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The Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was a rural rail line in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, abandoned on March 31, 2007. Running from Ishikoshi Station in Tome, Miyagi with a connection to the Tōhoku Main Line, extending westward to inland Hosokura Mine Park Mae Station in Kurihara, along central Kurihara. This line used to be called Script error: No such module "Nihongo". for short because the preceding name of the operator was the Script error: No such module "Nihongo"..
The line was initially constructed to transport ore from Uguisuzawa's Script error: No such module "Nihongo". which was closed in 1988.
The operator introduced diesel multiple units (DMU) during the reorganization in 1995, but the old 750 V DC electric installation remained for economic reasons. It was one of few railways then in Japan that operated with an obsolete semaphore signal system and non-automatic blocking system.
Operation and service
All trains consisted of a single car without a conductor. The fare was twice as high as comparable distances on Japan Railways lines. Only three of the sixteen stations, namely Wakayanagi, Sawabe, Kurikoma were regularly staffed.
History
Originally the line was Template:RailGauge gauged, constructed by Script error: No such module "Nihongo". and opened in 1921, later renamed to Script error: No such module "Nihongo". in 1941 and again to Kurihara Dentetsu in 1955.
The closure of Hosokura Mine in 1988 reduced freight traffic. The company had hoped for tourists to the Hosokura Mine Park, an amusement park built at the mine site. But this effort failed to stop the decrease of passengers. Municipalities decided to retain the operator as a third sector (in Japanese sense) in 1993, renamed on April 1, 1995 to Kurihara Den'en Railway.
The company has curtailed investment and maintenance measures and made some efforts to increase passengers. But the rapid shift to car traffic has overwhelmed railways everywhere in Japan since the 1990s. Miyagi Prefecture had subsidized the deficit for several years, but in 2001 gave notice to the municipalities of a future suspension of the subsidy. In December 2003 they decided to close the railway in March 2007.
November 29, 1955: Renamed to Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
June 1, 1964: Bus and train services in the area combined to a single company, Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
August 31, 1968: Bus service separated to Script error: No such module "Nihongo".
February 25, 1969: Renamed back again to Kurihara Electric Railway
March 29, 1987: Hosokuura - Hosokuura Mine freight service closed
November 1, 1988: Hosokura - Hosokura Mine (Script error: No such module "convert".) abandoned (in some source on October 27)
June 16, 1990: Hosokura - Hosokura Mine Park Mae (Script error: No such module "convert".) opened. Hosokura Station abandoned
December 15, 1993: Mitsubishi Material transferred ownership of the Kurihara Electric Railway to the then five towns (in 2007, 2 cities) along the line
May 1, 1995: Renamed to Kurihara Den'en Railway. Electric operation terminated. Conductorless operation introduced
April 1, 2007: Railway service terminated
Stations
Station names and location use the name at the time of line closure. All stations were located in Miyagi Prefecture.
