Railway Operators in Japan 2 HokkaidoRailway Operators

58 Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001

Railway Operators

Railw

a y Operators

Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Railway Operators in Japan 2

HokkaidoShuichi Takashima

Overview

General description of HokkaidoSurrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Seaof Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, Hokkaidois the northernmost island in the Japanesearchipelago with an area of 83,452 km2,representing 22% of the nation’s total landarea. Although Hokkaido is the largest ofall 47 prefectures in Japan, its populationis just 5.7 million, representing only about4.5% of the national total—the populationdensity is just 20% of the average.Agriculture, fisheries, and forestry are themajor industries, and the scenery is stilllargely untouched with wild mountainareas, wetlands, and natural lakes. Severalport cities have active industrial sectors, butmost Japanese generally visualize

Hokkaido as vast fields and verdant nature.Amidst the Japanese economic recession,Hokkaido is suffering from a stagnanteconomy. Moreover, the centralizationof economic activity and population inSapporo, the prefectural capital, is aconcern. For example, Sapporo has 1.76million inhabitants while the second andthird largest cities of Asahikawa andHakodate have just 0.36 million and 0.30million, respectively.

Outline of railwaysRailways in Hokkaido have a total lengthof 2702.0 km of which 2499.8 km (on 1April 2001) are operated by JR Hokkaido,which was established in 1987 after thebreakup and privatization of JapaneseNational Railways (JNR). The sparsepopulation makes it difficult to operate

profitable private railways in Hokkaido.In the 1950s, several private railwayshauled coals from Hokkaido’s coalmines,and also provided local passengerservices. However, most freight railwaysclosed after the decline of the coalindustry and as private cars becameincreasingly common.JR Hokkaido has three major railwayfunctions––to link Sapporo with othermajor cities in Hokkaido and the mainisland of Honshu; to provide transport inurban areas of Sapporo; and to providelocal transport in other rural regions.The four other private railway operatorsin Hokkaido have just 202.2 route-km. Tostem mounting losses, JR Hokkaido gaveits Chihoku Line to the local governmentin 1989 and it was renamed the HokkaidoChihoku Highland Railway. The line

Size and Financial Status of Railways in Hokkaido

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

JR Hokkaido No. of Passengers (1,000) 103,035 109,954 116,368 122,622 125,941 127,602 129,393 129,130 124,644 124,544

Passenger Density* 4,455 4,826 4,991 5,076 5,030 5,026 5,124 5,173 4,995 4,975

Hokkaido Chihoku Highland Volume 904 1,027 943 903 880 866 816 765 698 678

Railway Density 516 476 439 472 462 456 431 406 372 361

Sapporo CitySubway Volume 272,980 275,579 283,818 275,180 270,159 271,134 281,364 269,110 260,482 251,913

TransportDensity 83,777 88,069 90,270 88,092 86,457 82,060 79,852 76,934 74,062 72,209

Bureau Tramway Volume 9,415 18,612 9,667 9,455 9,297 9,053 9,354 9,055 8,824 8,706

Density 7,365 7,449 7,717 7,568 7,432 7,227 7,409 7,182 6,982 6,879

Hakodate City Volume 8,803 8,583 8,678 8,683 8,705 8,258 8,317 8,175 8,431 7,743Transport Bureau Density 4,194 4,381 4,418 4,922 6,563 6,226 6,255 6,164 6,356 5,838

Passenger Volume and Density by Railway Company

Number of Capital Operating Revenue Operating Expense Operating Profits/Losses Ordinary Profits/ Losses

Route-km Employees (¥1,000) (¥1,000) (¥1,000) (¥1,000) (¥1,000)

Railway Non-railway Railway Non-railway Railway Non-railway

JR Hokkaido 2,499.8 10,071 9,000,000 89,265,972 9,932,704 121,251,620 10,672,973 -31,985,648 -740,269 1,989,148

Hokkaido Chihoku140.0 104 499,950 279,383 2,256 775,039 — -495,656 — -474,339

Highland Railway

Sapporo City 48.0 (Subway) — — 39,266,394 10,062,742 42,453,536 14,060,712 -3,187,142 -3,997,970 -26,728,585 8.5 (Tramway)

Hakodate City 10.9 — — 1,314,804 1,270,724 1,448,409 1,809,169 -133,605 -538,445 -638,722

Note: Passenger Density = Daily Passenger-km/Route-km

59Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

offers local passenger transport betweenthe cities of Kitami and Ikeda in easternHokkaido.The Sapporo and Hakodate localgovernments operate subways and tramsin each city. In Kushiro, Taiheiyo Coals& Transportation operates a local freightline with no connections to other lines.

Interurban Transportation

In recent years, JR Hokkaido has beenk n u c k l i n g d o w n t o r e b u i l d i n gtransportation links between Sapporo andother local cities. Hakodate, Muroran,Asahikawa, Nayoro, Kitami, Obihiro, andKushiro are all linked with Sapporo by fastlimited-express trains running on narrow-gauge tracks (1067 mm).

