The Karasuyama Line (烏山線) is a local line run by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from Hōshakuji Station in Takanezawa, Tochigi Prefecture, to Karasuyama Station in Nasu-Karasuyama, Tochigi Prefecture. Its trains run through to Utsunomiya on the Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line).
History
Before the present line was planned, in 1894 Karasuyama town leaders, including Shimazaki Zenpei, asked the governor of Tochigi for a line called the Jōno Railway (常野鉄道). It would have reached Kawashima station on the Mito Line rather than link with the Ōshū line at Nagakubo, because of the flood risk at the Kinu River. The Jōno Railway was not built. When the Ōshū line was moved east and Hōshakuji station opened, a company called the Karasuyama Jinsha Railway was set up to plan a human-powered railway to Hōshakuji. That plan was not built either. In 1911 and 1912 local leaders sent repeated petitions for a light railway between Karasuyama and Hōshakuji. On 28 February 1912 the Imperial Diet approved a light railway from Hōshakuji to Karasuyama. Building was delayed by a shortage of government funds after the Russo-Japanese War. Then the boom that came with the First World War let the government build it. Sakamoto Sakichi won the contract on 10 January 1921, and work began between Hōshakuji and Bunkyō.
The line opened on 15 April 1923 as a 20.4 km line from Hōshakuji to Karasuyama, with Niida, Ōgane and Karasuyama stations. The opening ceremony was moved to 1 May after a member of the imperial family died. Local papers printed timetables calling it the Uhō Line, but the official name in the ministry records was Karasuyama Line, and that name has been used since. On 1 April 1925 the station written 熟田 was renamed Niida, with the kanji 仁井田.
On 15 August 1934 diesel railcars began running between Hōshakuji and Karasuyama, and Shimozuke-Hanaoka, Kōnoyama and Kobanawa stations opened. Through trains to Utsunomiya became common around this time. On 10 August 1941 trains stopping at Shimozuke-Hanaoka, Kōnoyama and Kobanawa were limited to the morning and evening commuting hours. On 1 June 1954 Taki station opened. In July 1960 steam locomotive working ended on the line.
In May 1960 a JNR Kanto branch council recommended converting the line to buses, because it was unprofitable. In 1968 the line was named in a list of 83 loss-making lines selected for closure. In 1970 JNR's advisory committee published operating-ratio figures for lines across Japan. They showed the Karasuyama Line was worse than some lines and better than others. The line was kept, and it has not been designated a special regional transport line since.
On 1 June 1979 freight service ended on the whole line. On 2 June 1979 KiHa 40 diesel cars began running. On 1 July 1979 freight service started again between Hōshakuji and Niida. That freight service ended on 14 March 1984. On 1 April 1987 JR East took over the line when the national railways were split up and privatised.
On 24 July 1993 a Seven Lucky Gods train began running, with its cars and stations decorated to match the Seven Lucky Gods. On 1 December 1995 one-man operation also began on the Utsunomiya Line section between Utsunomiya and Hōshakuji. In 2003 the line marked its 80th anniversary with a special paint scheme on one KiHa 40 car. On 22 and 23 July 2006 a special rapid train, the Karasuyama Yamaage Festival train, ran from Ueno to Karasuyama, one round trip on each day. On 24 December 2010 two KiHa 40 cars were repainted in a two-tone scheme to mark the 88th anniversary. After the Great East Japan Earthquake of 11 March 2011, all service on the line was suspended until the first train on 16 March. On 26 May 2012 the staff-token block system between Ōgane and Karasuyama was replaced after the last train, and ATS-P was introduced across the whole line.
On 1 August 2013 Ōgane station was made unstaffed, and Karasuyama station's operation was handed to a contractor. On 15 March 2014 battery-driven EV-E301 series trains began running, and new station buildings opened at Karasuyama, Ōgane and Niida. On 4 March 2017 the KiHa 40 series ended service, all cars on the line became EV-E301 series, and all trains became one-man operation. On 16 March 2019 the first down train and the last down and up trains were changed to start and end at Utsunomiya instead of Hōshakuji. In 2025 a trial bicycle-carriage train ran on weekends and holidays from 25 January, planned until 24 February of the following year. On 15 March 2025 Karasuyama station became unstaffed, and its toilet was closed for security reasons. On 1 July 2026 a planned reorganisation moves the line from the Ōmiya branch office to the Tochigi business headquarters, as the branch office system changes to business headquarters.
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Written by an AI from the line's history on Japanese Wikipedia, nothing else, and checked by a program for dates and numbers that are not in those facts. It can still be wrong. Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; this text is shared under the same licence.