Tsugaru Line

The Tsugaru Line (津軽線) is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Aomori Station and Minmaya Station on the Tsugaru Peninsula in western Aomori Prefecture.

The section of the line between Aomori Station and Naka-Oguni Station is a part of the Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line connecting Honshu and Hokkaido.

History
Plans existed to link the prefectural capital of Aomori with the northern tip of the Tsugaru Peninsula from the time of the Meiji period Railway Construction Act. In 1930, the privately held Tsugaru Railway began operations on the western side of Tsugaru Peninsula, and surveying work was completed by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) to build a government-operated line on the eastern side of Tsugaru Peninsula. These plans were postponed by the outbreak of World War II, and were only resumed in the 1950s under the Japanese National Railways (JNR).

On December 5, 1951, the first segment of the Tsugaru Line was completed from Aomori to Kanita. This was extended by October 21, 1958 to the present northern terminus at Minmaya. Additional intermediate stations were added in 1959 and 1960.

All scheduled freight operations were suspended on December 10, 1984. With the privatization of the JNR on April 1, 1987, the line came under the operational control of JR East. From March 13, 1988, the tracks between Aomori Station and the Shin Naka-Oguni Signal Base are jointly used by JR East, JR Hokkaido's Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line, and Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight).

In 1988 the Aomori–Shin–Naka-Oguni Base section was electrified in conjunction with the opening of the Seikan Tunnel and associated Tsugaru-Kaikyō Line.

After the section between Kanita and Mimyama was washed away in heavy rainfall in 2022, JR East and the town of Sotogahama closed the section indefinitely. The affected town of Imabetsu agreed to transition access to bus service in May 2024.

Closed section
The portion from Aomori and Naka-Oguni is electrified.

Present

 * 701 series
 * GV-E400 series

Former

 * 485 series
 * E751 series
 * 789 series
 * KiHa 22 series
 * KiHa 40/48 series