Ōfunato Line

Ōfunato Line
KiHa 100 DMU at Kesennuma Station, October 2006
Overview
Native name大船渡線
StatusIn operation
(Ichinoseki – Kesennuma as a railway)
(Kesennuma – Sakari as a BRT route)
OwnerJR East
LocaleIwate Prefecture
Termini
Stations25 (14 are railway stations following the 2011 disaster)
Service
TypeHeavy rail
Operator(s)JR East
Rolling stockKiHa 100 series DMU, Hino Blue Ribbon City Bus, Isuzu Erga Bus
History
Opened26 July 1925
Closed1 April 2020 (Section between Kesennuma – Sakari was replaced by bus rapid transit in 2013 but was only formally closed in 2020)
Technical
Line length105.7 km (65.7 mi) (Until 2011)
62.0 km (38.5 mi) (After 2011)
Number of tracksEntire line single tracked
CharacterRural
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
ElectrificationNot electrified
Operating speed85 km/h (53 mph)
Route map
Ōfunato Line
km
0.0
Ichinoseki
Tōhoku Main Line
5.7
Mataki
13.7
Rikuchū-Kanzaki
17.5
Iwanoshita
21.3
Rikuchū-Matsukawa
23.3
Geibikei
26.1
Shibajuku
30.6
Surisawa
39.8
Senmaya
43.4
Konashi
47.6
Yagoshi
49.7
Orikabe
55.3
Niitsuki
62.0
Kesennuma
64.2
Shishiori-Karakuwa
65.3
Hachiman-Ōhashi
69.5
Kami-Shishiori
77.8
Osabe
79.5
Rikuzen-Yahagi
82.4
Kiseki-no-Ippon-Matsu
82.5
Takekoma
85.4
Rikuzen-Takata
Machinaka-Rikuzen-Takata
86.2
Takatakōkōmae
87.6
Takata Hospital
88.3
Wakinosawa
92.8
Otomo
95.4
Goishikaiganguchi
97.1
Hosoura
100.2
Shimofunato
101.7
Ōfunato Fish Market
103.1
Ōfunato
Iwate Development Railway
Hikoroichi Line
105.7
Sakari
Iwate Development Railway
Hikoroichi Line
Key
BRT service area
services suspended indefinitely

The Ōfunato Line (大船渡線, Ōfunato-sen) is a local railway line in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It originally connected Ichinoseki Station in Ichinoseki to Sakari Station in Ōfunato, on the Tohoku coast.

The eastern section of the line was significantly damaged by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. In January 2012, services resumed on the western 62.0 km (38.5 mi) portion of the route between Ichinoseki and Kesennuma. The eastern section between Kesennuma and Sakari remains closed, and in February 2012, JR East officially proposed that this section of the line be scrapped and the right-of-way used as a bus rapid transit (BRT) route. The section was routinely replaced by BRT, and this section of the line was formally closed as a railway on 1 April 2020.

The line connects with the Kesennuma Line at Kesennuma Station and formerly connected with the privately owned Sanriku Railway's Minami-Riasu Line at Sakari Station in Ōfunato.