Hachikō Line

Hachikō Line
A KiHa 110 series near Takezawa Station, February 2017
Overview
Native name八高線
StatusIn operation
Owner JR East
Locale
Termini
Stations23
Service
TypeHeavy rail
OperatorJR East
Rolling stock
History
Opened1 July 1931; 95 years ago (1 July 1931)
Technical
Line length92.0 km (57.2 mi)
Num of tracks
  • Single-track (Hachiōji – Kita-Fujioka)
  • Double-track shared with Takasaki Line (Kita-Fujioka – Kuragano)
CharacterUrban in some areas and rural in others
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification1,500 V DC overhead catenary (Hachiōji – Komagawa)
None (Komagawa – Kuragano)
Operating speed
85 km/h (53 mph) (Hachiōji – Kita-Fujioka)
100 km/h (62 mph) (Kita-Fujioka – Kuragano)
Route map
Train on the Hachikō Line, 2020

The Hachikō Line (八高線, Hachikō-sen) is a 92.0 km (57.2 mi) regional railway line owned and operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is located within Tokyo, Saitama, and Gunma Prefectures in Japan. It connects Hachiōji Station in Hachiōji, Tokyo with Kuragano Station in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture.

Services

Komagawa Station in Hidaka, Saitama is the boundary point between two distinct sections. The southern section from Hachiōji to Komagawa is electrified at 1,500 V DC. Some trains terminate at Komagawa, while others continue over the Kawagoe Line to Kawagoe Station.

The non-electrified northern section connects Komagawa with Kuragano. All trains continue on the Takasaki Line to Takasaki, where transfer to the Jōetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen is available. There are no through services connecting the southern and northern halves of the line.

The Hachikō Line takes the first kanji of its name from the first character of Hachiōji (八王子) and the second kanji from the first character of Takasaki (高崎).

Stations

Hachiōji - Komagawa

Station Distance in km (mi) Transfers
Track layout
 Location
Between
stations		 Total
Hachiōji
八王子		 N/a 0 (0)
◇ Hachiōji Tokyo
Kita-Hachiōji
北八王子		 3.1 (1.9) 3.1 (1.9)   ◇
Komiya
小宮		 2.0 (1.2) 5.1 (3.2)   ◇
Haijima
拝島		 4.8 (3.0) 9.9 (6.2)
◇ Akishima
Higashi-Fussa
東福生		 2.8 (1.7) 12.7 (7.9)   ◇ Fussa
Hakonegasaki
箱根ヶ崎		 3.0 (1.9) 15.7 (9.8)   ◇ Mizuho, Nishitama District
Kaneko
金子		 4.8 (3.0) 20.5 (12.7)   ◇ Iruma Saitama
Higashi-Hannō
東飯能		 5.1 (3.2) 25.6 (15.9) Seibu Ikebukuro Line ◇ Hannō
Komagawa
高麗川		 5.5 (3.4) 31.1 (19.3) ■ Kawagoe Line (through to Kawagoe)
■ Hachikō Line (for Takasaki)		 ◇ Hidaka

Komagawa - Takasaki

Station Distance in km (mi) Transfers
Track layout
 Location
Between
stations		 Total
Komagawa
高麗川		 5.5 (3.4) 31.1 (19.3) ■ Kawagoe Line
■ Hachikō Line (for Hachiōji)		 ◇ Hidaka Saitama
Moro
毛呂		 5.8 (3.6) 36.9 (22.9)   ◇ Moroyama, Iruma District
Ogose
越生		 2.7 (1.7) 39.6 (24.6) Tobu Ogose Line | Ogose, Iruma District
Myōkaku
明覚		 5.2 (3.2) 44.8 (27.8)   ◇ Tokigawa, Hiki District
Ogawamachi
小川町		 8.0 (5.0) 52.8 (32.8) Tobu Tojo Line ◇ Ogawa, Hiki District
Takezawa
竹沢		 3.5 (2.2) 56.3 (35.0)   |
Orihara
折原		 4.0 (2.5) 60.3 (37.5)   | Yorii, Ōsato District
Yorii
寄居		 3.6 (2.2) 63.9 (39.7) Tobu Tojo Line
■ Chichibu Main Line		 ◇
Yōdo
用土		 4.5 (2.8) 68.4 (42.5)   |
Matsuhisa
松久		 2.7 (1.7) 71.1 (44.2)   | Misato, Kodama District
Kodama
児玉		 4.8 (3.0) 75.9 (47.2)   ◇ Honjō
Tanshō
丹荘		 4.1 (2.5) 80.0 (49.7)   | Kamikawa, Kodama District
Gunma-Fujioka
群馬藤岡		 4.7 (2.9) 84.7 (52.6)   ◇ Fujioka Gunma
Kita-Fujioka
北藤岡		 3.7 (2.3) 88.4 (54.9)   ^
Kuragano
倉賀野		 3.6 (2.2) 92.0 (57.2) ■ Takasaki Line (for Tokyo) || Takasaki
Through to Takasaki on the Takasaki Line
Takasaki
高崎		 4.4 (2.7) 96.4 (59.9) Joetsu Shinkansen
Hokuriku Shinkansen
■ Shinetsu Main Line
■ Joetsu Line
■ Ryōmō Line
■ Agatsuma Line
■ Jōshin Dentetsu Jōshin Line		 || Takasaki Gunma

Rolling stock

From 2017, former E231-0 series ten-car sets based at Mitaka Depot for use on Chūō–Sōbu Line services were reformed and converted to become four-car E231-3000 series sets based at Kawagoe for use on Kawagoe Line and Hachiko Line services. The first set entered revenue service on the line on 19 February 2018.

