Ban'etsu West Line

Banetsu West Line
719 series EMU at Kōriyama Station, March 2008
Overview
Native name	磐越西線
Type	Regional rail
Locale	Fukushima, Niigata prefectures
Termini	Kōriyama Niitsu
Stations	44
Operation
Opened	1898
Operator(s)	JR East
Technical
Line length	175.6 km (109.1 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20 kV AC, 50 Hz overhead catenary (Kōriyama – Kitakata)
Operating speed	100 km/h (60 mph)
Route map

The Banetsu West Line (磐越西線, Ban'etsu-sai-sen) is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama, Fukushima and Niitsu Station in Niigata, Niigata. The name "Banetsu" is taken from the first characters of the names of the ancient provinces of Iwaki (磐城) and Echigo (越後), which the Banetsu East and Banetsu West lines connect. "Sai" (西) means "west" in Japanese.

The line's nickname is the Mori to Mizu to Roman no Tetsudō (森と水とロマンの鉄道, lit. "the water, forest, and nostalgia railway").

Station list

• Local trains generally stop at all stations, but some trains skip stations marked "▽".
• The column marked "*" refers to the unnamed rapid service between Kōriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu/Kitakata using 719 series EMUs.
• Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇", "∨", or "∧"; stations marked "◆" are switchback stations. Trains cannot pass at stations marked "｜".

Rolling stock

As of October 2016, the following rolling stock is used on the Banetsu West Line.

Kōriyama—Kitakata

• 719 series EMUs (since June 2007)

From 25 April 2015, a two-car 719 series set entered service on FruiTea (フルーティア) services on the line between Koriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu. The train accommodates 36 passengers.^[1]

• 

  A Banetsu West Line 719 series EMU, January 2008

• 

  The 719-700 series FruiTea trainset, April 2015

Aizu-Wakamatsu—Niitsu

• KiHa 40/47/48 DMUs
• KiHa 110 series DMUs
• KiHa E120 DMUs (since November 2008)

• 

  KiHa 40/47/48 series

• 

  KiHa 40/47/48 series

• 

  SL "Banetsu Monogatari"

On May 15, 2015, JR East announced that it was placing an order for new diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains to be introduced from fiscal 2017.^[2]

Past

• 455 series EMUs (from 1967 until March 2008)
• 485 series EMUs (Aizu Liner rapid services)
• KiHa 52 DMUs (until 2009)
• KiHa 58 DMUs (until 2009)

• 

  A Banetsu West Line 455 series EMU in December 2006

• 

  485 series Aizu Liner rapid service at Koriyama Station, March 2012

History

The Banetsu West Line was planned under the Railway Construction Act in 1892, and the private Ganetsu Railway opened the initial section from Kōriyama to Nakayamajuku on July 26, 1898, and extended the line to Aizu-Wakamatsu the following year. In 1906, when the line was extended to Kitakata, the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) nationalized the Ganetsu Railway and renamed the line the Ganetsu Line.

In 1910 the JGR opened the Niitsu - Maoroshi section and extended the eastern section to Yamato. The remaining sections were opened in 1913 and 1914, providing the first rail link from Niigata to the east coast of Japan (and Tokyo). The line was renamed the Banetsu West Line in 1917, the year that the Matsuno tunnel (situated west of Kitakata) collapsed, blocking the line for 15 months, during which time a cableway operated to transfer freight and passengers walked around the blocked section. The reopened section permanently bypassed the tunnel.

Japanese National Railways (JNR) started to modernize the line in the 1960s, introducing the line's first limited express service (as a part of the Yamagata-bound Yamabata) in 1965 between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Aizu-Wakamatsu via the Tōhoku Main Line. In 1968 the train was renamed Aizu Yamabata, but from 1993 onward it was renamed Viva Aizu and ran only between Koriyama and Aizu-Wakamatsu. The train was finally discontinued as a limited express service in 2003.

In 1967, JNR electrified the section between Kōriyama and Kitakata at 20 kV AC.

In 2011 the line was closed for 15 days in March following the Tohoku earthquake, two days in April as a result of aftershocks, and for 10 weeks following torrential rain at the end of July.

Future developments

A new station, called Kōriyama-Tomita, is scheduled to be built between and Kōriyama and Kikuta stations. The new station will be unstaffed, and is scheduled to open in spring 2017.^[3]

See also

• Aizu Liner
• Banetsu Monogatari

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ban'etsu West Line.

• FruiTea Fukushima - JR East
• SL Banetsu Monogatari - JR East

Transit in Niigata Prefecture
JR East	Jōetsu Shinkansen ■Ban'etsu West Line ■Echigo Line ■Hakushin Line ■Iiyama Line ■Jōetsu Line ■Shin'etsu Main Line ■Tadami Line ■Uetsu Main Line ■Yahiko Line ■Yonesaka Line
JR West	Hokuriku Shinkansen ■Ōito Line
Echigo Tokimeki Railway	■Myōkō Haneuma Line (former Shin'etsu Main Line) ■Nihonkai Hisui Line (former Hokuriku Main Line)
Hokuetsu Express	■Hokuhoku Line
Named trains	Inaho Shirayuki Banetsu Monogatari Koshino Shu*Kura Kirakira Uetsu Oykot Genbi Shinkansen Setsugekka
Bus	Bandai-bashi Line Niigata City Loop Bus Niigata Kotsu Echigo Kotsu(ja) Kubiki Mortor(ja)
Public ferries	Sado Steam Ship Awashima-Line(ja) Shin Nihonkai Ferry
Misc	Niigata Station Cards Suica Ryuto Niigata Airport
Japan transit: Tokyo Osaka Nagoya Fukuoka Hakone Fuji Izu Hokkaido Sendai Niigata Toyama Nagano Okayama Hiroshima Shikoku Metro systems Shinkansen trams (list) aerial lifts (list)

JR East lines
Shinkansen	Hokuriku Jōetsu Tōhoku Akita Yamagata
Main	Chūō Ōu Shin'etsu Sōbu Tōhoku Tōkaidō Uetsu
Local	Agatsuma Aterazawa Ban'etsu East Ban'etsu West Echigo Gonō Hachikō Hachinohe Hakushin Hanawa Iiyama Ishinomaki Itō Itsukaichi Jōban Jōetsu Kamaishi Karasuyama Kashima Kawagoe Keiyō Kesennuma Kitakami Koumi Kururi Mito Musashino Nambu Narita Negishi Nikkō Ōfunato Oga Ōito Ōme Ōminato Rikuu East Rikuu West Ryōmō Sagami Senseki Senzan Shinonoi Sotobō Suigun Tadami Takasaki Tazawako Tōgane Tsugaru Tsurumi Uchibō Utsunomiya Yahiko Yamada Yamanote Yokohama Yokosuka Yonesaka
Others	Chūō Rapid Chūō-Sōbu Gala-Yuzawa Keihin-Tōhoku Saikyō (incl. Akabane) Senseki-Tōhoku Shōnan-Shinjuku Sōbu Rapid Ueno-Tōkyō
Past	Aizu Ashio Iwaizumi Kihara Marumori Mōka Nagai Shin'etsu Main (Shinano / Echigo Tokimeki) Tōhoku Main (Aoimori / Iwate Galaxy)