Oarai Kashima Line

The line's origins lie not with the third-sector operator but with Japanese National Railways (JNR). JNR's Kashima Line, between Katori and Kita-Kashima (item 39-2 of the appended table of the amended Railway Construction Act), opened in 1970, and a railway extending north from Kita-Kashima toward Mito was planned under the same programme. This northern line was built by the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation. A ground-breaking ceremony for the new line was held on 16 March 1967, and construction of the Mito–Kita-Kashima section began in April 1971.

While the line was still under construction, JNR was operating at a deficit, and under its policy of separating off local lines it concluded that it could not open the route as a directly operated JNR line; instead it sought to have the line run by a third-sector railway. Because traffic density after opening was expected to be at least 4,000 passengers a day, construction was allowed to continue rather than being frozen. In 1984 Ibaraki Prefecture decided that the line would be taken over by the Kashima Rinkai Railway, which was already operating the Kashima Rinkō freight line.

The Ōarai Kashima Line opened on 14 March 1985, running 53.0 km between Mito and Kita-Kashima (the present Kashima Soccer Stadium Station). It was the first line anywhere in Japan to open as a third-sector railway from a partly built JNR new line that had escaped JNR's construction freeze. From the first day, trains ran through beyond Kita-Kashima onto the JNR (later JR) Kashima Line as far as Kashima-Jingū, and a rapid service was introduced on the line.

In its first decade the line developed as both a passenger and a freight route. Freight operations over the whole line began on 1 November 1989. The maximum speed was raised from 85 km/h to 90 km/h on 10 March 1990. On 23 July 1992 a rapid service named "Marine Liner Hamanasu", worked by Type 7000 diesel railcars, began running. Kita-Kashima Station was renamed Kashima Soccer Stadium Station on 12 March 1994, serving as the gateway to the nearby stadium; a permanent freight station and signal box, it opens to passengers only on football match days, and through-running passengers change at Kashima-Jingū for services toward Sawara. Freight train operations were discontinued on 16 March 1996, and one-man (driver-only) operation began on the line on 1 April 2001.

On 11 March 2011 the line was damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake (the Tōhoku earthquake), and services were suspended along its entire length. Service was restored in stages: the Mito–Ōarai section reopened on 2 April 2011, the Ōyō–Kashima Soccer Stadium section on 7 April and the Ōarai–Shin-Hokota section on 8 April, and through-running with the JR Kashima Line resumed on 16 April. The last remaining stretch, between Ōyō and Shin-Hokota, reopened on 12 July 2011, restoring service along the whole line.

By continuing through onto the JR Kashima Line to Kashima-Jingū, the line links the Mito area with the Kashima district and, via the connection at Kashima-Jingū, with the JR network toward Sawara.

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

• Chojagahama-Shiosai-Hamanasu-Koenmae長者ヶ浜潮騒はまなす公園前
• Higashi-Mito東水戸
• Hinuma涸沼
• Kashima Soccer Stadium鹿島サッカースタジアム
• Kashima-Asahi鹿島旭
• Kashima-Ono鹿島大野
• Kashimanada鹿島灘
• Kitaurakohan北浦湖畔
• Koyadai荒野台
• Mito (Ibaraki)水戸
• Oarai大洗
• Shin-Hokota新鉾田
• Taiyo大洋
• Tokushuku徳宿
• Tsunezumi常澄

• 196716 March: ground-breaking ceremony is held for the new JNR line.
• 1970JNR's Kashima Line (Katori–Kita-Kashima) opens; a railway extending north from Kita-Kashima toward Mito is under construction by the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation.
• 1971April: construction of the Mito–Kita-Kashima section begins.
• 1984Ibaraki Prefecture decides that the partly built line will be taken over by the Kashima Rinkai Railway, which had operated the Kashima Rinkō freight line; JNR could not open it directly under its local-line separation policy.
• 198514 March: the Ōarai Kashima Line opens, Mito–Kita-Kashima (now Kashima Soccer Stadium), 53.0 km — the first line in Japan to open as a third-sector railway from a partly built JNR new line; trains run through to Kashima-Jingū on the JNR Kashima Line and a rapid service begins.
• 19891 November: freight operations begin over the whole line.
• 199010 March: the maximum speed is raised from 85 km/h to 90 km/h.
• 199223 July: the rapid service 'Marine Liner Hamanasu', worked by Type 7000 diesel railcars, begins.
• 199412 March: Kita-Kashima Station is renamed Kashima Soccer Stadium Station.
• 199616 March: freight train operations are discontinued.
• 20011 April: one-man (driver-only) operation begins on the line.
• 201111 March: the Great East Japan Earthquake (Tōhoku earthquake) halts the entire line.
• 20112 April: the Mito–Ōarai section reopens; 7 April: the Ōyō–Kashima Soccer Stadium section reopens; 16 April: through-running with the JR Kashima Line resumes.
• 201112 July: the last remaining section, Ōyō–Shin-Hokota, reopens, restoring service along the whole line.