From 2018, former 209-500 series ten-car sets based at Mitaka Depot for use on Chūō–Sōbu Line services were reformed and converted to become four-car 209-3500 series sets based at Kawagoe for use on Kawagoe Line and Hachiko Line services.

Former rolling stock

History

The first section of the line, named the Hachikō North Line (Japanese: 八高北線, Hepburn: Hachikō-kita-sen), opened from Kuragano to Kodama on 1 July 1931, followed by the section from Hachioji to Higashi-Hanno, named the Hachikō South Line (Japanese: 八高南線, Hepburn: Hachikō-minami-sen), on 10 December 1931. The Hachiko North Line was extended southward from Kodama to Yorii on 25 January 1933, and the Hachiko South Line was extended northward from Higashi-Hanno to Ogose on 15 April 1933. The Hachiko South Line was further extended northward from Ogose to Ogawamachi on 24 March 1934, and the last section between Ogawamachi and Yorii opened on 6 October 1934, connecting the north and south sections, and completing the entire line, which became known simply as the Hachiko Line.

All passenger operations were switch from steam haulage to electric trains from 20 November 1958.

CTC signalling was commissioned over the entire line from 27 February 1985. On 1 April 1987, with the privatization and splitting of Japanese National Railways (JNR), the Hachiko Line was transferred to the ownership of JR East.

From 16 March 1996, the Hachioji to Komagawa section was electrified at 1,500 V DC, and services on the non-electrified section north of Komagawa to and from Takasaki were operated separately as one-man driver only operation services using KiHa 110 series DMUs, and the southern section began through service operations to the Kawagoe Line to Kawagoe Station. Also from the same date until 11 March 2022, some morning rush hour services left the Hachikō Line at Haijima Station and travel to Tokyo via the Ōme Line and Chūō Line; the reverse happened during the evening rush.

Starting 12 March 2022, the southern section from Hachiōji to Komagawa (and through services to the Kawagoe Line) began one-man driver only operation services using the existing 209-3500 and E231-3000 series EMUs.

From the start of the revised timetable on 15 March 2025, single-car services between Komagawa and Takasaki were discontinued.

Former connecting lines

  • Komagawa station – A freight-only line serving the Nippon Cement works in Hidaka operated from 1963 until 1984, which also connected to Nishi-Oya on the Tobu Ogose Line.

Accidents

At 07:40 on 24 August 1945, a head-on collision at the Tamagawa bridge [ja] resulted in 105 fatalities.

The Hachikō Line derailment in 1947 is Japan's worst rail accident since World War II in terms of fatalities.

References

  1. ↑ "HBｰE220系が八高線でデビュー" [HB-E220 series debuts on the Hachiko Line]. RM News (in Japanese). Japan: Neko Publishing. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  2. ↑ E231系3000番台4両が配給輸送される [E231-3000 series 4-car set transferred]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  3. ↑ 八高線用の209系3500番台が試運転 [Hachiko Line 209-3500 series undergoes test-running]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 21 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  4. ↑ 八高線用の209系3500番台が配給輸送される [Hachiko Line 209-3500 series transferred]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 19 January 2018. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 埼玉のローカル線のんびり旅 [Saitama Rural Railway Line Leisurely Trips] (in Japanese). Japan: Mikishobou. 31 July 2013. p. 59. ISBN 978-4-906799-26-8.
  6. 1 2 3 川越線に209系3100代を投入 103系を置換え [209-3100 series introduced on Kawagoe Line – Replacing 103 series]. Railway Journal. 39 (465). Japan: Tetsudō Journal: 106. July 2005.
  7. ↑ Shibata, Togo (11 February 2022). "八高線も走った元りんかい線の電車 209系3100番台の生い立ちと70-000形の歴史を振り返る" [Looking back on the history of the 209-3100 series and Rinkai Line 70-000 series]. Traffic News (in Japanese). Japan: Mediavague Co., Ltd. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  8. 1 2 八高線の単行運用終了 [End of single-car operation on the Hachiko Line]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 15 March 2025. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  9. ↑ JR気動車客車編成表 '04年版 [JR DMU & Coaching Stock Formations – 2004]. Japan: JRR. 1 July 2004. p. 197. ISBN 4-88283-125-2.
  10. ↑ Kawashima, Ryozo (February 2011). 日本の鉄道 中部ライン 全線・全駅・全配線 第１１巻 埼玉南部・東京多摩北部 [Railways of Japan – Chubu Line – Lines/Stations/Track plans – Vol 11 Southern Saitama and Northern Tama Tokyo]. Japan: Kodansha. p. 68. ISBN 978-4-06-270071-9.
  11. ↑ "八高線列車衝突事故と車輪" [The Hachiko Line Train Crash and Wheels] (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 January 2025. この鉄橋上で悲劇が起きたのは、太平洋戦争終結からわずか９日目の昭和20年（1945）８月24日早朝です。数日来の大雨の中で人為ミスも重なり、単線の八高線でありながら上り下りの列車が鉄橋上（橋脚No.７と８の間）で正面衝突し、少なくとも105人が死亡するという、特異な大惨事となりました。 [Tragedy occurred on the bridge in the early morning of August 24, 1945, only nine days after the end of the Pacific War. Due to a combination of human error and several days of heavy rain, trains on the single-track Hachiko Line collided head-on on the bridge (between piers 7 and 8), resulting in a remarkable catastrophe that killed at least 105 people.]