Ōito Line

The Ōito Line (大糸線, Ōito-sen) is a railway line in Japan which connects Matsumoto Station in Nagano Prefecture with Itoigawa Station in Niigata Prefecture. There are two operators on the line: East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Minami-Otari is the boundary for the two companies. The section of the line operated by JR East, between Minami-Otari and Matsumoto, is electrified and trains are fairly regular along this section. The JR West section from Minami-Otari to Itoigawa, however, is not electrified and sees less use. Trains operate less frequently along this section.

Ōito Line
A JR East E127 series EMU on the Oito Line in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture
Overview
Native name	大糸線
Status	In operation
Owner	JR East, JR West
Locale	Nagano, Niigata Prefectures
Termini	Matsumoto Itoigawa
Stations	41
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	JR East, JR West
Rolling stock	E127 series EMU, 211 series EMU, E353 series EMU, KiHa 120 series DMU
History
Opened	1915
Technical
Line length	105.4 km (65.5 mi)
Number of tracks	Entire line single tracked
Character	Rural and scenic
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC (Matsumoto - Minami-Otari) None (Minami-Otari - Itoigawa)
Operating speed	95 km/h (59 mph)
Route map 0.0 Matsumoto (Shinonoi); Alpico Kōtsū (Kamikōchi) 0.7 Kita-Matsumoto 2.6 Shimauchi 3.8 Shimatakamatsu 5.2 Azusabashi 6.8 Hitoichiba 8.4 Nakagaya 10.4 Minami-Toyoshina 11.4 Toyoshina 14.2 Hakuyachō 16.2 Hotaka 18.4 Ariake 19.9 Azumi-Oiwake 22.8 Hosono 23.8 Kita-Hosono 26.0 Shinano-Matsukawa 28.6 Azumi-Kutsukake 30.9 Shinano-Tokiwa 34.0 Minami-Ōmachi 35.1 Shinano-Ōmachi 37.2 Kita-Ōmachi 39.4 Shinano-Kizaki 41.6 Inao 42.9 Uminokuchi 46.3 Yanaba 47.9 Yanabaskijōmae (defunct) 52.8 Minami-Kamishiro 55.2 Kamishiro 56.7 Iimori 59.7 Hakuba 61.6 Shinano-Moriue 65.4 Hakuba-Ōike 68.7 Chikuni 70.1 Minami-Otari JR East JR West 74.1 Nakatsuchi 78.5 Kita-Otari 85.0 Hiraiwa 91.8 Kotaki 95.4 Nechi 100.3 Kubiki-Ōno 102.2 Himekawa 105.4 Itoigawa

Route data

• Operators, services:
  • East Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks)
    • Matsumoto — Minami-Otari: 70.1 km
  • West Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks)
    • Minami-Otari — Itoigawa: 35.3 km
• Stations:
  • JR East: 34
  • JR West: 8 including Itoigawa, excluding Minami-Otari
• Double-tracked section: None
• Electrification: Matsumoto — Minami-Otari (1,500 V DC)
  Minami-Otari — Itoigawa (None)
• Railway signalling:
  • Matsumoto — Itoigawa: Automatic Train Stop, S-type

Services

JR East section

Limited express, Rapid

As of March 2017, the following services are operated.

Name	Through from/to	Start	End	Service frequency (daily)
Limited Express Azusa	Chiba/Shinjuku	Matsumoto	Minami-Otari	1 return trip
	Shinjuku		Hakuba	seasonal
Rapid	Kami-Suwa	Matsumoto	Shinano-Ōmachi	1 up trip
	-	Shinano-Ōmachi	Minami-Otari	1 up trip

Local

Matsumoto – Shinano-Ōmachi: every 30-60 minutes

Shinano-Ōmachi – Minami-Otari: every 60-180 minutes

JR West section

Local

Minami-Otari - Itoigawa: every 120-180 minutes

No limited-stop services such as rapids operate on the JR West section. All trains are local services, which stop at every station.

Rolling stock

JR East section

• E127-100 series EMU
• 211 series EMU
• E353 series EMU - Azusa

JR West section

• KiHa 120 series DMU

Stations

  JR East section

All stations are within Nagano Prefecture.

A: Limited Express Azusa

R: Rapid

Trains stop at stations marked "O", skip at stations marked "|".

