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company in Aomori Prefecture, has announced its intention to suspend train operations the Owani Line Although the company has used the word "suspended," the line is effectively considered abandoned. What kind of line was the Owani Line?
What is the Owani Line?
The Owani Line is a line operated by the Konan Railway, connecting Owani Station in Owani Town, Aomori Prefecture, to Chuo Hirosaki Station in Hirosaki City. It runs through apple orchards, a rare sight in Japan, and has earned the line the nickname Apple Orchard Railway The line is 13.9 km long and has 14 stations.
Chuo Hirosaki Station is a completely different station from Hirosaki Station on the JR Ou Main Line, and you have to walk about 1.5 km to get from Hirosaki Station to Chuo Hirosaki Station. Chuo Hirosaki Station is closer to Hirosaki Castle than Hirosaki Station, which suggests that the area around Chuo Hirosaki Station was originally the center of Hirosaki, as the station name suggests.
The Owani Line trains are equipped with 7000 series electric trains transferred from Tokyu Corporation (now Tokyu Corporation), a major private railway in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Advertisements from the Tokyu era are still visible inside the cars. The hanging rings inside the cars are designed to resemble apples and Mt. Iwaki, and there is one heart-shaped hanging ring per car.
7000 series train running on the Owani Line
The Owani Line has long been a major passenger transport service in the Hirosaki area, used for commuting to high schools along the line and for sightseeing. However, Konan Railway has announced that it will suspend train operations at fiscal year 2027 Although it is called a "suspension," it is almost certain that Konan Railway and the local governments along the line that support it will not have the financial resources to revive the line in the future, and the line is effectively considered abandoned.
Opened as a line of the Hirosaki Electric Railway
Chuo Hirosaki Station still retains the atmosphere of the Showa era when it first opened
operated by a company called Hirosaki Electric Railway , not the Konan Railway
At the time, transportation around Hirosaki was poor, with buses suspending service during the snowy winter months. Furthermore, the trains running on the Japan National Railways (now JR) Ou Main Line were mainly freight trains and express trains covering medium to long distances, with only a few local trains. So, at the suggestion of the mayor of Hirosaki at the time, local leaders teamed up with Mitsubishi Electric, which was focusing on railway system development, to form Hirosaki Electric Railway, which was established in July 1949. The Owani Line was opened by Hirosaki Electric Railway in January 1952.
The plan was to open the section from Owani Station to Chuo-Hirosaki Station as the first phase of the line, and from Chuo-Hirosaki Station north to Itayanagi Station on the JNR Gono Line as the second phase. Plans also included a Meya Line branching off from the Owani Line at Nishi-Hirosaki Station (now Hirosaki Gakuin-dai-mae Station) and running to Tashiro (Nishi-Maya Village). However, only the first phase of the line actually opened, and it remains so to this day.
Please also see this article for information about the Ou Main Line, which runs parallel to the Owani Line
The Owani Line is a part of the Konan Railway line
Although the Owani Line managed to open, it faced difficult times, probably because the entire section from Owani Station to Chuo Hirosaki Station ran parallel to the JNR Ou Main Line between Owani Station (now Owani Onsen Station) and Hirosaki Station. Also, in 1953, the year after it opened, buses began operating year-round. Since its opening, the Owani Line has never been profitable, and was acquired by Konan Railway, a private railway company in the same Aomori Prefecture. This was in 1970, when Hirosaki Electric Railway was dissolved, ending its short life of around 20 years.
The Konan Railway was founded in March 1926 at the end of the Taisho era, opening the section between Hirosaki Station and Tsugaru-Onoue Station in 1927, and extending it to Kuroishi Station in 1950 after the war, completing the entire Konan Line. The Owani Line had been in the red since its opening, and the reason why the privately owned Konan Railway took over its management was that the president at the time considered the Owani Line to be necessary for passenger numbers and regional development.
