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In Ofunato City, located on the Pacific coast of Iwate Prefecture, there is a railway company that is little known except to those with some knowledge of Japanese railways. Its name is Iwate Kaihatsu Railway Co., Ltd. But what kind of railway company is it?
What is Iwate Development Railway?
Iwate Development Railway operates two railway lines: the Hikoroichi Line and the Akasaki Line .
The Hikoroichi Line is a 9.5km line that runs from Sakari Station to Iwateishibashi Station, passing through Choanji Station and Hikoroichi Station. The Akasaki Line is a 2.0km line that runs from Sakari Station to Akasaki Station. On paper, the two lines are separate, but in reality, trains basically run across both lines, so there's not much point in making a distinction.
Mori Station is a station on the Sanriku Railway's Rias Line and a stop on JR East's Ofunato Line BRT (a bus, not a train), so it's probably fairly well-known. However, I think there are very few people, especially young people, who know of any stations other than Mori. This is no surprise, as the Iwate Development Railway currently does not transport passengers, and all of its trains in operation are freight trains.
Limestone to the cement factory
Inland from Ofunato City is the Ofunato Mine, where limestone mined there is loaded onto freight trains at Iwate-Ishibashi Station on the Iwate Development Railway. The freight trains loaded with limestone travel at a maximum speed of 50 km/h to Akasaki Station, 11.5 km away. The limestone is used to make cement at the Taiheiyo Cement Ofunato Plant, located near Akasaki Station.
Incidentally, at least for me, I have no idea what times freight trains run. I like watching freight trains, a freight timetable every year (just to be clear, this is a timetable that lists the operating times of only freight trains), but the freight timetable does not include the timetable for Iwate Development Railway freight trains.
According to information posted on the Japan Private Railway Association website, freight trains run at either 13, 15, or 18 round trips per day. This is a fairly high frequency for a freight train, and it's not difficult to spot them during the day on days when they are in operation (they appear to be suspended on weekends and holidays). There's no doubt that they're also helping the local industry.
Iwate Development Railway Co., Ltd. was established in August 1939. Its goal was to promote industry and develop the areas along its railway line by connecting Ofunato Port with inland Iwate Prefecture. The company was also established as a third sector While third sector companies can now be found all over the country (Sanriku Railway, which serves Sakari Station, is one such example), Iwate Development Railway deserves special mention as a pioneer of third sector railway companies
At the time the company was founded, the plan was to build a railway line from Mori Station to Hirakura Station on the Kamaishi Line, located about 29km to the north. The Kamaishi Line connects Hanamaki Station and Kamaishi Station. If the railway line was laid from Mori Station to Hirakura Station, passengers could travel via the Kamaishi Line to Hanamaki Station, and then transfer to the Tohoku Main Line, a major railway line in the Tohoku region. In other words, the plan was to enable people and cargo to travel across the country from Mori Station by rail.
Construction of the railway was halted due to the Pacific War, so the railway did not actually open until after the war. The first section of the Hikoroichi Line between Mori Station and Hikoroichi Station opened in October 1950.
However, despite the opening, both passenger and freight transport was sluggish, and a solution was needed. It was decided to transport limestone to cement factories, and the line was extended. In June 1957, the Akasaki Line opened between Mori Station and Akasaki Station, and in June 1960, the Hikoroichi Line opened between Hikoroichi Station and Iwate Ishibashi Station, giving the Iwate Development Railway its current line structure. At the same time, limestone transport began.
Plans to extend the Kamaishi Line to Hirakura Station were officially abandoned in March 1976
Kiha 301 diesel railcar used for passenger transport
Until 1992, passenger transport was also provided on the Hikoroichi Line (between Mori Station and Iwate-Ishibashi Station). However, not many people used the line connecting the mine and the cement factory. According to a timetable from September 1964 that I have, only five round trips per day , two of which did not go all the way to Iwate-Ishibashi Station, with Hikoroichi Station being both the terminus and start point. With the spread of automobiles, passenger numbers further decreased, and by 1992 there were only three round trips per day , one of which only ended at Hikoroichi Station. Passenger service was discontinued on April 1, 1992, and Iwate Development Railway subsequently became a freight-only railway company.
It has been over 30 years since passenger service was discontinued, but the current platforms at stations such as Mori Station remain. Ikawa Station (located between Mori Station and Choanji Station), which was only used for passenger boarding and disembarking, is now closed. The platform at this station has been removed, but only the stairs leading up to the platform on top of the embankment remain. Local people from the generation that remembers the time when passenger service was in operation still affectionately refer to Iwate Development Railway as "Kaihatsu-san."
The remains of the platform at Mori Station, located slightly north of JR and Sanriku Railway Mori Station (entry prohibited)
As a freight-only railway company, it may seem a little low-key, but its business extends beyond transporting limestone. For example, it receives orders for maintenance of diesel cars owned by companies such as Sanriku Railway. It can be said that it is an indispensable part of Iwate Prefecture's railway industry. Including its group companies, it is involved in a wide range of businesses, just like other railway companies, including tourism, printing, real estate, trucking, water and sewerage construction, and civil engineering.
Iwate Development Railway in 2011
The Iwate Development Railway's Akasaki Line was damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred in 2011. The shipper, the Taiheiyo Cement Ofunato Plant, also suffered significant damage, but both companies worked hard to restore the line, and resumed train operations on November 7, 2011, eight months after the disaster
The JR Ofunato Line, which was also affected by the disaster, was never restored as a railway line, but instead was converted to bus service on the section from Kesennuma Station to Mori Station. A bus-only road has been created where the railroad tracks used to run, and buses now operate on the Ofunato Line BRT. This once again brings home the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake, and the difficulty of maintaining a regional railway.
Board the bus from the platform at the Ofunato Line BRT stop at Sakari Station
After the tsunami, scenes of concrete buildings and bridges remaining were seen all over the country. It was a very heartbreaking sight. However, the current president of Iwate Development Railway (as of June 2024) also spoke of that time, saying, "It made us realize once again that the limestone we transport becomes cement and concrete, helping to protect people's lives and property ." also said that the disaster's recovery process also taught them a renewed appreciation for the importance of cooperation and trust between shippers and affiliated companies, as well as the solidarity and high level of technical skill of their employees.
summary
Although Iwate Development Railway is now a freight-only railway, it still plays an important role by transporting the raw materials for concrete and cement used in various regions. The concrete that supports the daily lives of the author and all of our readers may have been made from limestone transported by Iwate Development Railway freight trains.
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