Rumoi Main Line

The is a Japanese railway line in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) which connects Fukagawa Station in Fukagawa and Ishikari-Numata Station in Numata. Following the discontinuation of service between Rumoi and Ishikari-Numata on April 1, the Rumoi Main Line is the shortest railway line in Japan to be classified as a 'main line', at just 14.4 kilometers.

On 19 November 2016, JR Hokkaido's president announced plans to further rationalize the network by up to , or approximately 50% of the network, including closure of the remaining section of the Rumoi Main Line (the Rumoi to Mashike section closed on 5 December 2016). This section of track from Ishikari-Numata to Rumoi was closed on 1 April 2023, with the final train running on the 31 March 2023.

JR Hokkaido has announced the Fukagawa-Ishikari Numata section will close on 31 March 2026.

Stations

Stops legend: ●: All trains stop, ◆: some trains skip bidirectionally, ▼: some down trains skip

No.	Picture	Station name	Japanese	Between (km)	Distance (km)	Stop	Transfers	Location
Template:Rbox	File:JR Hakodate-Main-Line・Rumoi-Main-Line Fukagawa Station building.jpg	Template:STN	深川	--	0.0	●	Template:Colorbull Hakodate Main Line	Fukagawa
	File:JR Rumoi-Main-Line Kita-Ichiyan Station building.jpg	Template:STN	北一已	3.8	3.8	▼
	File:JR Rumoi-Main-Line Chippubetsu Station building.jpg	Template:STN	秩父別	5.0	8.8	▼		Chippubetsu, Uryū District
	File:Tippubetu2408.jpg	Template:STN	北秩父別	2.4	11.2	◆
	File:IshikariNumataStn JRH 20230802.jpg	Template:STN	石狩沼田	3.2	14.4	●		Numata, Uryū District

Closed section

Station name	Japanese	Between (km)	Distance (km)	Location
Template:STN	真布	3.4	17.8	Numata, Uryū District
Template:STN	恵比島	2.9	20.7
Template:STN	峠下	7.6	28.3	Rumoi
Template:STN	幌糠	6.2	34.5
Template:STN	藤山	5.5	40.0
Template:STN	大和田	4.2	44.2
Template:STN	留萌	5.9	50.1
Template:STN	瀬越	2.1	52.2
Template:STN	礼受	4.0	56.2
Template:STN	阿分	1.3	57.5	Mashike, Mashike District
Template:STN	信砂	2.7	60.2
Template:STN	舎熊	0.8	61.0
Template:STN	朱文別	1.7	62.7
Template:STN	箸別	1.3	64.0
Template:STN	増毛	2.8	66.8

History

The initial section of the line, between Fukagawa and Rumoi opened on 23 October 1910, and was extended to Mashike on 5 November 1921. The line was reclassified as a "main line" from 10 October 1931. With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of JR Hokkaido.

Closure plans

On 10 August 2015, JR Hokkaido informed the mayors of Rumoi and Mashike of its plans to close the section of the line from Rumoi to Mashike in 2016. In April 2016, it was officially announced that the section from Rumoi to Mashike would close, and the last service operated on 4 December of that year.

The 4 towns and cities along the remaining line, Rumoi, Numata, Chippubetsu and Fukagawa were in discussion with JR Hokkaido regarding the line's future, but Rumoi left the group as the city was already well-equipped so they didn't see keeping the railway open as necessary after Rumoi IC opened in Fukagawa-Rumoi Expressway.

In September 2022, JR Hokkaido submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to close an additional between Ishikari-Numata and Rumoi. As the closure was approved on 9 December 2022, the end of service was announced for 31 March 2023, and the closure occurred on 1 April 2023.

Although the rest of the municipalities proposed that the rest of the line remains open, the proposal failed when JR Hokkaido demanded 300,000,000 yen yearly to keep the line open. As a result, The remaining section to Fukagawa is slated to be closed in March 2026.

JR Hokkaido KiHa 54 DMU 513 at Rumoi Station

KiHa 54 DMU 513 taken at Rumoi Station on 4 December 2022, a few months before the Rumoi Main line was discontinued beyond Ishikari-Numata.