Sapporo–AsahikawaThe first line to be speeded-up by JRHokkaido was between Sapporo andAsahikawa. In Hokkaido, most lines arenon-electrified single-track sections, butthis section has been electrified anddouble-tracked. The limited expressWhite Arrow and Lilac used to travel onthis section. In 1990, the Series 785 SuperWhite Arrow started operation atmaximum speeds of 130 km/h, helpingto counter passenger losses to theSapporo–Asahikawa section of the Doo

Expressway opened in the same year. TheSuper White Arrow expresses completethe 136.8-km journey in 1 hour and 20minutes at a schedule speed of 102.6 km/h. The train timetable is also veryconvenient with hourly departures in bothdirections between 08:00 and 21:00. TheLilac limited express still providessupplementary services with 30-minutedepartures from stations that are notserved by the Super White Arrow. Thereare 26 daily roundtrips between the twotermini.

Sapporo–HakodateJR Hokkaido’s recent efforts to cut traveltimes on difficult non-electrified single-track lines are of special note. During itslast days, JNR tried to speed-up services byexperimenting with introduction of newrolling stock. JR Hokkaido strengthenedthese efforts by adding more powerfultraction units and better track facilities. Forexample, the number of sections with speedlimits such as station yards and curves havebeen reduced by improving the trackcharacteristics. For higher speeds through

WakkanaiakkanaiWakkanaiMinami-WMinami-WakkanaiakkanaiMinami Wakkanai

Otoineppu

Nayoro

Engaru

AbashiriAbashiriAbashiri

NemuroNemuroNemuro

AkkeshiAkkeshiAkkeshiNemuro-Mai

n lineNemuro

main line

Higashi-kushiroHigashi-kushiroHigashi kushiro

IkedaObihiro

Shintoku

Operating JR lines

Hokkaido Chihoku Highland Railway

Closed lines

SamaniSamaniSamani

Nemuro main line

Furano Line

Sekihoku main line

Senmo main line

Furano

Yubari

Shin-YShin-YubariubariShin YubariOiwakeTomakomai

Muroran-Main lineMuroran-Main lineMuroran main line

Hidaka main line

Sekisho Line

Higashi-MuroranHigashi-MuroranHigashi MuroranMuroran

Oshamambe

Mori

OnumaOnumaOnumaGorGoryokakuyokakuGoryokaku

HakodateHakodateHakodate

EsashiEsashi-LineEsashi-LineEsashi Line

Kikonai

Tsugaru Kaikyo Line

Hakodate-Main lineHakodate-Main lineHakodate main line

Shin-AsahikawaShin-AsahikawaShin Asahikawa

AsahikawaAsahikawaAsahikawaMashilceMashilceMashilce

Rumoi

FukagawaShin-TShin-TotsugawaotsugawaShin Totsugawa TakikawaakikawaTakikawa

SunagawaSunagawaSunagawa

IwamizawaIwamizawaIwamizawa

Otaru

Hakodate-Main lineHakodate-Main lineHakodate main line

Sassho Line

Shiraishi

SoenSapporo

Shin ChitoseChitose Line

Rumoi-Main lineRumoi-Main lineRumoi main line

Kami-SunagawaKami-SunagawaKami-Sunagawa

Kushiro

Shibecha

Kitami

Railway Lines in Hokkaido

Series 785 EMU Super White Arrow limited express on Hakodate main line(JR Hokkaido)

Series 781 EMU Lilac limited express on Hakodate main line. This train serves asAirport rapid service on Chitose Line. (JR Hokkaido)


Railway Operators


curves, a new Series Kiha 281 pendulumDMU with two engines each with a ratedcapacity of 355 PS was developed over anarduous 3-year period.The many non-electrified single-tracksections on the two routes betweenSapporo and Hakodate via either theHakodate main line or Muroran main linewere believed to prohibit the possibilityof speed increases. Services at maximumspeeds of 120 km/h by the conventionalHokuto (Ursa Major constellation) limitedexpress used to take 3 hours and 47minutes but the start of the Series Kiha 281pendulum DMU Super Hokuto limitedexpress in 1994 cut times to about 3 hours.Although the Super Hokuto is a DMU, itsmaximum schedule speed of 106.8 km isstill faster than that of the AC electric Series785 Super White Arrow. The seven dailyroundtr ips between Sapporo andHakodate by the Super Hokuto have beenso popular that air services between thetwo cities have been suspended.In addition, an improved Series Kiha 183still makes three daily roundtrips in 3hours and 30 minutes at maximum speedsof 130 km/h between Sapporo andHakodate. Despite its higher maximumspeed, the longer travel time of the non-pendulum Hokuto is due mostly to thelarge speed reduction on curves,demonstrating the effectiveness of theSuper Hokuto pendulum.

