The Hakata to Nagasaki Kamome
limited express services use the brand new class 885, looking quite
similar to the latest version of the German ICE. At Tashiro on the
Kagoshima Main Line,
by Oliver Mayer, October 2000
The Hakata to Nagasaki Kamome
limited express services use the brand new class 885, looking quite
similar to the latest version of the German ICE. At Tashiro on the
Kagoshima Main Line,
|
By Oliver Mayer
Northern Kyushu is an area with interesting trains, and has been
featured in the Bullet-in before (no. 13: Kyushu overview by Anthony
Robins; no. 33: Feel the Breeze through the Open Window by Minoru
Shinozaki; no. 35: DD 51 Commuting in Kyushu by John Cowburn; no. 37:
Kyushu Coalfield Circular by Colin Brown). Northern Kyushu has also
been included in most JRS railtours, and it is easy accessible by
Shinkansen. What makes the area so interesting is the diversity of
trains and companies. There is of course JR Kyushu with diesel and
electric trains, JR West with the Shinkansen, Nishitetsu as a large
private railway, two third sector railways (Heisei Chikuho and Amagi),
the subway in Fukuoka, the monorail in KitaKyushu and an interurban,
the Chikuho Dentetsu. I have not yet travelled on all lines, but those
mentioned in the text are marked with a number, corresponding to the
number on the map.
Click here to see the rail network map of northern Kyushu
Fukuoka, capital of Fukuoka prefecture and largest city on Kyushu with
1.3 million inhabitants, is a good place to use as a base for travel in
that area. Day trips to Nagasaki, Kumamoto and Oita are not a
problemaa. There are plenty of cheap business hotels around Hakata
station. I have stayed there several times since I first visited Kyushu
in 1990.
Fukuoka
Fukuoka's largest station is Hakata, terminus of the Sanyo Shinkansen.
The Shinkansen is operated by JR West, and you can see all classes
(from 0 to 700) at Hakata. A very interesting route is the
Hakata-Minami-sen, which is actually the access route to the Shinkansen
depot, 8.5 km south of Hakata. This route is operated by JR Kyushu and
4- or 6-car trains can be used on that service. It is a very cheap
Shinkansen ride, for only 220 Yen plus a limited-express supplement of
100 Yen. Besides the Shinkansen, most limited expresses on Kyushu start
and end at Hakata, also many local and regional JR trains. There is
always much to see. The station is very modern and has large
underground shopping arcades.
The Kuko (Airport)-line of the municipal subway [15] crosses under the
station. The Fukuoka Airport is just two subway stops from Hakata
station. This brings JR West and the Sanyo Shinkansen in a very
difficult position, as the disadvantage of most airports (long access
from the city centre) is not true for Fukuoka. So JR West is always
trying to make the Shinkansen faster, and has achieved good success
with the series 500 and the new Rail Star 700. The Fukuoka subway has
two lines (a third is under construction), the Kuko sen and the
Hakozaki-sen. The Kuko sen is much heavier used, as it connects the
airport and Hakata station with the city centre (Nakasu-Kawabata and
Tenjin). The Hakozaki-sen branches off the Kuko sen at Nakasu-Kawabata
(although some trains go through to Nishijin) and goes to Kaizuka,
where one can change to Nishitetsu's Miyajidake-sen [14]. There is no
physical connection between the two lines at Kaizuka. The Kuko sen is
connected to the JR Chikuhi-sen [8] on its western end, and every
second or third train goes through to Karatsu, using either subway or
refurbished JR class 103 or new class 303 EMU stock - actually the only
JR line on Kyushu with 1,500 V DC electrification (the rest is 20,000 V
AC 60 Hz). The stations of the Fukuoka subway have a very distinctive
design, with every station having a symbol making orientation easy. It
must be mentinoned that the Kuko sen connects Hakata with the city
centre, but there are plenty of buses on this route as well. Recently
Nishitetsu, largest bus operator (see below), has introduced a 100 Yen
bus fare between Hakata and Tenjin (200 Yen for the subway), and this
is quite popular. Although buses take longer than the subway, they are
not as crowded and have a wide variety of stops in between, allowing a
closer access to shops and offices.
