Muroran Main Line

Muroran line map

"Super Hokuto" limited express train.

Muroran Station

The Muroran Main Line (室蘭本線, Muroran Honsen^?) is a railway line in Hokkaidō operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), between Oshamambe Station in Oshamambe and Iwamizawa Station in Iwamizawa, running through the coast of Iburi Subprefecture. There also is a branch line within Muroran, between Higashi-muroran and Muroran Station.

The 28.7 km (17.8 mi.) section between Shiraoi and Numanohata is the longest straight railway section in Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Basic Data

• Operators, distances
  • Hokkaido Railway Company (Services and tracks)
    • From Oshamambe to Iwamizawa: 211.0 km
    • From Higashi-Muroran to Muroran: 7.0 km
  • Japan Freight Railway Company (Services)
    • From Oshamambe to Iwamizawa: 211.0 km
• Stations: 47, including 1 freight terminal and 1 signal box
• Gauge: 1067 mm
• Track:
  • Double: 176.7 km
    • From Oshamambe to Tōya: 41.5 km
    • From Usu to Nagawa: 4.9 km
    • From Mareppu to Mikawa: 118.2 km
    • From Muroran to Higashi-Muroran: 7.0 km
  • Single: the remainder
• Electric supply:
  • From Muroran to Numanohata: 74.9 km (20,000 V AC)
  • Other sections are not electrified.
• Block system: Automatic

History

In 1892, Hokkaido Colliery Railway (北海道炭砿鉄道, Hokkaidō Tankō Tetsudō^?) opened the line from Muroran (now Higashi-muroran) to Iwamizawa. The line was built to link coal mines in inland and Muroran Port. The line extended to the current Muroran in 1897.

The section between Oshamambe and Higashi-Muroan, on the other hand, was built as Osawa Line (長輪線, Osawa-sen^?) by Imperial Japanese Government Railways (官設鉄道, Kansetsu Tetsudō^?), which later becomes Japanese National Railways. The line was built to bypass the mountainous section of Hakodate Main Line, as well as to link the inland Iburi and Muroran Port. Osawa line completed in 1928. The two lines were merged into one in 1931, renamed as Muroran Main Line.

Historically, the line mainly functioned as a freight line. However, from 1960s, the line's primary function shifted to a passenger service. Currently, all the intercity express trains between Sapporo and Hakodate run this "bypass" route, not the northbound Hakodate Main Line route.

Services

The section between Oshamambe and Numanohata is the part of the main link route between Sapporo and Hakodate. As such, the limited express trains Super Hokuto and Hokuto run between two cities once per 1 to 2 hours, as well as Suzuran between Sapporo and Muroran.

There also are sleeper trains between Honshu and Hokkaido, such as Hokutosei, Cassiopeia, Twilight Express, and Hamanasu.

As for the local service, the line is roughly divided into four sections, namely the section between Oshamambe and Higashi-Muroran, between Higashi-Muroran and Muroran, between Higashi-Muroran and Tomakomai, and between Tomakomai and Iwamizawa. The last section was once an important freight route, but became a quiet local line after coal mines closed.

Stations

Station			Distance (km)	Transfers	Location
Main Line
H47	Oshamambe	長万部	0.0	■ Hakodate Main Line	Oshamambe, Yamakoshi
H46	Shizukari	静狩	10.6
H45	Koboro	小幌	17.5		Toyoura, Abuta
H44	Rebun	礼文	23.6
H43	Ōkishi	大岸	27.7
H42	Toyoura	豊浦	36.1
H41	Tōya	洞爺	41.5		Tōyako, Abuta
H40	Usu	有珠	46.6		Date
H39	Nagawa	長和	51.5
H38	Date-Mombetsu	伊達紋別	54.5
H37	Kita-Funaoka	北舟岡	57.4
H36	Mareppu	稀府	60.6
H35	Kogane	黄金	65.1
H34	Sakimori	崎守	67.3		Muroran
	Jinyamachi Freight Terminal	陣屋町(貨)	69.7
H33	Moto-Wanishi	本輪西	72.7
H32	Higashi-Muroran	東室蘭	77.2	■ Muroran Main Line (Branch Line)
	Higashi-Muroran Freight Terminal	東室蘭(貨)	78.2
H31	Washibetsu	鷲別	79.1		Noboribetsu
H30	Horobetsu	幌別	86.8
H29	Tomiura	富浦	92.3
H28	Noboribetsu	登別	94.7
H27	Kojōhama	虎杖浜	98.1		Shiraoi, Shiraoi
H26	Takeura	竹浦	102.9
H25	Kita-yoshihara	北吉原	105.7
H24	Hagino	萩野	107.8
H23	Shiraoi	白老	113.6
H22	Shadai	社台	119.1
H21	Nishikioka	錦岡	125.4		Tomakomai
H20	Itoi	糸井	130.6
H19	Aoba	青葉	132.8
H18	Tomakomai	苫小牧	135.2	Hidaka Main Line
	Tomakomai Freight Terminal	苫小牧(貨)	138.6
H17	Numanohata	沼ノ端	144.0	■ Chitose Line
	Toasa	遠浅	152.9		Abira, Yūfutsu
	Hayakita	早来	158.3
	Abira	安平	164.0
K15	Oiwake	追分	170.8	■ Sekishō Line
	Mikawa	三川	178.8		Yuni, Yūbari
	Furusan	古山	182.2
	Yuni	由仁	186.4
	Kuriyama	栗山	191.5		Kuriyama, Yūbari
	Kurioka	栗丘	195.7		Iwamizawa
	Kurisawa	栗沢	199.6
	Shibun	志文	203.9
A13	Iwamizawa	岩見沢	211.0	■ Hakodate Main Line
Branch Line
H32	Higashi-Muroran	東室蘭	0.0	■ Muroran Main Line (Main Line)	Muroran
M33	Wanishi	輪西	2.3
M34	Misaki	御崎	4.2
M35	Bokoi	母恋	5.9
M36	Muroran	室蘭	7.0

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

External links

• JR Hokkaido official website (Japanese)
• JR Hokkaido official website (English)