[Aomori Prefecture] “Electric railway” that does not operate trains? Past and present of Towada Kanko Railway

" Towada Kanko Railway Co., Ltd. " is a company headquartered in Towada City, Aomori Prefecture.
We operate route buses in the southeastern part of Aomori Prefecture and operate Lake Towada sightseeing boats.
However, despite having Dentetsu (an abbreviation for electric railway) in its company name, it does not operate
`railway In order to find out the reason for this mismatch between the name and reality, let's take a look at the past and present of Towada Kanko Railway.

The opening and heyday of Towada Kanko Railway

Towada Kanko Railway was founded in 1914 in the early Taisho era, more than 110 years ago.
At the time of its founding, the company name was
Towada Orbital In 1920, the name was changed to " Towada Railway ", and the railway finally opened in September 1922.
The section is 14.9km (at the time of opening) from Furumaki Station (later Misawa Station) to Sanbongi Station (later Towada City Station).
At the time of its opening, the railway was called a ``light railway,'' with the distance (gauge) between the two rails being 762 mm, which was narrower than that of a typical railway.
Of course, it was used for transportation within the areas along the line, but at the time, the main route for sightseeing at Lake Towada was from Sanbongi to the shores of Lake Towada, and the Towada Railway was also used for sightseeing.

rail-history.org

Link

Towada Kanko Railway Line Route Map - Railway History Map

https://rail-history.org/r/12412.html

After the war, in 1951, the gauge was expanded to 1,067 mm, which is common for Japanese railways, and electrification was implemented to supply electricity for running trains
(before electrification, steam locomotives and gasoline-powered (gas-powered cars were used).
Due to electrification, the company name was changed to
Towada Kanko Railway As the company name suggests, it continued to be active in sightseeing at Lake Towada, and in the 1960s, when the baby boom generation born after the war began to attend schools along the line, it became popular for commuting to school.
Records show that in 1970, approximately 1.65 million people used the Towada Kanko Railway Line each year.

Tohoku Rokken trivia media: NEFT

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Aomori Prefecture is rich in nature and has many beautiful scenery that you cannot see in other prefectures. As it is the northernmost tip of Tohoku, you may think it is a little far to go from the Kanto and Kansai regions. However, once you see this scenery, you will forget how far away it is and you will definitely be glad you came. 1. Oirase Keiryu Oirase Keiryu is a mountain stream that stretches approximately 14 km from Nenokuchi on the shore of Lake Towada in Aomori Prefecture to Yakeyama, and has been designated as a nationally designated special scenic spot and natural monument. You can also drive close to it and start trekking from there. Highlights include ``Ashura no Stream'' and ``Choshi Otaki''...

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Towada Kanko Railway Line in decline

The number of people using the Towada Kanko Railway Line peaked in 1970, and has since declined due to factors such as the shift to a car-based society, a decline in the population along the line, and an aging population.
As time progressed, the number of route buses available for sightseeing at Lake Towada increased, and as a result, the competitiveness of the city as a means of transportation for tourists began to decline.
While buses can connect directly from bases (stations, bus terminals, etc.) to Lake Towada, if you use the Towada Kanko Electric Railway Line, you will have to change trains at Towada-shi Station, etc., so trains are avoided by tourists. It's no wonder that it happens.

Towada Kanko Electric Railway, whose business situation had deteriorated, established a new corporation in 2007, transferred its business to the new corporation the following year in 2008, and renamed the new corporation Towada Kanko Railway (second generation).
The first Towada Kanko Railway, which had debts of 5 billion yen, was renamed `` Towada Management '' and then went into special liquidation and ceased to exist.
Due to the above circumstances, Towada Kanko Electric Railway, which was established in 1914, and the current Towada Kanko Electric Railway, which was established in 2007, are different companies, at least on paper.