In addition, Konan Railway also acquired the JNR Kuroishi Line (Kawabe Station to Kuroishi Station) from JNR in 1984, which was designated as a designated local line (a line that was poorly used and should be abolished). This was also in response to a request from the local government to Konan Railway to keep the Kuroishi Line running. There are few cases where a designated local line of JNR, which could easily be expected to run at a loss, has been converted into a private railway line rather than into a third sector company (a company jointly funded by the national or local government and private sector). However, even after the conversion to Konan Railway, the Kuroishi Line struggled financially, and was abolished in 1998.
First abolition announcement
In 1974, the Owani Line had approximately 3.9 million users per year However, the number of users has been declining due to factors such as the increasing popularity of cars, a declining population along the line, a decrease in the number of schools along the line, and a reduction in the number of students. Also, although there are multiple schools along the line, some schools operate school buses, while others have students commute by car, so not all students who commute to school use the Owani Line. By 2012, the number of users per year had fallen to approximately 580,000
Therefore, at its general shareholders' meeting in June 2013, Konan Railway announced its intention to close the Owani Line in March 2017. Konan Railway had already been receiving support from Aomori Prefecture and local governments along the line since fiscal 2004, and the president apparently felt it would be unfortunate to impose any further burden on the local governments. Although the closure plan was withdrawn a month later, it is clear that further support for Konan Railway from local governments along the line is essential for the Owani Line's survival. In August, a survival strategy council was formed, made up of local governments along the line, economic organizations, and users, and meetings were held to discuss management improvement measures and support plans.
Abandonment of continued operation
A train stopped at Chuo Hirosaki Station
Since then, the Konan Railway has continued to struggle financially, and in fiscal 2017 the Konan Line also fell into the red, meaning that the management strategy of making up for the losses of the Owani Line with profits from the Konan Line has reached its limits
An incident that symbolizes the company's financial difficulties was the derailment that occurred on the Owani Line in August 2023. The cause of the derailment was determined to be wear on the rails caused by friction with the wheels, and service was forced to be suspended for approximately three weeks. Then, in September of the following year, an abnormality was found in the rails, and service was suspended for two months. This suggests that the company lacks the funds and personnel to maintain the rails.
The two-and-a-half-month suspension also led to a decline in passenger numbers, with annual passenger numbers for fiscal year 2023 reaching 270,000 This figure is now less than one-tenth of its peak, with fewer than 1,000 passengers per day, indicating that maintaining the railway is extremely difficult. In addition to this situation, the declining population along the line, rising electricity and labor costs, and the difficulty of securing the personnel necessary to ensure safe transportation meant that no improvement in management was expected. In November 2024, Konan Railway proposed suspending operation of the Owani Line , and local governments along the line also showed understanding. Konan Railway has finally given up on the survival of the Owani Line and on support for the line itself.
Legally, railway line closures must be notified at least one year in advance. Therefore, if Konan Railway wanted to, it could close the Owani Line just over a year from now, at the end of March 2026, for example. However, Konan Railway has proposed a three-year grace period, suspending service at the end of fiscal year 2027 (end of March 2028). this as an attempt to keep the Owani Line running until the students entering high school this spring graduate. This is a sign of the sense of responsibility of Konan Railway, which has long been a public transportation provider since its founding in the Taisho era. Local governments along the line have also agreed to support Konan Railway until the end of fiscal year 2027, so trains are expected to continue operating for another three years.
The future of the Owani Line and Konan Railway
Owani Station
After the Owani Line is suspended and effectively abolished, it is expected that buses will be operated to replace the Owani Line trains, but since it is necessary to secure vehicles and crew members to operate the buses, plans for replacement buses will likely need to be made quickly
Furthermore, after suspending the Owani Line, which was a chronically unprofitable line, Konan Railway will invest personnel and funds in the Konan Line in an effort to turn the business around. While it is unfortunate that the Owani Line will be discontinued, we sincerely hope that the Konan Line and the bus route that will replace it will continue to exist for a long time to come.
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