Furthermore, the Series 781 Suzuran (Lilyof the Valley—Convallaria majalis) limitedexpress makes five daily roundtrips at amaximum speed of 120 km/h betweenSapporo and Higashi Muroran. This seriesof EMUs was manufactured in the JNRdays so the Super Hokuto and HokutoDMUs run on this section at higher speedsthan Suzuran EMUs.

Sapporo–Obihiro/KushiroThe next lines targeted for speed increaseswere the lines to Obihiro (220.2 km fromSapporo) and Kushiro (348.5 km fromS a p p o r o ) . T h e s a m e t y p e s o fimprovements as described above weremade to both rolling stock and trackinfrastructure between 1993 and 1996. In1997, a remodelled Series Kiha 281pendulum DMU was put into service asthe Series Kiha 283 Super Ozora (SuperBig Sky) limited express. The pendulumtilt was increased to 6° from 5° and self-steering bogies were installed to increasethe maximum speed to 130 km/h, cuttingthe travel time from Sapporo to Kushirofrom 4 hours 25 minutes to 3 hours and34 minutes with four daily roundtrips.Super Ozora services between Sapporoand Obihiro, which is en route to Kushiro,take 2 hours and 9 minutes.There were a few trains operated withexisting rolling stocks until 1 July. Now,the Super Ozora operates Six daily

roundtrips.The convenience of services betweenSapporo and Obihiro is also greatlyimproved by five daily Tokachi (placename) and Super Tokachi roundtrips. Fromthe one daily Obihiro arrival and departure,the number rose to five daily roundtrips in1990, increasing the number of dailyroundtrips between Sapporo and Kushirofrom 7 to 11. This increase was made inan effort to compete against highway busesand proved successful in maintaining theline’s superiority on this route.

Sapporo–Nayoro/WakkanaiThe Sapporo–Nayoro/Wakkanai sectionwas speeded-up in the same manner asdescribed above but since the Sapporo–Asahikawa section was already ready forhigh-speed operations, improvements totrack facilities were only needed in theAsahikawa–Nayoro section (76.2 km).However, the Nayoro–Wakkanai sectionhad very low demand, so no groundfacility improvements were made and asimplified Series Kiha 261 Super Soya(place name) DMU was introduced in2000. Instead of using pendulum tiltingto improve speed on curves, the Series261 uses bogie air springs to control thedegree of tilting to 2°. The Super Soyamakes two daily roundtrips betweenSapporo and Wakkanai with a travel timeof 4 hours and 58 minutes. The time

Series 281 pendulum DMU Super Hokuto limited express on Hakodate main line(JR Hokkaido) Series 183 DMU Okhotsk on main line (JR Hokkaido)


between Sapporo and Nayoro is 2 hoursand 14 minutes. These services aresupplemented by one daily roundtripSarobetsu (place name) limited expressand one Rishiri (place name) overnightlimited express. The Sarobetsu Sapporo–Nayoro and Sapporo–Wakkanai servicestake 2 hours and 38 minutes and 5 hoursand 30 minutes, respectively. Theset imetables might not seem veryconvenient but conditions have improvedimmensely from when there were nolimited express trains on this section.How much did the speed increases costand where did the funding come from?The Sapporo–Hakodate improvements tot r a c k f a c i l i t i e s a l o n e t o t a l l e dapproximately ¥7 billion. To reduce theburden of such a large investment, JRHokkaido asked the pre fec tura lgovernment and local authorities forassistance. The Doto High-SpeedRailway Development Corporation wasestablished by JR Hokkaido, HokkaidoPrefectural Government and the cities ofKushiro and Obihiro to help finance thetotal construction costs of ¥10.7 billion.JR Hokkaido operates the train servicesby paying track fees to the company. Thismethod was also used for the Asahikawa–Nayoro improvements. In this case, boththe ¥3.2 billion cost of improved trackfacilities and the ¥1.76 billion cost ofrolling stock were born by the HokkaidoHigh-Speed Railway DevelopmentCorporation with JR Hokkaido payingtrack and rolling stock fees. In recentyears, other parts of Japan have startedto adopt similar methods in whichlocalities benefiting from better railwayservices bear an appropriate part of thefinancial burden.

Sapporo–Kitami/AbashiriThe Series Kiha 183 Okhotsk limitedexpress makes five daily roundtrip runsfrom Sapporo through Asahikawa toKitami (321.5 km) and on to Abashiri(374.5 km). So far, the track facilities on

this route have not been upgraded for highspeeds and the best travel times to Kitamiand Abashiri are 4 hours and 26 minutes,and 5 hours and 15 minutes, respectively.One roundtrip is an overnighter withsleeping cars coupled to ordinarypassenger carriages. The scheduled speedof this overnight Okhotsk service is slowerthan the daytime services to givepassengers more convenient departureand arrival times. The Marimo (Sapporo–Kushiro), Rishiri (Sapporo–Wakkanai), and

Hamanasu (Sapporo–Hakodate/Aomori)express all adopt the same lower schedulespeed for the same reason.

