The Flower Nagai Line (フラワー長井線) is a Japanese railway line in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. It connects Akayu Station in Nanyō to Arato Station in Shirataka. The Flower Nagai Line is the only line operated by the third sector Yamagata Railway Company (山形鉄道), which took over the former JR East line in 1988. In 2005, Yamagata Railway was in danger of having to shut down due to low patronage, leaving many residents, especially the young and old, without a mode of transportation from their farms. The only option available to the company was to try to attract more tourists to the scenic views. Lone train operator, Tatsuo Asakura, working without the knowledge of his superiors increased out-of-town passengers from 350 in 2005 to 7,000 in 2006, and in September 2008 had entertained more than 20,000 tourists with his uplifting guided tours, spoken in local dialect.

Operation

Six single-car diesel multiple units (YR-880 Series) serve the line, running from Akayu to Arato once every one to two hours.

Rolling Stock

YR-880 Series

Eight single-car diesel multiple units were built by Niigata Transys in 1988 and 1990 for the Flower Nagai Line, using the Niigata Transys NDC model. Six units exist as of 2018. One unit, YR-881 has been scrapped in 2003, and YR-885 had been scrapped in 2015.

MCR4A Series

A snow blower car manufactured by Niigata Transys, one unit has been manufactured.

History

Station list

All stations are located in Yamagata Prefecture.