Ban'etsu East Line

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Ban'etsu East Line
A KiHa 110 series DMU near Kanmata Station, September 2018
Overview
Native name	磐越東線
Status	In operation
Owner	JR East
Locale	Fukushima Prefecture
Termini	Iwaki Kōriyama
Stations	16
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	JR East
Depot(s)	Kōriyama
Rolling stock	KiHa 110 series DMU
History
Opened	1915; 109 years ago (1915)
Technical
Line length	85.6 km (53.2 mi)
Number of tracks	Entire line single tracked
Character	Rural
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	100 km/h (62 mph)
Route map

The Ban'etsu East Line (磐越東線, Ban'etsu-tō-sen) is a railway line in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Iwaki Station in Iwaki and Kōriyama Station in Kōriyama. The name "Ban'etsu" is taken from the first characters of the names of the ancient provinces of Iwaki (磐城) and Echigo (越後), which the Ban'etsu East and Ban'etsu West lines connect. "Tō" (東) means "east" in Japanese.

The line's nickname is the Yūyū Abukuma Line (ゆうゆうあぶくまライン), taken from the Abukuma River that flows nearby.

All trains are operated as local services in 2-, 3-, or 5-car formations. Service between Kōriyama and Ononiimachi is provided once every 30 minutes to two hours, but between Ononiimachi and Iwaki, there is a period of five hours where no trains operate. One reason for the few continuous services between Iwaki and Kōriyama is the opening of the parallel Ban-etsu Expressway in 1995; as a result, most long distance passengers use highway bus services.

The last express service, Iwaki, stopped running in 1982. During peak holiday periods such as Golden Week, Obon, and New Year, the rapid Abukuma makes a single round trip with a 2-car train.

• All stations are located in Fukushima Prefecture.
• Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇", "∨", or "∧". Trains cannot pass at stations marked "｜".

As of February 2009, the following rolling stock is used on the East Ban'etsu Line.

• KiHa 110 series DMUs

The line was planned by the Railway Construction Act in 1892. The Japanese Government Railways opened the first section as the Heigun West Line (平郡西線) between Koriyama and Miharu in 1914. The Iwaki - Ogawagō opened in 1915 as the Heigun East Line (平郡東線), the same year Miharu - Ononiimachi section opened. When the two sections were connected in 1917, the line became the Ban'etsu East Line.

Freight services ceased in 1987.

Media related to Ban'etsu East Line at Wikimedia Commons

• Stations of the Ban'etsu East Line (JR East) (in Japanese)