Rail Transport to Honshu

All railway transport between Hokkaidoand the main Japanese island of Honshuhas been through the 53.85-km long SeikanTunnel under the Tsugaru Strait since 1988when the tunnel opened. The tunnel had

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

Pas

seng

er V

olum

e (1

,000

)

Cange in Passenger Traffic through Seikan Tunnel

Series 261 DMU Super Soya on Soya main line (JR Hokkaido)


Railway Operators


been proposed before WWII but the tragicloss of 1155 lives when the Toya maru ferrysank in a typhoon in 1954 pushed thetunnel project forward. Preliminary boringstarted in 1964 and the tunnel was finallybroken through in 1985 at a total cost of¥538.4 billion. After the Minister oftransport gave instructions in 1972 thatshinkansen services should run through thetunnel, shinkansen facilities wereincorporated in the design. However,operations are still running on narrow-gauge track until new shinkansen linesreach the tunnel portals. (A full descriptionof the tunnel history and structure and isgiven on pp. 146–148 of A History ofJapanese Railways 1872–1999.)

Seikan Tunnel trainsPassenger and freight trains passingthrough the Seikan Tunnel are completelyseparate. The loco-hauled Kaikyo (Strait)passenger train makes seven dailyroundtrips between Aomori and Hakodate(160.4 km) in a time of 2 hours and 40minutes. In addition, four Series 485Hatsukari (First Wild Geese) limitedexpress EMUs connect directly withTohoku Shinkansen services arriving atMorioka and travel through the tunnel toHakodate. The Hamanasu (Sweet-brier)

overnight sleeper makes one roundtripbetween Sapporo and Aomori.There are also sleeper limited expresseslinking Osaka and Tokyo directly withSapporo. The first Hokutosei (Pole Star)services between Tokyo (Ueno Station)and Sapporo used loco-hauled Series 24passenger carriages remodelled for coldclimates with most carriages converted toluxury compartments as a marketingpoint. The only train making the roundtripbetween Hakodate and Osaka withdepartures from and arrivals at Aomoriwas the Nihonkai (Sea of Japan) limitedexpress. This service was soon followedby the Twilight Express between Osakaand Sapporo. It was also configured fromremodelled Series 24 passenger carriagesbut had even more luxurious facilities.The train schedule was irregular becauseit ran exclusively for tourists.After 10 years, JR East announced aH o k u t o s e i r e n e w a l p l a n a n dmanufactured the Series E26 Cassiopeiafor these prestige services.The tunnel is very convenient for freighthaulage because there is no need to loadfreight wagons onto train ferries. The freighttrains are operated by JR Freight and mostare container trains. To haul both passengertrains and freight trains, the Class ED 75

AC electric locomotive was remodelled asthe Class ED 79 to run through the underseatunnel. The Class ED 79 is expected to bereplaced by the more powerful Class EH500 in the near future.

Problems of Seikan TunnelThe Seikan Tunnel operation results showthat it faces serious economic problems.In passenger transport, most people (90%)travel between Hokkaido and Honshu byair because the rail travel times are verydisadvantageous. For example, the fastestpossible train journey between Tokyo andSapporo is to ride the Yamabiko (MountainEcho) Tohoku Shinkansen, transfer to theHatsukari limited express at Morioka, andthen transfer to the Super Hokuto atHakodate—taking more than 10 hoursand 30 minutes. By air, the journey isabout 3 hours and 30 minutes, includingairport access times. In terms of fares,railways are very much more expensivethan air, especially because airlinederegulation and severe competition onthe Tokyo–Sapporo route have resulted inheavy discounting. Although thedifference in recommended air and railfares seems small, the actual ‘street’ priceof air tickets is much lower than the priceof rail tickets. The Osaka–Sapporo andTokyo–Hakodate routes suffer from thesame problems. Since it is almostimpossible to compete with airlines inlong-distance intercity transport, somepeople are working to stimulate activebusiness exchange between Aomori andHakodate by creating one economic zonethat utilizes the Seikan Tunnel. However,the outlook is grim. Although theCassiopeia sleeper is popular, it offers nohope of relieving the problems becausethe number of passengers it can carry isl imited by the number of luxurycompartments. As a result of these factors,the number of passengers using daytimerail services between Tokyo/Osaka andSapporo is declining every year.Despite JR Freight’s poor results resulting