Around Fukuoka, JR operates EMUs on the Kagoshima-hon-sen [1], the main
railway line in Kyushu. The rolling stock for the local and rapid
trains between Moji/KitaKyushu and Omuta is mostly modern, using
classes 811 and 813 EMUs. Both look quite similar in the corporate
colours of JR Kyushu which is a silver body with some red and black
colour. Both trains can run up to 120 km/h, and the riding comfort is
very high. When they were introduced in 1995/96, they replaced most
older classes 421 and 423. However, class 415 EMUs remain in service in
peak times. Besides the local traffic, limited expresses are running
steadily in and out of Hakata, being formed by some refurbished 485,
otherwise by classes 783, 787, 883 and 885. The 783 was the first
express-EMU after the JNR era, called "Hyper Saloon". It has no clear
route today, but can be found on Midori, Huis Ten Bosch, Kamome and
Sonic services. Midori (Hakata - Sasebo) and Huis Ten Bosch (Hakata -
Huis Ten Bosch) run along the Nagasaki Main Line [7] coupled until
Haiki, and if the Kamome (Hakata - Nagasaki) runs with class 783, then
it may also be coupled to the other two services, but only as far as
Hizen-Yamaguchi. But since 2000, more and more Kamome-trains use the
brand new class 885, looking quite similar to the latest version of the
German ICE.
The most heavily used route with limited expresses is from Hakata to
Kumamoto [1], with three trains per hour. The basic pattern is one
Tsubame with limited stops, through to Nishi-Kagoshima, and two Ariake
with more stops, going to Kumamoto and Suizenji respectively. All
trains are operated by class 787 (silver colour) EMUs with a very
elegant interior design. A good place for spotting all these EMUs is
the line [1] between Hakata and Tosu, where the Nagasaki Main Line [7]
branches off towards Sasebo and Nagasaki.
Finally, the most attractive train of Kyushu is the class 883 EMU,
running on the Sonic services from Hakata via Kokura (KitaKyushu to
Oita over the Nippo Main Line [4]. But take care, as some services now
use the class 885 as 'White Sonic'. Other services on this route (to
Miyazaki) use the Hyper Saloon (class 783). The big JR timetable always
mentiones which class is used, so you can check there before making a
reservation.
As a local service around Fukuoka, the Kashii-sen [9] must be
mentioned. Although it does not go to the main station of Hakata, it is
well served by DMUs with a 20-min-service most of the day. Its centre
is Kashii station on the Kagoshima Main Line [1]. The western section
of the Kashii-sen out to Saitozaki is a nice route along a narrow
peninsula, and in summer I think it will be very popular to go to the
seaside.
 Class 787 Hakata to Kumamoto/Ssizenji Ariake limited express, at Omuta on the Kagoshima Main Line,
|  Class 783 "Hyper Saloon" on a combined Kamome/Midori service from Hakata to Nagasaki/Sasebo, at Tashiro on the Kagoshima Main Line,
|  Class 783 "Hyper Saloon" on its way from Hakata to Nagasaki, at Harada on the Kagoshima Main Line,
|
 Class 303 Fukuoka subway through train, at Shimoyamato on the Chikuhi Line,
|  Minami-Fukuoka depot. Resting are refurbished class 485s.
|  Moji-based AC locomotive EF81, at Takeshita on the Kagoshima Main Line,
|
Nishitetsu
One of the large 15 private railways of Japan, Nishitetsu operates
several routes in northern Kyushu. Nishitetsu is also the largest bus
operator in the area. The most important railway line is Nishitetsu's
main line, the Omuta-sen [10], from Fukuoka to Omuta. The line starts
in Tenjin, the true city centre of Fukuoka. That means that Nishitetsu
is in a good position compared to JR, as Tenjin is full of shops,
department stores (with the Nishitetsu terminus on the second floor of
one) and nightlife. Competition to JR is quite severe, as both railways
run parallel southwards, both serving Futsukaichi, Kurume and Omuta.
Only Yanagawa has only Nishitetsu trains. Therefore, JR and Nishitetsu
are both trying to attract as many passengers as possible.
The Nishitetsu Omuta-sen is double-track nearly throughout, only south
of Kurume there are three short single-track sections. Although
passenger numbers on this route has fallen due to the economic
depression of Omuta (the large Miike Coal Mine closed in 1997), work is
underway to double some sections. The line is elevated for several
kilometres out of Fukuoka, around Kurume station and at Yakabe (north
of Yanagawa). Between Fukuoka and Futsukaichi, train speeds are slow,
around 70 to 80 km/h, while further south the average is 95 km/h, and
100 km/h only on very few sections. (On the other hand, track quality
of the parallel JR line is much better, with rapid trains of class 811
running as fast as 115 km/h.)
