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KAMAISHI, Iwate – Railway operations between Miyako and Kamaishi railway stations in Iwate prefecture resumed on March 23 after an eight-year suspension due to major tsunami damage following the earthquake occurred in eastern Japan.
On that day, operations of the 55.4 km section were transferred from the East Japan Railway (JR East) to the Sanriku Railway, which connects Kuji and Miyako in the north between Kamaishi and Sakari Stations. The reconnected 163-kilometer line, which is the longest line operated by a public-private joint venture in Japan, has been renamed Rias Line.
A departure ceremony took place shortly before 11 am at the Kamaishi Station in Kamaishi City in the presence of IKRI Chairman of the Sanriku Railways, Governor Iwate Takuya Tbado and Minister of Reconstruction Hiromichi Watanabe. About 40 people selected from the public apps as well as guests boarded the first train from the station at 11:40, which was the only train service of the day. Regular services will begin March 24th according to a new schedule.
According to the Tohoku District Transportation Bureau, of the 10 train lines that were suspended for long periods due to the 2011 disaster, nine of them have been restored as public transit lanes. fast or by bus. The last 20.8 km section of the JR Joban line linking the Tomioka and Namie stations in Fukushima Prefecture is expected to reopen by the end of March 2020.
(Original Japanese Kei Sato and Takashi Kokaji, Morioka Office)
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