Sapporo–Ishikari Sapporo–IwamisawaSapporo–Shin Chitose-kuko Sapporo–Otaru

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

Pas

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olum

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Change in Annual Passenger Volume in Sapporo Metropolitan Area


from Japan’s prolonged recession, manymore freight trains (up to 52) pass throughthe Seikan Tunnel each day thanpassenger trains. Although the domesticshipping industry still has the lion’s shareof Honshu–Hokkaido freight transport,annual railway volumes now exceed 5million tonnes, which is a substantialincrease from pre-tunnel days.Maintenance and improvement of tunnelfacilities are also big issues. Although thetunnel opened to operations just 10 yearsago, some parts date from the beginningof construction in 1964 and aging isstarting to pose problems. It has beenagreed that JR Hokkaido wil l beresponsible for tunnel maintenance andimprovement, but it is difficult to allocatethe required funds due to stagnantpassenger demand. In addition, themaintenance costs are enormous becausethe tunnel is designed to accommodatefuture shinkansen services. Despite JRHokkaido’s plea for government help, thesituation is still undecided.

Transportation in SapporoArea

The trend towards over-concentration ofpopulation in Sapporo is becoming moreand more ser ious, and al thoughHokkaido’s population trend is flatteningout as a whole, Sapporo’s population isstill rising. In response to such conditions,JR Hokkaido is making efforts to meet thecommuting needs of workers and studentsin the Sapporo area. Based on JRHokkaido’s train network, urban Sapporoextends to Otaru (33.8 km from Sapporo)and Iwamisawa (40.6 km) on theHakodate main line, to Ishikari Tobetsu(27.5 km) on the Sassho Line, and to ShinChitose-kuko (46.6 km) on the ChitoseLine. JNR’s former urban train timetablewas not planned for commuting purposesespecially because the number ofpassengers was smaller than today.However, during the last days of 1986,

JNR started responding actively topassengers’ demands by building newstations and increasing the number of trainservices. JR Hokkaido’s present efforts area continuation of JNR’s policies.

Improving facilitiesSapporo’s new station was completed in1988, tracks in the city were elevated andthe section shared by the Hakodate mainline and Chitose Line between Sapporoand Naebo was quadrupled. In addition,a third track was added to the sectionbetween Sapporo and Soen for exclusiveuse by through trains to the Sassho Line.These improvements eliminated thebottleneck near Sapporo Station. Otherfacilities have been actively improved,including elevation and double-trackingof the Sassho Line. The huge capital costsof these improvement projects wereshared between the city planning office,other public projects and JR Hokkaido.

Improving carriagesDuring the JNR days, to keep passengerswarm in the cold winter climate, mostcarriages in suburban areas aroundSapporo had just two doors on one sideand footsteps at both ends. Although heatsaving, such a design does not meet theneeds of quick high-volume boarding anddisembarkation. As a result, stationstanding times were longer than averageand delayed smooth operat ions.Furthermore, many passenger trains werestill hauled by electric locomotives. Inaddition to the poor acceleration anddeceleration characteristics of loco-hauled trains, train turnaround times atthe terminus are greatly delayed by theneed to reattach the locomotive to theother end of the train. Right from thestart, one of JR Hokkaido’s main prioritieshas been to switch from loco-hauledtrains to multiple units.With the completion of elevated tracksaround Sapporo Station in 1988, newSeries 721 commuter trains were

introduced. Although the cars still hadfootsteps, there were three doors on oneside, which greatly improved passengerflow. In addition, the train had amaximum speed of 130 km/h and goodacceleration, contributing greatly to abetter train timetable. The Series 721remained in production for a number ofyears and comprised most passenger trainsin the Sapporo region. The Series 731appeared in 1997 and has more featuressuiting urban transport. Carriages havethe same three doors on one side as thepredecessor Series 721 but no footsteps.In order to shut out the severe winter cold,air curtains are installed above the doorentrances. The seat arrangement was alsochanged. Instead of conventional cross-seating facing the direction of travel, sidebench seats like those in Tokyo commutertrains are used. This caused somecontroversy about service deteriorationdue to the fewer available seats but it doescontribute to smoother passenger flow.The Series 731 can also be operated inconjunction with a DMU. The Series 731operates mainly between Sapporo andOtaru but urban sprawl is bringing morepassengers from non-electrified sectionspast Otaru. There have been directservices to Sapporo by diesel loco-hauledtrains, but the timetables were limited bythe lower performance than electric trains.To solve this problem, Series 201dieselcars with a similar body to the Series 731and that could be coupled to the Series731 were developed. Since coupledSeries 201 diesel cars must match thespeed and high acceleration anddeceleration of the Series 731 electriccars, each diesel car has two high-powerengines rated at 450 PS as well amechanism permitting a maximum tilt of2° to increase speed through curves. Thedevice is simpler than the pendulum tiltmechanism and achieves tilting byinflating air springs on the bogies.The improvement to facilities hasfacilitated addition of extra services,


Railway Operators


especially on the Sassho Line (where somesections have seen a tripling of servicefrequency over the past 15 years), whichin turn has necessitated more rolling stock.To meet this need, surplus passengercarriages were remodelled into the SeriesKiha 143 DMUs with new driving gearand driving seat, permitt ing costreductions in manufacturing.