Nishitetsu operates limited expresses (tokkyu every 30 minutes,
normally with designated classes 2000 and 8000 (cross seats). However,
especially during the morning and evening peaks, normal rolling stock
with long seats can be found on the expresses. Nishitetsu's fleet
consists of 2-, 3- and 4-car-units, which are then coupled together to
form longer trains (maximum is 7 cars), but on the branch lines and the
southern part of the Omuta-sen trains are quite short and often one-man
operated. Also interesting to note is that in the Nishitetsu trains the
announcements are recorded male voices!
Two lines branching off the main line must be mentioned. First, the
Dazaifu-sen [19], only 2.4 km long from Futsukaichi. The second is the
Amagi-sen [11], going from Miyanojin to Amagi. Both lines have only
local trains. A bit unusual is the Miyajidake-sen [14], mentioned
above. It has no connection to any other Nishitetsu-line, and acts
mainly as a feeder to the subway [15] and the JR Kashii-sen [9]. It is
also the only Nishitetsu-line with Cape gauge (1,067 mm), while all
other Nishitetsu-trains (including the now closed tram lines) run on
1,435 mm.
Nishitetsu's tram lines, this is a sad story. Nishitetsu used to have a
large tram network, centered around KitaKyushu but all is gone now. The
last section to Orio closed on 25 November 2000, and I was lucky to be
there a month before. It seems unbelievable, that a tram route, on
segregated track, with a service of 9 trams per hour in the morning
peak (!) had to close. I think that the remaining tram section was just
too small with high fixed costs, on the other hand it seems strange
that the Chikuho Electric Railway [16] does not operate this section.
The Chikuho Dentetsu is an interurban with seems to have a good future,
as several new cars were bought recently. Back to Nishitetsu's tram
routes. Also the routes closed earlier often had segregated track,
which is now partly turned into a busway were only Nishitetsu buses
run. I have seen this route near Kyushu Kodai-mae (a few minutes walk
from the station, JR Kagoshima-hon-sen, two stops west of Kokura).
 Nishitetsu series 6050, at Shin-Sakaemachi/Omuta,
|  Nishitetsu series 2000, at Ohashi/Fukuoka,
|  Nishitetsu series 8000 at Futsukaichi,
|
The Amagi Tetsudo is 13.7 km long and has 7 DMUs to run on its line.
All cars were built by Fuji Heavy Industries, class AR-100 (6 cars,
15.50 m long) in 1986, and class AR-200 (1 car, 18.50 m long) in 1992.
The line was opened in 1939, and taken over from JNR in 1986. The
trains run in a regular pattern of 30 minutes, which is a very frequent
service for such a line.
The Heisei Chikuo Tetsudo is one of the largest third sector lines,
with a total of 49.2 km. It owns 16 DMUs, built in 1989 and 1991 by
Fuji Heavy Industry. It has three lines, which have the same names as
they had in JNR times. Most routes were opened in the 1890s, and were
taken over from JNR in the first year of Emperor Akihito (the Heisei
era), which was 1989 - therefore the first part of the name. The second
part Chikuho stands for the area. Once part of an important and dense
network of railway lines, this is one of the few remaining routes. One
can easily see the importance of this railway, as the Ita-Line between
Nogata and Tagawa-Ita has two tracks (since 1911). I cannot think of
any other third sector line which has that! Service is quite intense,
with 2-3 trains per hour on most sections. And you can still see
freight trains in Kanada station (not Canada!), where the Itoda-Line to
Tagawa-Gotoji branches off.
KitaKyushu
The city of KitaKyushu (literally: Northern Kyushu was formed in the
1960s, when Kokura, Yahata (or Yawata), Tobata, Wakamatsu and Moji
merged to become a city of slightly more than one million inhabitants.
Therefore, no station called "KitaKyushu exists, the main station is
Kokura, where the Shinkansen also stops.
While Kokura station is a bit dark and narrow for photographing, I
found Space World station most interesting. Although only local trains
stop there (except on weekends and holidays, when even limited
expresses unload thousands of visitors to the Space World theme park),
it is excellent for trainspotting. Besides two tracks for passenger
trains, there are also two freight tracks. And the freight traffic is
still quite heavy. Just off Space World station is the first modern
blast furnace of Japan from 1901, nicely preserved.