Even after that, the predicament continues.
In 2010, the Tohoku Shinkansen line between Hachinohe Station and Shin-Aomori Station opened, but no Tohoku Shinkansen station was established along the Towada Kanko Railway Line.
The Tohoku Shinkansen station that opened in the nearby area is Shichinohe-Towada Station, located in Shichinohe-cho, Kamikita-gun, and is a Shinkansen-only station that does not allow transfers to other lines.
Before the opening of the Tohoku Shinkansen extension, tourists sometimes used the route of changing from the JR Tohoku Main Line to the Towada Kanko Railway Line at Misawa Station, but with the opening of the Shinkansen, this flow of tourists was almost cut off. It was.

Additionally, the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred in 2011 took a toll on tourism in the Tohoku region, which was a headwind for Towada Kanko Railway.
The hotel business and bus business, which had been making up for the deficit in the railway business, were also sluggish due to the effects of the earthquake, and because it would be necessary to pay for the renewal of railway equipment in the future, Towada Kanko Railway decided to provide railway services to local governments along the line. We ask for support to survive.
However, local governments along the railway line all refused support, citing reasons such as the decline in railway passengers and the lack of bright prospects, and the inability to provide support to private companies within the existing fiscal framework. There is a strong possibility that it will be abolished.

Additionally, the station building at Towada City Station needed to be rebuilt, and the building owner had requested that the Towada Kanko Railway Line facilities be removed from the building.
This became a factor in hastening the conclusion of whether the railway should continue or be abolished.

Towada Kanko Electric Railway Line brings its curtain down after 90 years of history

It has been decided that the Towada Kanko Electric Railway Line will be abolished due to poor usage and lack of financial support.
March 31, 2012 was its last business day, bringing an end to its 90-year history.
The train used was scrapped, but only two 7200 series trains were transferred to Oigawa Railway, which runs in Shizuoka Prefecture, and are still in operation.
The 7200 series trains were transferred to Towada Kanko Railway from Tokyu Corporation (currently Tokyu Corporation), which runs in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
At Oigawa Railway, you are living a third life.

daitetsu.jp

Link

Train 7200 series | Oigawa Railway [Official]

https://daitetsu.jp/archives/library/Train 7200 series

On the other hand, major facilities such as Misawa Station (*) and Towada City Station were dismantled after the Towada Kanko Railway Line was abolished.
Since the rails were also removed, there are almost no traces of the railway line remaining, but the station building of Shichihyaku Station in Rokunohe-cho, Kamikita-gun and the surrounding tracks remain.
The building in the rolling stock area (car depot) adjacent to the station has also been preserved as
`700 Railway Memorial Museum Vehicles used by the Towada Kanko Railway are preserved inside the building, and are open to the public several times a year.

*Misawa Station continues to exist as a station on the Aoimori Railway Line (formerly JR Tohoku Main Line).

Information <Seven Hundred Railway Memorial Museum>

• Name: 700 Railway Memorial Museum
• Address: 14-66 Inuochise Gongenzawa, Rokunohe-machi, Kamikita-gun, Aomori Prefecture
• URL Seven Hundred Rails Fan Club | Facebook

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Current Towada Kanko Railway

Although Towada Kanko Electric Railway has lost its railway business, which had been in business since its founding, the company has not been dissolved and its name remains the same.
We continue to work on
`Totetsu Bus which we had been working on even before the line was discontinued There are also express buses to Tokyo and Sendai, so you can see the Jutetsu name in areas other than Aomori Prefecture.

We also operate businesses such as the Towada Lake Pleasure Boat, Makado Onsen Ski Resort (*Closed for the 2023-2024 season), and an insurance agency.
Although Towada Kanko Railway is no longer a railway company, it continues to operate today, running businesses that are rooted in the local community, including the route bus business.

www.toutetsu.co.jp

Link

Towada Kanko Railway Co., Ltd.

http://www.toutetsu.co.jp

Route bus timetables, high-speed night buses, charter buses, Lake Towada sightseeing boats, travel information, ski resort information, station information, mainly in the southeastern part of Aomori Prefecture.