Airport Access

New Chitose Airport is the major airportfor the Sapporo area. (The other isOkadama Airport.) The first railwayaccess to the airport was possible whenChitose-kuko Station (now MinamiChitose Station) was opened in 1980.When a new terminal building was builtat a different location, a new undergroundline (2.5 km) was opened between

Minami chitose Station and the new ShinChitose-kuko Station. The opening of ShinChitose-kuko Station saw the start ofAirport rapid-transit services at 15-minuteintervals in each direction from 08:00 to19:00 to and from Sapporo with a traveltime of 36 minutes. Among the fourhourly Airport Sapporo–Chitose rapidservices, at least one runs directly to andfrom Otaru, and another to and fromAsahikawa. The latter becomes Lilaclimited express (surcharge payable)between Sapporo and Asahikawa. Dueto the excellent rail access, 50% of NewChitose Airport passengers use the railway.

Sapporo and HakodateMunicipal Transport

Sapporo subwaySapporo City opened a 12.1-km subwayin 1971 to become the fourth city in Japan

with a subway. The route length hasincreased over the years to reach 48.0 kmon a network of three lines: the north–south Namboku Line (Asabu–Makomanai,14.3 km), the east–west Tozai Line(Miyanosawa–Shin Sapporo, 20.1 km),and the nor th– sou th Toho L ine(Sakaemachi–Fukuzumi, 13.6 km). Thethree routes operate independently but allpass through the centre of Sapporo City.The trains on these three lines arecharacterized by solid rubber tyres, whichprovide low noise, superior accelerationand deceleration, and good adhesion forclimbing grades. To cut constructioncosts, part of the Namboku Line waselevated and covered with an aluminiumshelter to prevent accumulation of snowon the tracks. (Sapporo receives an annualaverage snowfall of 480 cm.)Although these subway lines carry manymore passengers than JR Hokkaido, they

Series 721 Airport rapid service on Hakodate main line (JR Hokkaido)

Sapporo City’s Namboku Line Series 3000 EMU with rubber tyres running inside thesnow shelter (Sapporo City Transport Bureau)

Series 201 DMU coupled with Series 731 EMU on Hakodate main line. (JR Hokkaido)

Sarara Tram running on Susukino district for the first time in 1983(Sapporo City Transport Bureau)


are also suffering from decreasingpassenger numbers, which can be blamedmostly on the economic recession andwidespread adoption of a 5-day workingweek. Another possible cause is the shortlength of the lines, which all terminatewithin 10 km of central Sapporo; sincethe roads in this central area are good,people tend to drive rather than take thesubway. Furthermore, although there isconcentration of population in SapporoCity, the number of people living in thecentral area is decreasing. Finally, thesubway fares are relatively expensive. Asa result, the Sapporo subway faces anincreasingly bleak financial situation.

Sapporo tramwayThe Sapporo tramway starts from Odori(Main Street) at the city centre, runswestward to the suburban outskirts andthen sweeps around in a southerly loopback to the city centre at Susukino nearMain Street. The 8.5-km length is almosta closed circle but the line operates ashuttle service due to the small breakbetween Main Street and Susukino. Theline has had chequered history withexpansion and contraction, and thep re sen t rou te and l eng th we reconsolidated in 1974. The tramcars andstreet facilities have been renewed inrecent years. The tram stops now haveroofs, safety rails, and an informationsystem. Also, the trolley wires weresecured to centre poles as a part of a citybeautification programme. New cars haveair conditioners.Although the number of tram passengersis decreasing, the low environmentalimpact and construction cost are meritsworth further consideration.During Sapporo’s severe winters, thesnow-clearing Sasara Tram removes snowon tracks using large rotating brushes atthe car front—a unique method ofremoving snow. The save snow-cleaningtrains are also used in Hakodate City butare being replaced by trucks with brushes.

Hakodate tramwayThe Hakodate City Transportation Bureauoperates an east–west 10.9-km tramwaywithin the city. It has four lines, formedfrom two systems. Hakodate has a longhistory of trams dating back to horse tramsin 1897. Electric trams started in 1913and operation was transferred to theTransportation Bureau in 1943. The linewas 17.7-km long in the 1960s, but wasreduced as more people owned private

cars. A section was closed in 1993 whenthe system was reorganized. Operationsare facing difficult times and althoughpassenger densi ty was improvedtemporarily by closing the loss-makingsection, it has not resolved the root of theproblem, which is declining passengernumbers. Although no sudden changesto the trams are expected, the long-termoutlook is bleak.

