The is a narrow gauge railway line owned and operated by Sangi Railway, a Japanese private railway company. The line runs in Mie Prefecture and connects Nishi-Fujiwara Station in Inabe with Tomida and Kintetsu-Tomida Station in Yokkaichi. The section between Tomita Station and Sangi-asake Signal Station is exclusively for freight trains, with passenger trains providing through service to Kintetsu-Tomita Station via the Kintetsu Line. All trains depart from and arrive at Kintetsu-Tomita Station.
The name Sangi (三岐) is a combination of the first characters from Mie (三重) and Gifu (岐阜) as, in 1928, it was originally envisioned to connect the city of Yokkaichi in Mie to Sekigahara via Kamiishizu in Ōgaki, Gifu Prefecture.
The Sangi Line is an electrified, single-track line. Freight services also operate on the line, carrying mainly cement.
Services All services are classified as , stopping at every station, and are driver-only operations. There are 1–2 services per hour during the day, increased to 3–4 per hour during the morning peak.
Stations Station Distance (km) Transfers Location (freight only) 富田 – YokkaichiMie Prefecture 近鉄富田 0.0 Kintetsu Nagoya Line Sangi-asake Signal Station 三岐朝明信号場 1.1 大矢知 2.5 平津 4.1 暁学園前 5.3 山城 7.0 保々 9.5 北勢中央公園口 11.2 梅戸井 13.1 Inabe 大安 15.3 三里 17.1 丹生川 19.6 伊勢治田 20.8 東藤原 23.1 西野尻 25.3 西藤原 26.5
History 1928: 9 March: Subsidies for railway licenses to Fujiwara Railway (Yokkaichi City-Sekigahara Town, Fuwa District, Yokkaichi City-Shiohama Village, Mie District, Onaga Village, Inabe District-Tomita Town, Mie District, Mie Village, Mie District-Kawashima Village, Mie District) were issued. 20 September: Sangi Railway was established 1931: 23 July: Section from Tomida Station (now operated by JR) to Higashi Fujiwara was opened. 23 December: Section from Higashi Fujiwara to Nishi Fujiwara was opened. 1937 2 December: Railway license expired (Nishifujiwara-mura, Inabe-gun-Sekigahara-cho, Fuwa-gun designated deadline Mateni construction work approval application) 1950 30 October: Sangi Asaki station opened in between Tomida and Oyachima stations. 1952 1 December: Direct passenger train operation started from Tomida Station to Yokkaichi Station on the Japanese National Railways 1954 29 March: All lines are electrified and electric locomotives are used for freight trains 1964 1 October: Direct passenger train operation from Tomida Station to Yokkaichi Station was cut. 1965 1 July: Tomida Nishiguchi station opened 21 August: Kayou Station was renamed to Akatsuki Gakuenmae station 1968 Misato Station was renamed to Ugakeiguchi Station 1970 25 June: The section from Kintetsu-Tomida to Sangi Asaki 1974 The section from Tomida/Kintetsu-Tomida - Higashi Fujiwara becomes CTC compatible 1985 14 March: Sanuki Asaki and Tomida Nishiguchi stations closed 16 May: Driverless operation began for freight services. 1986 25 March: Ōida station was relocated and renamed to Dainan station. Ugakeiguchi station was renamed back to Misato station 1988 7 January: Driverless operation began for passenger services. 1989 1 April: Sangi Asaki station became Sangi Asaki signal box. The morning express service that was operated was cut. 1994 3 December: The line speed was increased from 60 km/h (37 mph) to 70 km/h (43 mph) 1994 1 April: Ōchō station was relocated and renamed to Hokusei Chūō Kōenguchi 2011 4 September: Typhoon 12 struck and the entire line was closed due to the Asake River flowing over its banks. 6 September: Kintetsu-Tomida to Yamajo and Misato to Nishi-Fujiwara were reopened following the Typhoon. 7 September: Yamajo to Hodo reopened. 8 September: Umedoi to Misato reopened. 11 October: Hodo to Umedoi reopened, thus reopening the entire line. 2012 8 February: A derailment of an electric train occurred at Higashi-Fujiwara, and as a result, all services between Ise Hatta and Nishi Fujiwara were suspended. 30 June: The section between Ise Hatta and Nishi Fujiwara reopened following the derailment 4 months prior. 8 November: A 3 car passenger train derailed at Misato station, and as a result, the section from Umedoi to Nishi Fujiwara was suspended. 11 November: Umedoi to Higashi Fujiwara reopened. Rail replacement buses ran from Higashi Fujiwara to Nishi Fujiwara 2013 12 January: Higashi Fujiwara to Nishi Fujiwara section reopened following the derailment in November 2012.
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References This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.