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Hitahikosan Line
Overview
Native name	日田彦山線
Status	In operation (as a railway between Jōno and Soeda) (as a bus route between Soeda and Yoake)
Owner	JR Kyushu
Locale	Kyushu
Termini	Jōno Yoake
Stations	23
Service
Type	Regional rail
Operator(s)	JR Kyushu
Rolling stock	KiHa 40 series DMU
History
Opened	1899
Technical
Line length	68.7 km (42.7 mi)
Number of tracks	Entire line single tracked
Character	Mostly rural with a few urban areas
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	85 km/h (53 mph)
Route map

The Hitahikosan Line (日田彦山線, Hitahikosan-sen) is a railway line in Japan, operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects Jōno Station in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture with Yoake Station in Hita, Ōita Prefecture and features the 4380 m Shakadake Tunnel between Chikuzen Iwaya and Hikosan station, where a fatal tunnel collapse occurred during construction in 1953, killing 21 construction workers. The line is named after Hita and Mount Hiko.

The bus rapid transit portion of the line is referred to as the BRT Hikoboshi Line (ＢＲＴひこぼしライン, BRT Hikoboshi Rain).

Stations

●: Stops, ｜: non-stop

History

On 1 April 1960, the Hitahikosan Line was formed by a merger of the following lines:

• Main line
  • Jōno – Kawara and Soeda – Yoake sections of the Hita Line (the remaining Kawara – Soeda section became the Soeda Line)
  • Kawara – Ita branch of the Hita Line
  • Ita – Soeda section of the Tagawa Line (the Yukuhashi – Kawara section remained as the Tagawa Line)
• Branches
  • Ishida – Higashi-Kokura freight branch of the Hita Line
  • Buszen-Kawasaki – Daiichi-Ōtō freight branch of the Tagawa Line
  • Buszen-Kawasaki – Daini-Ōtō freight branch of the Tagawa Line

All the branches were abolished in 1962, 1974 and 1970 respectively. In 1987, the Japanese National Railways was privatized and the line was succeeded by JR Kyushu.

Construction

The Hōshū Railway opened the Tagawa-Ita - Buzen Kawasaki section as part of the Tagawa Line in 1899. That company merged with the Kyushu Railway Company in 1901, which extended the line to Soeda in 1903. The company was nationalised in 1907.

The Jono - Tagawa-Ita section was opened in 1915 by the Kokura Railway Co., that company being nationalised in 1943. The Soeda - Daigyoji section opened between 1937 and 1946, and the Daigyoji - Yoake section opened in 1956.

CTC signalling was introduced on the entire line in 1984. Freight service ceased beyond Tagawa-Gotōji in 1986, and totally in 1999.

Typhoon damage

On 5 July 2017, torrential rainfall resulted in the closure of the section of the line between Soeda and Yoake. The damage was severe and included the destruction of several bridges and parts of the track being washed away. The line remained disconnected as of the start of 2020. On 12 February 2020, it was proposed by JR Kyushu to not restore the rail service, due to low passenger use and high maintenance costs, and permanently replace it with bus rapid transit (BRT). On 16 July, JR Kyushu formally announced plans to convert this section of the line to a BRT service.

The BRT route opened on 28 August 2020 under the name Hikoboshi Line. With the opening of the line, the number of stations along the route increased from 12 to 36, although travel times roughly doubled. Following the partial conversion of JR East's Ōfunato Line and Kesennuma Line in the Tōhoku region, the line is Japan's third rail service to be converted to BRT.

Former connecting lines

Buzen Kawasaki Station: The 26 km Kamiyamada Line opened from Iizuka (on the Chikuho Main Line) to Shimoyamada in 1898, extended to Kamiyamada in 1929 and to Buzen Kawasaki (as a passenger-only section) in 1966. Freight services ceased in 1980, and the line closed in 1988. This line had two connections:

• A 2 km 3 ft (914 mm) gauge line from Okuma (16 km from Buzen Kawasaki) - Okumamachi operated between 1924 and 1933.
• The 8 km Urushio line from Shimokamoo (14 km from Buzen Kawasaki) - Shimayamada (connecting to the Gotoji Line) opened in 1943, and closed in 1986.