Miyanosawa

Hassamuminami

Kotoni

Nijuyonken

Nishi 28-chomeNishi 18-chome

Nishi 11-chome

Maruyamakoen

JR

Subways

Tramway

Oyachi

Tozai Line

Chitose Line

Hakodate main line

Sessho Line

Namboku Line

Toho Line

to Otaru

to Shin Totsugawa

to Takikawa

to Shin Chitose-kuko

Asabu

Kita 34-jo

Kita 24-jo

Kita 18-jo

Kita 12-jo

Kita 13-jo Higashi

Sakaemachi

Shindou Higashi

Motomachi

Sapporo

Kikusui

Hibarigaoka

Shin-SapporoShin-SapporoShin Sapporo

Shiraishi

Nango 7-chome

Nango 13-chome

Nango 18-chome

Higashi Sapporo

Bus Center-mae

Housui Susukino

Gakuen- mae

Toyohira -koen

Misono

Fukuzumi

Tsukisamu cho

Kanjoudori Higashi

Higashi kuyakusho mae

SusukinoSusukinoSusukino

Nakajima-koen

Horohirabashi

Nakanoshima

Hiragishi

Minami Hiragishi

Sumikawa

Jieitai-mae

Makomanai

Odori

Rail Transport in Sapporo City

Hakodate-dokku-mae

Hakodate-eki-maeHakodate-eki-maeHakodate-eki-mae

MatsukazechoShinkawacho

Chitosecho

to Sapporo

Goryokaku-koen-mae

Suginamicho

Kashiwagicho

Fukaboricho

Keibajo-mae

Komaba-shako-mae

Shimin-kaikan-mae

Yunokawa-onsen

Yunokawa

Showabashi HorikawachoChuo-byoin-mae

ChiyogadaiOmachi

Uoichiba-dori

Shiyakusho-mae

Hakodate Line

Suehirocho

Jujigai

Horaicho

Aoyagicho

Yachigashira

JR

Tramway

Bus route

Rail Transport in Hakodate City


Railway Operators


Rural Transport

Line closuresThe financial situation of many rural linesin Hokkaido poses a very serious problem.The 1980 Law for Special Measures toPromote JNR Rehabilitation specifiedclosure of all lines and sections with a dailydensity of less than 4000 passengers/km/day. Hokkaido had 22 such lines and 15were closed and changed to bus servicesby JNR. However, JR Hokkaido took overseven such lines (Horonai, Matsumae,Utashinai, Shibetsu, Nayoro main line,Tempoku, and Chihoku). The first threelines were changed to bus transport withinthe first year of JR Hokkaido operations,but it took much longer to makearrangements with the communities alongthe four remaining lines, which ran overmuch longer distances. Finally, it wasdecided that only the Chihoku Line wouldcontinue railway operations due to thestrong requests of towns along the line. Asa result, the Hokkaido Chihoku HighlandRailway was established by jointinvestment in March 1990 to operate thisline. Actual operations started in June ofthe same year and are described later inthis article.However, even some lines that escaped the1980 designation as candidates for closurehave got in to trouble since the foundationof JR Hokkaido. For example, theSunagawa–Kami-sunagawa branch section(7.3 km) of the Hakodate main line wasclosed in May 1994. It was built originallyto carry coals and had been hit by a seriousdrop in passenger numbers since the 1987coalmine closure. During its last years, theannual revenue from fares had fallen to just¥1.8 million while operation costsamounted to ¥100 million. Although theoperation results were very bad, the lineescaped closure for some years because itwas treated as a part of the Hakodate mainline and the true results were masked bythe operation results for the entire Hakodate

main line. JR Hokkaido notified the localcommunity of its intention about 1 yearbefore the planned closure because the1986 Railway Business Law required theconsent of local communities affected bythe closure. Similarly, the Shinmei Line(Fukagawa–Nayoro, 121.8 km) was closedin September 1995. It had been carryingless than the 4000 passengers/km/daybenchmark when the old JNR haddesignated lines for closure but escapedbecause there was no parallel road service.However, the later completion of a parallelroad made a switch to bus services possible.The local community was notified of theplan and consented without major friction.

Management by operations officesThere is little room for optimism about thebusiness conditions of many other rurallines and a system of operations offices hasbeen established to promote efficientoperation of these lines. Each operationsoffice has a role similar to a small branchoffice and is authorized by JR HokkaidoHeadquarters to manage i ts l ineindependently by developing localstrategies for scheduling trains, managingrolling stock and crew, maintaining facilitiesand carriages, and planning budgets.A good example is the Hidaka LineOperations Office (Tomakomai–Samani,146.5 km), which was established in 1990.Although a main line in name, the Hidakamain line was actually a non-electrifiedsingle-track line with no superior trainservices and flagging passenger volumes.The Hidaka Line Operations Office servedas a case study in introduction of efficientmanagement methods. Initially, somepeople took a dim view of this breakup ofcompany operational unity, but the smalllocally tuned adjustments made by theHidaka Line Operation Office producedsuch astonishingly positive results that thenew system now receives high acclaim.1991 also saw the establishment of theHanasaki Line Operations Office tomanage the Higashi Kushiro–Nemuro

section (132.5 km) of the Nemuro mainline, and the Soya Kita Line OperationsOffice to manage the Nayoro–Wakkanaisection (183.2 km) of the Soya main line.

