Chikuho Main Line - Chikuho Main Line

The name of the Kyushu Railway Company's track that runs through Fukuoka Prefecture. The 66.1 km section is between Wakamatsu, Iizuka and Haruda. The Wakamatsu-Iizuka section is double tracked, and the 34.5 km section between Orio and Katsuragawa is AC electrified. The line runs through the many former coal mining towns scattered along the Onga River basin, and connects to the Tsukushi Plain through the Miguri Mountains via the Hiyamizu Tunnel (3,286 meters long). The Chikuho Kogyo Railway (later the Chikuho Railway) opened the Wakamatsu-Iizuka section between 1891 and 1893 (Meiji 24-26) as a coal transport railway for the Chikuho coalfields. After the railway was merged into the Kyushu Railway in 1897, the Iizuka-Nagao (now Katsuragawa) section opened in 1901 (Meiji 34). It was nationalized in 1907, and in 1909 the section between Wakamatsu, Iizuka and Kamiyamada was named the Chikuho Main Line, and the section between Iizuka and Nagao was named the Nagao Line. However, the Nagao Line was extended, and when the Nagao-Harada section was completed in 1928-1929 (Showa 3-4), the section between Wakamatsu, Iizuka and Harada became the Chikuho Main Line, and the section between Iizuka and Kamiyamada was separated to become the Kamiyamada Line (abolished in 1988). In the past, the line was bustling with coal transport from the many coal mines along the line to Wakamatsu Port, and it was connected to many branch lines, and coal mining towns such as Nogata and Iizuka flourished, but with the disappearance of the coal mines, demand for this line rapidly declined. In 1987, with the division and privatization of the Japanese National Railways, it became part of Kyushu Railway Company. The section between Kurosaki, Katsuragawa and Hakata, including other lines, is nicknamed the "Fukuhoku Yutaka Line," the section between Wakamatsu and Orio is the "Wakamatsu Line," and the section between Katsuragawa and Harada is the "Harada Line."

[Eiichi Aoki and Ryo Aoki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

福岡県内を走る九州旅客鉄道の線路名称。若松―飯塚(いいづか)―原田(はるだ)間66.1キロメートル。若松―飯塚間が複線化、折尾―桂川間34.5キロメートルが交流電化。遠賀(おんが)川の流域に多数分布していたかつての炭鉱都市を連ねて走り、三郡(みぐり)山地を冷水(ひやみず)トンネル（長さ3286メートル）で抜けて筑紫(つくし)平野に結ぶ。筑豊炭田の運炭鉄道として、筑豊興業鉄道（のち筑豊鉄道）によって1891～1893年（明治24～26）若松―飯塚間が開業し、同鉄道が1897年九州鉄道に合併されたのち、1901年（明治34）飯塚―長尾（現、桂川(けいせん)）間が開業した。1907年国有化され、1909年に若松―飯塚―上山田(かみやまだ)間を筑豊本線、飯塚―長尾間を長尾線としたが、長尾線が延長され、1928～1929年（昭和3～4）に長尾―原田間が全通するに及んで、若松―飯塚―原田間を筑豊本線とし、飯塚―上山田間を分離して上山田線（1988年廃止）とした。かつては沿線にあった多数の炭鉱から若松港への石炭輸送でにぎわい、多数の支線と接続し、直方(のおがた)、飯塚などの炭鉱都市が繁栄したが、炭鉱の消滅とともにこの線の需要も急速に減退した。1987年、日本国有鉄道の分割民営化により、九州旅客鉄道に所属。他線を含めた黒崎―桂川―博多間に「福北(ふくほく)ゆたか線」、若松―折尾間に「若松線」、桂川―原田間に「原田線」の愛称がそれぞれある。

［青木栄一・青木　亮］

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