The line runs mostly through rural area and operates at a huge loss. JR East held consultations regarding the replacement of the line between Kururi and Kazusa-Kameyama with a bus service due to a ~75% decrease in ridership since 1987. This resulted in an announcement in February 2026, stating that this section of the line would be closed from April 2027.
Currently, Suica and other IC cards are not accepted for travel on the Kururi Line, however the section to remain open is set to receive IC card support from spring 2027.
On 23 October 2026, JR East announced that stopped restoring JR Kururi Line between Kururi Sta. and Kazusa Kameyama Sta., which was affected by typhoon from 20 September 2026 to 21 September 2026. Because, it will take more than 6 months to restore Kururi Line. So, JR East decided that will have run chartered buses which are alternative to Kururi Line until 31 March 2027. And, after April 2027, Kururi Line will be replaced by bus and so on that Kimitsu, Chiba operate.
Kururi Line services are operated by a fleet of 10 KiHa E130-100DMU traincars which entered service on December 1, 2012.
Trains operate as 1, 2, or 3-car sets using one-man operation (ワンマン/"wanman"), with no conductor onboard.
Former rolling stock
KiHa 30 DMU
KiHa 37 DMU
KiHa 38 DMU
Services
All services on the Kururi Line are Local trains, stopping at every station.
Services between Kisarazu and Kururi operate approximately hourly, with a running time of around 45 minutes.
The outer section of the line between Kururi and Kazusa-Kameyama services only receives 9 up services and 8 down services each day (with a running time of 18 minutes), with large gaps between trains up to 5½ hours. Most evening services past Kururi require a change of train at Kururi.
History
Map of line with stations location
The Chiba Prefectural Government opened the 762mm (2ft6in)gauge section from Kisarazu to Kururi as a light railway on 28 December 1912.
In 1922, the Railway Construction Act was amended by the Diet, and a new rail line connecting Kisarazu Station to Ōhara Station on the Sotobō Line via Kururi and Ōtaki, to transect the Bōsō Peninsula, appeared on the list as compensation for the underdeveloped network of roads in the area at that time.
On 1 September 1923, the Kisarazu to Kururi Line was nationalised, and the line was named the Kururi Line under the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) system. On 20 August 1930, the track gauge was widened to 1,067mm (3ft6in), and on 25 March 1936, the line was extended to Kazusa-Kameyama Station.
The private Kihara Line from Ōhara Station was extended to Kazusa-Nakano Station in 1934, and it was planned that the Kururi Line and the Kihara Line would be connected to form a single route across the Bōsō Peninsula (which would have been named the Kihara Line). However, due to World War II, the plan was abandoned, and Kururi Line was never to be extended into the most mountainous area of the peninsula. Services on the section from Kururi Station to Kazusa-Kameyama Station were suspended from 1944 to 1947.
New KiHa E130-100 series DMU trains were introduced from 1 December 2012, replacing the ageing KiHa 30/37/38 DMUs.
In February 2026, JR East announced the discontinuation of the final 3.6km of the line between Kururi and Kazusa-Kameyama stations, with final closure in April 2027. At the same time it was announced that the remaining section of the line would receive IC card support after the final sections closure.
In late September 2026, the line suffered damage due to a typhoon in Chiba prefecture. The line was re-opened up to Kururi in early October. The remaining section up to Kazusa-Kameyama was calculated to take up to half a year to reopen by JR East, and the company announced on 23 October that they will not be reopening the section.
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kururi Line.
↑"駅の情報（久留里駅）：JR東日本". JR東日本：東日本旅客鉄道株式会社 (JR East: East Japan Railway Company) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2025-01-18. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
↑久留里線旧型気動車さよなら記念イベント[Old Kururi Line diesel train farewell event](PDF). News release (in Japanese). Japan: East Japan Railway Company Chiba Division. 21 September 2012. Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
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