KitaKyushu is full of industry (especially Nippon Steel), and from the
trains you can see quite much of it. You can also enjoy a good view
from the Wakato-Bridge, which is a road bridge between Wakamatsu and
Tobata stations. I got off the train at Tobata station and walked over
to the bay, then took the ferry to Wakamatsu. It leaves every 7-20 min
and costs 50 Yen. At Wakamatsu, I walked to the train station and took
a bus over the Wakato-Bridge. This is a high suspension bridge with a
nice view over the Tobata-works of Nippon Steel.
The north-eastern end of the Kyushu railway network is Moji-ko, Moji
harbour. The station building is among the oldest in Japan, and fits
nicely into the historical area of this port. As Moji-ko is the
terminus for many services, a wide variety of trains can be seen
standing along the sidings. The largest workshop in the area is however
near Moji station, where also the Kanmon-Tunnel to Shimonseki begins.
At Moji, you can also see the unique locos of class EF 30, that are
only operating inside the tunnel. They are made from stainless steel to
resist corrosion from the humid climate in the tunnel. The tunnel was
actually opened in 1942 (first tube) and 1944 (second tube). Before the
tunnels, there was a ferry service from Shimonoseki to Moji, but it is
unclear where exactly the ferry terminal in Moji was.
Finally, there are two interesting railways in KitaKyushu. One is the
monorail [17], which starts at Kokura station, and the other is the
Hobashira Cable Car [not shown]. Going up the mountain, you have a
wonderful view over KitaKyushu. Unfortunately it was closed for
rebuilding on my last visit, scheduled to reopen this June. To get to
the cable car, walk straight southwards from Yahata station for about
1.5 km. The cable car costs 800 Yen, plus 300 Yen for a lift at the top
of the mountain. Is is operated daily from 9.00 to 18.30 (17.30 in
January and February) and until 21.30 on weekends, summer holidays and
in December. By the way, if you like this view, then you can stay at a
public hotel (kokumin shukusha) on the top of the mountain. I can also
strongly recommend the Youth Hostel Hinoyama in Shimonoseki (said to be
one of the three best hostels in Japan), which offers a wonderful view
of the Kammon Strait together with good meals and very friendly staff.
Chikuho
This is probably the most fascinating area for railfans right now, as
DD 51s are operating passenger trains there. As I am writing this, they
are still running, but the Chikuho Main line [3] is being electrified
now, and the electric service is to start on 6 October this year
(source: Tetsudo Fan 4/2001). Then I expect all diesel trains and DMUs
to be withdrawn, and a new EMU class 817 will take over. The work to
electrify this line started on 27 August 1997, and includes the Chikuho
hon-sen [3] between Orio and Keisen (34.5 km), the Sasaguri-sen [2]
between Yoshizuka (near Hakata) and Keisen (25.1 km), and the diesel
tracks between Kurosaki and Orio (5.2 km of the Kagoshima-hon-sen [1]).
The section between Harada and Keisen of the Chikuho Main Line, served
by only 7 trains per day, will remain unchanged. The new class 817 EMUs
will come in pairs, so a total of 38 cars form 19 units. Nogata will be
the centre of operation, the station is being rebuilt with new sidings
on the southern end. The diesel depot at Shinnyu may be given up later.
Now it hosts many old DMUs, I saw classes ki ha 28, 47, 52, 58, 66 and
67 as well as DD 51 871 standing there.
 The
DD51 1004 being coupled to a passeneger train serving the Chikuho Main
Line, at Harada, a junction on the Kagoshima Main Line,
|  3-car articulated Chikuho Dentetsu series 2000, ex-Nishitetsu tram, taken near Chikuho Nogata.
|  Chikuho Dentetsu series 3000 crossing the Onga River, north of Chikuho-Nogata,
|
Back to today's operations. The most heavily used section of the
Chikuho hon-sen [3] is between Orio and Nogata with 3 trains per hour
most of the day. Trains start either at Wakamatsu or Kurosaki, some
also as far back as Yahata, Kokura and Moji-ko. The line is
double-track throughout from Wakamatsu to Iizuka. Some trains run as
rapids, but limited to the sections north of Nogata and south of
Iizuka. As mentioned before, the section from Keisen to Harada will not
be electrified. Today there are no through services on this section,
except to Iizuka early in the morning. Most trains on the Chikuho
hon-sen are actually connected to the Sasaguri-sen [2], so forming
direct links between Hakata/Fukuoka and the Chikuho region. The
Sasaguri-sen is however single-track, and even the rapid trains have to
wait sometimes to let other trains pass by.
