The Kesennuma Line (気仙沼線) is a local railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connected Maeyachi Station in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi to Kesennuma Station in the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi. The route links the north-eastern coast of Miyagi Prefecture, with the Ishinomaki Line (and the Tohoku Main Line a few stops farther) available for transfer in the south, and the Ōfunato Line in the north. A large section of the railway infrastructure between Minami-Kesennuma Station and Rikuzen-Togura Station, including tracks, stations, and railway bridges, were badly damaged or destroyed by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Destroyed stations include Minami-Kesennuma (except for the platform) and Shizugawa Station, as well as various others. As a result of the catastrophic damage to the line and prohibitive costs of restoration as a railway, JR East officially proposed the line's conversion into a dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) route on 27 December 2011. At present only the Maeyachi to Yanaizu section is operated as a railway, with services on the balance of the route provided by buses. An autonomous driving system has been being tested on the BRT line since 2018 and has been fully implemented since 5 December 2022.

Service

Although the Kesennuma Line's south end is Maeyachi, its operational south end should be considered Kogota Station in Misato, as the majority of Kesennuma Line trains either have Kogota as their south terminus or go through it on the way to Sendai. Trains going this far also stop at Kami-Wakuya (local only) and Wakuya Stations in Wakuya, Miyagi on the Ishinomaki Line.

Station list

Greyed-out stations have been closed since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and operate only as bus stops for the JR East BRT route.

History