Sightseeing by ‘trolley train’ andsteam locomotiveSome lines are attempting to revitalizebusiness by operating special trains cateringto tourists, etc. In 1989, the Kushiro BranchOffice started running the KushiroMoorland Norrokko on the Kushiro mainline with the catch-phrase ‘Japan’s SlowestTrain.’ The plan was to offer touristsspectacular views of the beautiful sceneryalong the line seen from remodelledpassenger carriages with no windows.Such open-type trains are called ‘TrolleyTrains’ for the rustic sentiment they embody.The ‘Norrokko’ part of the train’s name is acoined term combining noroi, a Japanesederogatory term for slow, with torrokko,meaning a trolley. This train has provedvery popular and although it was plannedto run just during summer, it now operatesyear-round on various lines. TheAsahikawa Branch Office has copied thisbusiness model and now runs a similar trainon their Furano and Rumoi lines.Operation of restored steam locomotivesis also relatively widespread. In 1987, arestored Class C62 steam locomotive,which was the largest steam locomotive toever run in Japan and holds the world speedrecord for a narrow-gauge steamlocomotive, was returned to servicebetween Otaru and Niseko on theHakodate main line. The restoration wasperformed by various volunteer groups andsponsors who appreciated the historicsignificance of railway preservation.However, due to the long recession, thesponsors were forced to pull out and thetrain stopped in 1995. Operation using aClass C11 with lower operating costs thanthe Class C62 was resumed in 1999 on theRumoi main line catering to tourists andtravelling to a destination made famous bya TV programme in which the train itself


Shuichi Takashima

Mr Takashima is a doctoral student in economic history at the University of Tokyo from where he

graduated in Japanese history in 1999. He is researching modern city formation and transport, with

special interest in the development of railways.

appeared. Another Class C11 was restoredin 2000. Such sightseeing trains werepopular during JNR’s last days and seventrains were built to travel to popular touristresorts. However, long-distance sightseeingtrains are not operated frequently today.

Hokkaido Chihoku HighlandRailwayAs mentioned before, the HokkaidoChihoku Highland Railway (Kitami–Ikeda,140.0 km) took over operations of JRHokkaido’s Chihoku Line in 1989. The firststep taken by the new operator was toincrease the number of trains each day by50% from 26 to 39. In addition, thecompany started running one daily expressbetween Kitami and Ikeda, cutting the traveltime by as much as 49 minutes. Othertimetable improvements were based on thecommuting needs of local high-schoolstudents and connections to other JRHokkaido trains. Convenient directconnections with JR Hokkaido services toObihiro started in 1991.The company also replaced the old large20-m railcars from the JR Hokkaido era withsmaller, but more efficient 16-m railcarsdeveloped by Niigata Engineering Co., Ltd.for use on rural lines nationwide. Thedesign is a ‘one size fits all’ concept thatcuts manufacturing costs by increasing thenumber of common parts. To reduce staff

costs, the trains have no conductor. Stationswere improved in conjunction with localcommunities by combining them withpublic facilities, such as auditoriums, tomake the station a community centre andincrease railway usage.Despite such efforts, the HokkaidoChihoku Highland Railway carried just361 passengers/day/km in 1998, a figurethat ranks at the bottom of all rural linesnationwide. The line continues to operatewith the support of local communities butthe decreasing number of passengersraises the question of how much longer itcan survive. �

Further ReadingJR Hokkaido Kono 10 Nen (JR Hokkaido: The last 10

years), Hokkaido Railway Co., 1997.

Furusato Ginga-sen 10 Nen no Ayumi (Furusato Ginga-

sen: Steps in 10 years), Hurusato Ginga-sen 10-year

Anniversary Executive Committee, 1996.

The Railway Pictorial, Railways in Hokkaido (in

Japanese), No. 541, March 1991.

The Railway Pictorial, Hakodate, Chitose and Muroran

Lines (in Japanese), No. 609, August 1995.

The Railway Pictorial, JR Hokkaido (in Japanese), No.

657, August 1998.

Railway Journal, Hokkaido—Dream Railway Tracks (in

Japanese), No. 369, July 1997.

Railway Journal, Railways in Hokkaido (in Japanese),

No. 395, September 1999.

Tetsudo Tokei Nenpo (Railway Statistics Annual

Reports), edited by the Railway Bureau of the Ministry

of Transport.

Series Kiha 54 DMU running on northern section of Soya main line where Rishiri Fujion back view (JR Hokkaido)

Steam locomotive Class C 11 hauling seasonal tourist train on Rumoi main line(JR Hokkaido)

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