The Kururi Line (久留里線) is a railway line in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Kisarazu Station in Kisarazu to Kazusa-Kameyama Station in Kimitsu. The railway route extends through three cities, Kimitsu, Kisarazu, and Sodegaura. It has no double-track section, and trains can pass at only two stations, Yokota Station and Kururi Station. The line runs mostly through rural area and operates at a huge loss. JR East has announced consultations are to be held concerning the potential replacement of the last section from Kururi to Kazusa-Kamegama (around 10 km) with a bus service due to a ~75% decline in patronage since 1987.

Stations

Rolling stock

Kururi Line services KiHa E130-100 DMU series in amount of 10 cars. These trains have a one-man operation system, so there is no conductor needed to operate these trains. Also, these trains can be doubled or even tripled during rush periods. KiHa 130–100 series trains started their operation from 1 December 2012.

Former rolling stock

History

The Chiba Prefectural Government opened the gauge section from Kisarazu to Kururi as a light railway on 28 December 1912. In 1922, the Railway Construction Act was amended by the Diet, and a new rail line connecting Kisarazu Station to Ōhara Station on the Sotobō Line via Kururi and Ōtaki, to transect the Bōsō Peninsula, appeared on the list as compensation for the underdeveloped network of roads in the area at that time. On 1 September 1923, the Kisarazu to Kururi Line was nationalised, and the line was named the Kururi Line under the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) system. On 20 August 1930, the track gauge was widened to, and on 25 March 1936, the line was extended to Kazusa-Kameyama Station. The private Kihara Line from Ōhara Station was extended to Kazusa-Nakano Station in 1934, and it was planned that the Kururi Line and the Kihara Line would be connected to form a single route across the Bōsō Peninsula (which would have been named the Kihara Line). However, due to World War II, the plan was abandoned, and Kururi Line was never to be extended into the most mountainous area of the peninsula. Services on the section from Kururi Station to Kazusa-Kameyama Station were suspended from 1944 to 1947. New KiHa E130-100 series DMU trains were introduced from 1 December 2012, replacing the ageing KiHa 30/37/38 DMUs.

Problems

The Kururi Line suffers from a small number of passengers and operates at deficit that requires JR East to give it subsidies. In 2020, fare revenue covered only 0.6% of operation costs for the section between Kururi and Kazusa-Kameyama stations.