Yokokawa Station (横川駅) is a ground-level station in Annaka, Gunma Prefecture. East Japan Railway Company runs it. It opened on 15 October 1885.
History
Yokokawa Station (横川駅) opened on 15 October 1885 as a station on the government railway's Yokokawa line, when the section from Takasaki opened. On 5 September 1888 the Usui horse railway opened between here and Karuizawa. On 1 April 1893 the Nakasendo line was extended from here to Karuizawa over the Usui pass. The Abt rack system was used on the new section at first. The Usui horse railway was abolished at this time.
In April 1901 the Nakasendo line was made double track between here and Maruyama Signal Station. On 12 October 1909 the line from Takasaki to Niigata was named the Shin'etsu Line. On 11 May 1912 the section from here to Karuizawa was electrified, using a low-voltage third-rail system. It was Japan's first main-line electrification. On 1 June 1914 the Shin'etsu Line was renamed the Shin'etsu Main Line. On 1 June 1949 the line passed to the Japanese National Railways.
On 15 July 1962 the section from Takasaki to here was electrified with overhead wires. On 15 July 1963 the section from here to Karuizawa moved to a new line that used adhesion, not rack, with helper locomotives. At the same time the power system was changed from the third rail to overhead wires. At first the old Abt line and the new line ran side by side as single tracks. The old Abt line closed on 30 September 1963, and the switch to the new line was complete. On 29 June 1965 the section from Matsuida to here was made double track. On 2 July 1966 the section from Maruyama to Yakazaki was made double track, and both signal stations were abolished that day. The section from here to Karuizawa became fully double track.
Freight handling ended on 1 April 1982, and luggage handling on 1 February 1984. On 1 April 1987 the station passed to JR East. The station was chosen for the Kanto list of selected stations in 1997. On 1 October 1997 the Hokuriku Shinkansen opened between Takasaki and Nagano. The Shin'etsu Line section between here and Karuizawa was abolished, and the station became a terminus again.
On 9 March 2006 the Midori no Madoguchi ticket office closed, and a Moshimoshi ticket machine called Kaeru-kun was installed. On 21 March 2006 automatic ticket gates came into use. On 14 March 2009 Suica could be used, and the station became part of the Tokyo commuter area. On 9 February 2012 the Kaeru-kun machine service ended.
See all 22 dated events in the Data view →
Written by an AI from this station's own sourced facts (the dated events in the Data view), nothing else, and checked by a program for dates and numbers that are not in those facts. It can still be wrong. Found a mistake? . Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; this text is shared under the same licence.