No.	Station	Japanese	Distance(km)		A	R	Transfers	Location
			Between stations	Total
42	Matsumoto	松本	-	0.0	O	O	■ Shinonoi Line ■ Alpico Kōtsū Kamikōchi Line	Matsumoto
41	Kita-Matsumoto	北松本	0.7	0.7	|	O
40	Shimauchi	島内	1.9	2.6	|	O
39	Shimatakamatsu	島高松	1.2	3.8	|	O
38	Azusabashi	梓橋	1.4	5.2	|	O		Azumino
37	Hitoichiba	一日市場	1.6	6.8	|	O
36	Nakagaya	中萱	1.6	8.4	|	O
35	Minami-Toyoshina	南豊科	2.0	10.4	|	O
34	Toyoshina	豊科	1.0	11.4	O	O
33	Hakuyachō	柏矢町	2.8	14.2	|	O
32	Hotaka	穂高	2.0	16.2	O	O
31	Ariake	有明	2.2	18.4	|	O
30	Azumi-Oiwake	安曇追分	1.5	19.9	|	O
29	Hosono	細野	2.9	22.8	|	↑		Matsukawa, Kitaazumi District
28	Kita-Hosono	北細野	1.0	23.8	|	↑
27	Shinano-Matsukawa	信濃松川	2.2	26.0	|	O
26	Azumi-Kutsukake	安曇沓掛	1.6	28.6	|	↑		Ōmachi
25	Shinano-Tokiwa	信濃常盤	2.3	30.9	|	O
24	Minami-Ōmachi	南大町	3.1	34.0	|	↑
23	Shinano-Ōmachi	信濃大町	1.1	35.1	O	O
						O	Rapid terminus / transfer
22	Kita-Ōmachi	北大町	2.1	37.2	|	↑
21	Shinano-Kizaki	信濃木崎	2.2	39.4	|	O
20	Inao	稲尾	2.2	41.6	|	↑
19	Uminokuchi	海ノ口	1.3	42.9	|	↑
18	Yanaba	簗場	3.4	46.3	|	O
16	Minami-Kamishiro	南神城	4.9	52.8	|	↑		Hakuba, Kitaazumi District
15	Kamishiro	神城	2.4	55.2	|	O
14	Iimori	飯森	1.5	56.7	|	↑
13	Hakuba	白馬	3.0	59.7	O	O
12	Shinano-Moriue	信濃森上	1.9	61.6	|	O
11	Hakuba-Ōike	白馬大池	3.8	65.4	|	↑		Otari, Kitaazumi District
10	Chikuni	千国	3.4	68.7	|	↑
9	Minami-Otari	南小谷	1.4	70.1	O	O

Closed Stations Yanabaskijōmae Station closed on 16 March 2019

  JR West section

No.	Station	Japanese	Distance(km)		Transfers	Location
			Between stations	Total
9	Minami-Otari	南小谷	-	70.1		Otari, Nagano
8	Nakatsuchi	中土	4.0	74.1
7	Kita-Otari	北小谷	4.4	78.5
6	Hiraiwa	平岩	5.5	85.0		Itoigawa, Niigata
5	Kotaki	小滝	6.8	91.8
4	Nechi	根知	3.6	95.4
3	Kubiki-Ōno	頸城大野	4.9	100.3
2	Himekawa	姫川	1.9	102.2
1	Itoigawa	糸魚川	3.2	105.4	Hokuriku Shinkansen ETR Nihonkai Hisui Line

History

The section between Matsumoto and Shinano-Ōmachi was built between 1915 and 1916 by the Shinano Railway (信濃鉄道, Shinano Tetsudō), which electrified the line in 1926. The company was nationalised in 1937 and was not the same entity as the present Shinano Railway.

The rest of the line was built by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) and the Japanese National Railways (JNR) between 1929 and 1957. The Shinano-Ōmachi to Minami Otari section was electrified between 1959 and 1967. CTC signalling was commissioned in 1983, and freight services ceased in 1987.

Following privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the line was divided and assigned to JR East and JR West.

Station numbering was introduced on the line by JR East from 12 December 2016, with stations numbered in sequence from 9 (Minami-Otari) to 42 (Matsumoto).

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan