Iizaka Line

The line's origins lie in a tramway venture. On 12 August 1920 a licence was granted to the Iizaka Tramway (飯坂軌道) for a route between Sakae-chō in Fukushima City and Nakano village in Shinobu District, to be built to 762 mm gauge and worked by steam. The Iizaka Tramway company was formally established on 1 July 1921 and renamed the Fukushima Iizaka Electric Tramway (福島飯坂電気軌道) on 5 October that year. Before construction the plan was upgraded: on 15 March 1922 permission was granted to change the gauge to 1,067 mm and to adopt electric traction.

The 8.9-kilometre tramway between Fukushima and Iizaka (the present Hanamizuzaka) opened on 13 April 1924, with the Fukushima–Moriai section running on street track; the original Fukushima terminus stood about 140 metres east of the present site. On 23 October 1924 the operator changed its name to Iizaka Densha (飯坂電車, "Iizaka Electric Railway"). On 23 March 1927 the line was extended from Iizaka to the present-day Iizaka Onsen Station, completing the route, and Iizaka stop was renamed Hanamizuzaka.

On 1 October 1927 the Fukushima Electric Railway (福島電気鉄道) — which already operated lines toward Yuno and Yanagawa and is the direct predecessor of today's Fukushima Transportation — absorbed Iizaka Densha by merger, the route becoming the company's "Iizaka West Line." In the years that followed the line was steadily reshaped: on 3 December 1942 the Fukushima–Moriai section was rerouted onto dedicated railway track and trains began running into the national railways' Fukushima Station, while several street-running stops on the old alignment were closed.

On 1 March 1945 the whole line was reclassified from a tramway under the Tramway Act to a railway under the Local Railway Act, and its stops were redesignated as stations. Fukushima Electric Railway changed its name to Fukushima Transportation (福島交通) on 12 July 1962, and the former Dentetsu-Fukushima stop was renamed Soneda that September. Sakuramizu Station opened on 20 August 1975, when the line's depot was moved there from Soneda, and freight operations were abolished on 19 June 1981.

A major modernisation came on 25 June 1991, when the overhead supply voltage was raised from 750 V to 1,500 V DC and 7000 series cars — converted from former Tokyu 7000 series electric multiple units — entered service. On 8 April 2001 a Fukushima-bound train suffered a brake failure after a power interruption and crashed through the buffer stop at Fukushima, coming to rest inside the station's east building; four people were injured and two cars were scrapped. In response, an automatic train stop (ATS) system was introduced and brought into use on 1 October 2002.

Service on the line was suspended in the immediate aftermath of the Tōhoku earthquake of 11 March 2011, with full operation restored on 13 March. In more recent years the line has continued to modernise: the NORUCA IC fare card became usable on 1 April 2015, and from 1 April 2017 former Tokyu 1000 series cars, again resold to Fukushima Transportation, entered revenue service alongside the 7000 series. The two- and three-car trains run a frequent local service the length of the line, with the longer sets concentrated on the weekday morning peak.

• 192012 August: a tramway licence is granted to the Iizaka Tramway (飯坂軌道) for a route between Sakae-chō in Fukushima and Nakano village, to be 762 mm gauge and steam-worked.
• 19211 July: the Iizaka Tramway company is established; 5 October: it is renamed the Fukushima Iizaka Electric Tramway (福島飯坂電気軌道).
• 192215 March: permission is granted to change the gauge to 1,067 mm and adopt electric traction.
• 192413 April: the 8.9 km Fukushima–Iizaka (present Hanamizuzaka) section opens, with the Fukushima–Moriai part on street track; 23 October: the operator is renamed Iizaka Densha (飯坂電車).
• 192723 March: the Iizaka–Iizaka Onsen extension opens, completing the line, and Iizaka stop is renamed Hanamizuzaka; 1 October: Fukushima Electric Railway (福島電気鉄道) absorbs Iizaka Densha by merger, the route becoming its Iizaka West Line.
• 19423 December: the Fukushima–Moriai section is rerouted onto dedicated railway track and trains begin running into the national railways' Fukushima Station; several old street-running stops are closed.
• 19451 March: the whole line is reclassified from a tramway under the Tramway Act to a railway under the Local Railway Act, and its stops become stations.
• 196212 July: Fukushima Electric Railway changes its name to Fukushima Transportation (福島交通); in September the former Dentetsu-Fukushima stop is renamed Soneda.
• 197520 August: Sakuramizu Station opens and the line's depot is relocated there from Soneda.
• 198119 June: freight operations on the line are abolished.
• 199125 June: the overhead supply is raised from 750 V to 1,500 V DC and 7000 series cars (rebuilt from former Tokyu 7000 series EMUs) enter service.
• 20018 April: a Fukushima-bound train loses its brakes after a power interruption and crashes through the buffer stop into Fukushima Station's east building; four people are injured and two cars are scrapped.
• 20021 October: an automatic train stop (ATS) system is brought into use following the 2001 accident.
• 201111 March: all service is suspended after the Tōhoku earthquake (intensity around upper 6 and a power outage); full operation is restored on 13 March.
• 20151 April: the NORUCA IC fare card becomes usable on the line.
• 20171 April: former Tokyu 1000 series cars, resold to Fukushima Transportation, enter revenue service alongside the 7000 series.