Trains are operated mostly by DMUs. The trains through to Hakata are
normally ki ha 200, nice red DMUs (2- or 4-car trains), while on many
other services very old DMUs run. The last loco-hauled trains are 6.50
from Nogata to Moji-ko and back to Nogata at 17.22, and a second train
6.44 from Iizuka to Wakamatsu, at 16.00 back to Iizuka (this train only
Monday to Friday). These are hauled by DD 51s.
Three lines remain to be described. The Gotoji-sen [18] runs between
Tagawa-Gotoji and Shin-Iizuka about once per hour, passing by a
spectacular looking cement works. The Hita-Hikosan Line [5] starts in
Jono (many through trains to Kokura) and goes via Tagawa-Ita to Hita.
Services are one or two trains per hour between Kokura and
Tagawa-Gotoji, and every one or two hours further on to Hita. Actually
between 10.00 and 16.00 there are no through trains to Kokura,
passengers have to use a local train of the Nippo Line [4] instead and
change at Jono, where the Hita-Hikosan Line officially starts. The line
seems to have been double-tracked in the past, but is single track now,
and it is slow: trains take 2 1/2 hours for 83 kilometres from Kokura
to Hita. When I was last on this line in 1998, there was still one
rapid a day; this train has been withdrawn now. Only the oldest DMUs
are running there, but I expect more modern cars to be transfered from
the Chikuho Main Line after its electrification.
The Kyudai-hon-sen [6] runs accross Kyushu from Kurume to Oita via
Hita. While limited express services are offered by the Yufu (Hataka -
Beppu) three times a day with DMU class 185, on some days the Yufuin no
Mori runs with a spectacular looking rebuilt DMU class ki ha 71 (train
no. 1 from 1989) and ki ha 183-1000 (train no. 2 from 1992). Both
trains offer good panoramic views. Train no. 1 is a high-decker, and
train no. 2 looks similar to old Meitetsu expresses. Normal service is
by class ki ha 125 DMU in yellow livery.
Specials
Two very interesting private freight lines remain to be described, but
I plan to do this in a later article. One is Nippon Steel's freight
line to connect the Tobata and Yahata works (crossing JR near Kyushu
Kodai-mae and Edamitsu), and the other is in Omuta, serving a Mitsui
Cemical plant. Both lines are electrified and served by unique and old
locomotives.
Two unusual interruptions of service happend during my week in Kyushu
The first one was on a level crossing at Tashiro station (which is one
station north of Tosu). Tashiro is a small passenger station with just
the two through tracks of the main line, but with a large container
yard and several adjactent freight tracks. The space used for the
freight yard means that the level crossing north of the station is
quite long, around 50 metres. Although Japanese level crossings open
and close very fast, one car driver was extremely impaitent and started
to drive over the tracks when the barriers had already started to
close. He was then trapped inside the barriers, standing on the main
line tracks, and the limited express Kamome 30 was approaching. Then a
large flashing red light turned on, together with a loud buzzing sound,
and the Kamome came to an emergency stop about 300 metres before the
level crossing. A railway worker from the freight yard came, opened the
barriers and freed the car, and after a few minutes the train could
continue its journey.
The second one was a day later at Kokura station, when the sleeper
Hayabusa/Sakura from Tokyo in its way to Kumamoto/Nagasaki arrived 17
minutes late at 9.16. As the track layout at Kokura makes it necessary
for some trains to cross several tracks at level, Sonic 6 to Hakata
left 5 min late at 9.21, Nichirin 5 to Oita also left 5 min late at
9.25, a rapid to Nogata 3 min late at 9.28, a local to Futsukaichi 3
min late at 9.31 and Sonic 8 to Hakata 4 min late at 9.43.
Finally, I can recommend to visit Kyushu. There are many more
interesting places and trains to see, and also Korea is not far away.
Except for a few rural routes, trains are modern and fast, and it is a
delight to see the brilliant interior and exterior design of the JR
Kyushu trains.
For more details, see the maps in Bullet-in nos. 35 and 37 or in 'Electric Railways of Japan' vol. 3 (LRTA, available through JRS Sales).