Railway line in Chiba Prefecture, Japan
The is a long railway line operated by the privately owned Chōshi Electric Railway between Chōshi and Tokawa stations in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
It is the Chōshi Electric Railway's only line and is facing declining ridership. The company ventured into selling "nure-senbei" (moist "senbei" rice crackers) to subsidize its operations, and the profits from confectionery sales are now double those from its railway operations.
Service pattern.
All trains stop at all stations, with trains passing on the single line at Kasagami-Kurohae Station. Since 21 November 2013, one train per hour runs during the daytime.
Previously, two to three trains operated per hour throughout the day. In the past, two- or three-car formations were operated on New Year's Day to transport passengers to see the first sunrise of the year at the popular coastal viewing point in Inubōsaki.
Stations.
All stations are in Chōshi.
Rolling stock.
In 2007, it was announced that former Keio 3000 series stainless steel EMUs converted to 2-car sets would be purchased to replace the three vintage 700 and 800 series cars still in operation. This plan was however cancelled due to the cost of converting the 1,500 V DC cars to 600 V DC operation. Instead, two pairs of former Iyo Railway 800 series EMU cars were purchased in 2009, and these entered service in July 2010 following conversion work, becoming the 2000 series.
In September 2015, a two-car 700 series EMU was purchased from the Iyo Railway for 1.3 million yen. The train entered service on the line in March 2016, following repainting into a two-tone blue livery.
History.
Chōshi Sightseeing Railway (1913-1917).
The predecessor to the present-day line opened on 28 December 1913 as the , operating a distance of 5.9 km between Chōshi and Inuboh using steam haulage. The gauge line was laid by a team of 235 army engineers in just 11 days. There were four intermediate stations, at Nakanocho, Kannon, Moto-Choshi, and Ashikajima, and by 1914, eight return services operated daily, with journeys taking 23 minutes. The line used two former JNR 0-6-0T steam locomotives built by Nasmyth, Wilson in the UK. These were numbered 1 and 2 (former JNR numbers 1102 and 1107 respectively).
Faced with poor ridership figures and increases in material costs caused by the outset of the First World War, the operating company announced its intention to close the line and sell off the infrastructure. This was met with violent protests from local residents, which resulted in the arrest of three people, recorded as the first public protest against railway closure plans in Japan. Despite the protests, the railway company terminated services on the line from the afternoon of 20 November 1917, and formally closed the line as of 30 November. The line's trackbed was converted to a dedicated bus route, but the station buildings remained intact. The two steam locomotives, 1 and 2, were sold to Yawata Steel Works, where they were renumbered 200 and 201, and operated until after the Second World War. The line's four passenger coaches were sold to the Rikuu Railway (now part of the JR Gono Line) in Aomori Prefecture, ultimately becoming numbers Ro 790, Ha 2555, Ha 2556, and HaNi 3680 in JNR days.
Chōshi Railway (1922-1948).
On 10 October 1922, the was formed, and the line was reopened from 5 July 1923 using the former Chōshi Sightseeing Railway trackbed and structures between Chōshi and Inuboh Stations, with an extension south to Tokawa. Rolling stock consisted of two petrol-engined locomotives and two two-axle carriages. The locomotives proved unreliable, however, and the line was electrified at 600 V DC from 1 July 1925, with a fleet of three electric cars purchased from the former (present-day JR Iida Line).
Services on the line were suspended from 20 July 1945, following air raid damage. A C class steam tank locomotive was borrowed from JNR to resume operations on the line from December 1945, and electric train operations resumed from 4 April 1946.
Chōshi Electric Railway (1948-).
On 20 August 1948, the operating company was renamed .
In 1956, a private track was laid directly from Chōshi Station to the nearby Yamasa soy sauce factory, which virtually eliminated freight operations handled by the Chōshi Electric Railway. And, this company was invested by Chiba Kotsu which has been an affiliated company of Keisei Electric Railway on 1 November 1960 and had been a subsidiary of Keisei Group since then until 1990.
In 1963, a decision was made to close the line, but this decision was overturned following opposition from the local communities and funding from Chōshi City. To the present day, the line is largely subsidized by Chiba Prefecture and Chōshi City.
Freight operations on the line were discontinued from 1 February 1984. On 21 December 1989, Chiba Kotsu transferred a 52% share of this company which was owned by Chiba Kotsu to Choden Kosan which was managed by Uchino Komuten. That's because this railway line was competitive with a lot of bus routes which were operated by Chiba Kotsu of the parent company, which caused that a bus company and railway company both were in red. After that this company got to a subsidiary of Choden Kosan in January 1990 by transferring right to management. From 1 April 1995, operations on the line switched to "wanman" driver-only operation because this company would extremely decrease expenditures. But, the pure loss of the management had increased because Uchinoya Komuten of a parent company had nine hundred ninety billion yen as debt and took an application of bankruptcy.
From 21 November 2013, services were cut back from two trains per hour to one train per hour during the daytime.
In 2019, the company announced the production of a movie called . The 84 minute long horror comedy is set on the Chōshi Electric Railway line and was first shown in cinemas in 2020.
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in early 2020 and the associated dramatic decline in passenger numbers, the company has started to produce and publish short videos about the railway on YouTube. The channel is called and contains videos about various places on and around the railway, such as the railway shed, the main office and various stations along the line. The videos often feature different staff members, mainly Katsuki Takemoto (CEO), Riho Sodeyama (conductor) and more recently also Kazuki Fukushima, a young station attendant.
Accidents.
A head-on collision occurred in June 1995 north of Kasagami-Kurohae Station between DeHa 701 on a down (Tokawa-bound) service and DeHa 1001 on an up (Chōshi-bound) service. Both cars sustained front-end damage. DeHa 701 was returned to service in April 1996 following repairs and repainting back into the standard livery of dark brown and red.
On 11 January 2014, at 08:19, 2000 series 2-car EMU set 2002 from Tokawa to Choshi derailed on points on the approach to Kasagami-Kurohae Station. Two of the train's bogies were derailed, but the train remained upright and none of the nine passengers on board were injured.
Passenger statistics.
The annual passenger statistics for past years are as shown below.
In popular culture.
Tokawa Station on the line was used as a filming location for the 1985 NHK TV drama series .
The line formed the backdrop for the 2015 novel written by Midori Yoshino. The book was made into a film, titled , released in Japan in 2017.
The line is seen in Season 2, Episode 5 of the Anime called The Devil is a Part-Timer! where the 6 main characters ride the line to Inubo station.
References.
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