Japan’s Kumamoto rail lines reopen after earthquake damage
Hisatsu Orange Railway resumes services on a 23.6-kilometre section in Kumamoto, Japan, where July’s quake damaged tracks and platforms.
- The Hisatsu Orange Railway has fully reopened its entire line in Kumamoto Prefecture, 77 days after a July 28 earthquake caused significant damage.
- This final reopening marks the complete restoration of all railway lines in the areas affected by the earthquake.
- Other major services that were damaged and have since reopened include the JR Kyushu Kagoshima Line and the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train.
Passengers on Hisatsu Orange Railway can once again travel along its entire line in southwestern Japan after the final suspended section in Kumamoto Prefecture reopened on Tuesday (October 13).
The resumption completed the reopening of every railway line in the areas affected by the July 28 earthquake, 77 days after the disaster.
Hospital visits and shopping take a 52-year-old part-time worker onto Hisatsu Orange Railway trains two or three times a month.
“I’m glad because I had been hoping that the entire line would resume operations as soon as possible,” the passenger said.
Deformed tracks and damaged platforms had prevented services on the 23.6-kilometre section between Yatsushiro and Higo-Tanoura stations.
The affected stretch lies close to the epicentre.
Hisatsu Orange Railway Inc., the third-sector railway operator, briefly stopped all services after the quake damaged more than 100 locations on its line. Its president, Seiki Nakamura, said: “I’m delighted that we are finally able to operate trains along the entire line.”
Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) had also brought its Kagoshima Line back into service between Uto and Yatsushiro stations on Saturday.
Its heavily damaged Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train section between Kumamoto and Shin-Minamata stations had reopened earlier, on September 18.
JR Kyushu’s operation of the Hisatsu Orange Railway line ended in 2004, when a section of the Kyushu Shinkansen opened.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