Soeda station - The Kokura Railway Co. opened a line to Ipponmatsu in 1915. The line was nationalised in 1943 and closed in 1985.

References

1. ^ Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory – JNR/JR] (in Japanese). Vol. I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 230, 231. ISBN 4-533-02980-9.
2. "一部不通の日田彦山線 Jr九州が新たな「Brt復旧案」提示 九州北部豪雨で被災". 12 February 2020.
3. "日田彦山線、BRT復旧で正式合意 8月に着工". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
4. "JR日田彦山線「BRT」新路線 ８月２８日開業で調整" [Hitahikosan BRT line revised to open on 28 August 2023]. Nihon Keizai Shimbun WEB. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
5. "Southwest Japan railway hit by rain disaster reborn as pioneering bus service". Mainichi Daily News. 2023-09-15. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
6. "JR Hitahikosan Line "BRT" Restoration Plans Means More Stations". Fukuoka Now. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
7. "【BRTひこぼしライン開業記念】ラッピングトレインが運行されます！". 福岡県田川市 (in Japanese). 2024-01-19. Retrieved 2024-12-14.

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Misplaced Pages.

v t e Transit in Fukuoka–Kitakyushu
Shinkansen	Kyushu San'yo Hakataminami
JR Kyushu	Chikuhi Chikuhō Main Wakamatsu Fukuhoku Yutaka Haruda Gotōji Hitahikosan Kagoshima Main Karatsu Kashii Nippō Sasaguri
Fukuoka City Subway	Kūkō Hakozaki Nanakuma
Nishitetsu	Amagi Dazaifu Kaizuka Tenjin Ōmuta
Other railways	Kitakyushu Monorail Amatetsu Amagi Chikutetsu Heichiku Ita Itoda Tagawa Mojikō Retro Scenic
Terminals	Rail Hakata Kashii Kokura Kurosaki Nakasu-Kawabata Nishitetsu Fukuoka Orio Tenjin Tenjin-Minami Airports Kitakyushu Airport Fukuoka Airport Saga Airport Kokura Airport Ports Kokura Hakata Shimonoseki
Ferry	Kanmon Straits Ferry Suonada Ferry Camelia Line Pukwan Ferry Beetle Fast Ferry Kobee Ferry
Miscellaneous	Sarakurayama Cable Car Cards Hayakaken nimoca SUGOCA List of ferry operators in Japan Rail transport in Japan
Japan transit: Tokyo Keihanshin Chūkyō Fukuoka–Kitakyushu Hakone–Fuji–Izu Hokkaido Aomori Sendai Akita Niigata Toyama Nagano Okayama Hiroshima Shikoku Metro systems Shinkansen trams (list) aerial lifts (list)

v t e JR Kyushu lines
Shinkansen	Kyushu Nishi Kyushu
Main	Chikuhō Hōhi Kagoshima Kyūdai Nagasaki Nippō San'yō
Local	Chikuhi Gotōji Hisatsu Hitahikosan Ibusuki Makurazaki Karatsu Kashii Kitto Misumi Miyazaki Airport Nichinan Ōmura Sasaguri Sasebo
Others	Fukuhoku Yutaka
Past	Amagi Ita Itoda Kagoshima Main (Hisatsu Orange) Kamiyamada Matsuura Miyada Ōsumi Shibushi Tagawa Takachiho Takamori Yamano Yunomae

• Lines of Kyushu Railway Company
• Rail transport in Fukuoka Prefecture
• Rail transport in Ōita Prefecture
• Railway lines opened in 1899
• 1899 establishments in Japan
• Bus rapid transit in Japan