both ordinary-class seats and the Green Car, while the other cars are ordinary-class cars. All cars are no-smoking. These are lengthened to 6 cars during busy seasons.