Sekihoku Main Line - Sekihoku Main Line

The name of the Hokkaido Railway Company's track that runs from central Hokkaido to eastern Hokkaido. The line is 234.0 km long, single track and non-electrified, between Shin-Asahikawa, Kitami and Abashiri. It runs from the Kamikawa Basin along the upper reaches of the Ishikari River, pierces the Kitami Mountains through the Sekihoku Tunnel (4,329 m), and connects the Yubetsu River basin on the slope of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Kitami Basin, and the Bihoro Plain. It is part of Hokkaido's trunk railway network that connects central Hokkaido with cities on the slope of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, and direct express trains are operated between Sapporo and Abashiri. It was originally built as a railway between Shin-Asahikawa and Engaru, and opened between Shin-Asahikawa and Kamikawa under the name of the Sekihoku Line in 1922-1923 (Taisho 11-12). After 1927 (Showa 2), when the Sekihoku East Line opened from the Engaru side, the Shin-Asahikawa side was renamed the Sekihoku West Line, and construction was carried out one after another from east to west, until the connection between the two lines was completed in 1932 with the opening of the Sekihoku Tunnel. At the same time, the Yubetsu Line's Engaru-Notsukeushi (now Kitami) section (opened 1912-1915) was incorporated, and the section between Shin-Asahikawa and Notsukeushi became the Sekihoku Line. In 1961 (Showa 36), the Abashiri Main Line's Kitami-Abashiri section (opened 1912) was incorporated and the name was changed to the Sekihoku Main Line. In 1987, following the privatization of the Japanese National Railways, the train became part of Hokkaido Railway Company.

[Eiichi Aoki and Ryo Aoki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

北海道中央部から道東へ走る北海道旅客鉄道の線路名称。新旭川(しんあさひかわ)―北見―網走(あばしり)間234.0キロメートル、全線単線、非電化。上川(かみかわ)盆地より石狩(いしかり)川の上流に沿って走り、北見山地を石北トンネル（4329メートル）で貫き、オホーツク海斜面の湧別(ゆうべつ)川流域、北見盆地、美幌(びほろ)平野などを連ねている。道央とオホーツク海斜面の諸都市を結ぶ北海道の幹線鉄道網の一部で、札幌と網走の間を直通する特急列車が運転されている。当初は新旭川―遠軽(えんがる)間の鉄道として建設され、石北線の名称で1922～1923年（大正11～12）に新旭川―上川間を開業、1927年（昭和2）以降、遠軽側から石北東線が開業すると、新旭川側を石北西線と改称のうえ、東西から逐次建設を進めて、1932年石北トンネルの開通によって両線の連絡が完成した。同時に湧別線のうちの遠軽―野付牛(のつけうし)（現、北見）間（1912～1915年開業）を編入して、新旭川―野付牛間を石北線とした。さらに1961年（昭和36）、網走本線のうちの北見―網走間（1912年開業）を編入して石北本線と改称された。1987年、日本国有鉄道の分割民営化により、北海道旅客鉄道に所属。

［青木栄一・青木　亮］

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