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Hachiko Line

八高線

The Hachikō Line (八高線, Hachikō-sen) is a 92.0-kilometre regional railway line owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

It runs along the western edge of the Kantō plain from Hachiōji in western Tokyo north through Saitama Prefecture to Kuragano in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, serving 23 stations on 1,067 mm narrow gauge. Its name combines the first characters of its two endpoints, Hachiōji (八) and Takasaki (高). The line is electrified at 1,500 V DC on its southern Hachiōji–Komagawa section; the northern Komagawa–Kuragano section is non-electrified and worked by diesel railcars, and no train runs through between the two halves.

Route of the Hachiko Line · Gunma · Saitama · Tokyo · Borders: MLIT

History

The route was planned as a state project. It was listed as a projected line in Schedule No. 51 of the amended Railway Construction Act as a railway 'from Hachiōji in Tokyo Prefecture via Hannō in Saitama Prefecture to Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture.' The private Tōjō Railway had also planned a line between Yorii and Takasaki, but once the Railway Ministry took the Hachikō Line up as its own direct undertaking, the Tōbu Railway, which had succeeded the Tōjō Railway, abandoned the plans, including any extension beyond Takasaki. The line was therefore built from the outset by the national railway, not bought in from a private operator, and was constructed from both ends.

The Hachikō North Line opened first, from Kuragano to Kodama, on 1 July 1931, and the Hachikō South Line followed from Hachiōji to Higashi-Hannō on 10 December 1931. The two lines were then extended towards each other in stages: the North Line reached Yorii from Kodama on 25 January 1933, while the South Line was pushed from Higashi-Hannō to Ogose on 15 April 1933 and on to Ogawamachi on 24 March 1934.

The final gap, from Ogawamachi to Yorii, opened on 6 October 1934, joining the northern and southern halves into a single through route. On that date the South Line was renamed and the North Line absorbed into it, and the whole Hachiōji–Kuragano route became the Hachikō Line. The line skirts the foothills west of the metropolis and connects with the Chūō, Kawagoe, Tōbu Tōjō, Chichibu Main and Takasaki lines.

On 24 August 1945, two trains collided head-on on the Tama River bridge, killing at least 105 people. Less than two years later, on 25 February 1947, a train derailed and overturned, with 184 fatalities; in terms of lives lost, it is Japan's worst rail accident since the Second World War.

Postwar modernisation came gradually. Steam haulage of passenger services ended on 20 November 1958, and centralised traffic control was commissioned on 27 February 1985. Under the privatisation and break-up of Japanese National Railways, the line passed to JR East on 1 April 1987.

The defining modern change came on 16 March 1996, when the southern Hachiōji–Komagawa section was electrified at 1,500 V DC. From that day the line was split into separate northern and southern operating patterns at Komagawa: southern trains began through-running over the Kawagoe Line to Kawagoe, while the non-electrified Komagawa–Takasaki section was given over entirely to KiHa 110 series diesel railcars with one-man operation. The line has run as an electrified commuter south and a diesel rural north ever since; later changes extended one-man operation to the southern electric trains in 2022 and ended single-car running north of Komagawa in 2025.

Stations on this line

23 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

Timeline
  • 19311 July: the Hachikō North Line opens between Kuragano and Kodama.
  • 193110 December: the Hachikō South Line opens between Hachiōji and Higashi-Hannō.
  • 193325 January: the Hachikō North Line is extended from Kodama to Yorii.
  • 193315 April: the Hachikō South Line is extended from Higashi-Hannō to Ogose.
  • 193424 March: the Hachikō South Line is extended from Ogose to Ogawamachi.
  • 19346 October: the final Ogawamachi–Yorii section opens, connecting the two halves; the South Line is renamed and the North Line absorbed into it, and the whole Hachiōji–Kuragano route becomes the Hachikō Line.
  • 194524 August: two trains collide head-on on the Tama River bridge, killing at least 105 people.
  • 194725 February: a train derails and overturns, killing 184 people — Japan's worst rail accident since the Second World War in terms of fatalities.
  • 195820 November: steam haulage of passenger services ends.
  • 198527 February: centralised traffic control (CTC) is commissioned on the line.
  • 19871 April: under the privatisation and break-up of Japanese National Railways, the line passes to JR East.
  • 199616 March: the southern Hachiōji–Komagawa section is electrified at 1,500 V DC; operations are split north and south at Komagawa, southern trains begin through-running to Kawagoe over the Kawagoe Line, and the non-electrified Komagawa–Takasaki section is given over entirely to KiHa 110 series diesel railcars with one-man operation.
  • 202212 March: one-man operation is introduced on the southern electric services.
  • 202515 March: single-car services between Komagawa and Takasaki are discontinued.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

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