Ōarai Kashima Line

The line's origins lie not with the third-sector operator but with Japanese National Railways (JNR). JNR's Kashima Line, between Katori and Kita-Kashima, opened in 1970, and a railway extending north from Kita-Kashima toward Mito was planned under the same programme (item 39-2 of the appended table of the amended Railway Construction Act). This northern line was built by the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation. A ground-breaking ceremony for the new line was held on 16 March 1967, and construction of the Mito–Kita-Kashima section began in April 1971.

While the line was still under construction, JNR fell into deepening financial difficulty, and under its policy of separating loss-making local lines it concluded that it could not open the route as a directly operated JNR line; instead it sought to have the line run by a third-sector railway. Because the projected traffic density after opening was expected to exceed 4,000 passengers a day, construction was allowed to continue rather than being frozen. In 1984 Ibaraki Prefecture decided that the line would be taken over by the Kashima Rinkai Railway, a company that had until then operated the Kashima Rinkō freight line.

The Ōarai Kashima Line opened on 14 March 1985, running 53.0 km between Mito and Kita-Kashima (the present Kashima Soccer Stadium Station). It was the first line anywhere in Japan to open as a third-sector railway from a partly built JNR new line that had escaped JNR's construction freeze. From the first day, trains ran through beyond Kita-Kashima onto the JNR (later JR) Kashima Line as far as Kashima-Jingū, and a rapid service was introduced on the line.

In its first decade the line developed as both a passenger and a freight route. Freight operations over the whole line began on 1 November 1989. The maximum speed was raised from 85 km/h to 90 km/h on 10 March 1990. On 23 July 1992 a rapid service named "Marine Liner Hamanasu", worked by Type 7000 diesel railcars, began running. Kita-Kashima Station was renamed Kashima Soccer Stadium Station on 12 March 1994, serving as the gateway to the nearby stadium; as a permanent freight station and signal point it opens to passengers only on certain match days, and through-running passengers change at Kashima-Jingū for services toward Sawara. Freight train operations were discontinued on 16 March 1996, and one-man (driver-only) operation began on the line on 1 April 2001.

The line was badly disrupted by the Great East Japan Earthquake. On 11 March 2011 the Tōhoku earthquake off the Pacific coast brought the entire line to a halt. Service was restored in stages: the Mito–Ōarai section reopened on 2 April 2011, the Ōyō–Kashima Soccer Stadium section on 7 April, and through-running with the JR Kashima Line resumed on 16 April. The last remaining stretch, between Ōyō and Shin-Hokota, reopened on 12 July 2011, restoring service along the whole line.

Today the Ōarai Kashima Line remains a single-track, non-electrified third-sector line carrying local diesel-railcar services across south-eastern Ibaraki. By continuing through onto the JR Kashima Line to Kashima-Jingū it links the Mito area with the Kashima district and, via the connection at Kashima-Jingū, with the wider JR network toward Sawara. The seaside town of Ōarai along its route remains a notable draw for visitors.

• 196716 March: ground-breaking ceremony is held for the new JNR line.
• 1970JNR's Kashima Line (Katori–Kita-Kashima) opens; a railway extending north from Kita-Kashima toward Mito is under construction by the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation.
• 1971April: construction of the Mito–Kita-Kashima section begins.
• 1984Ibaraki Prefecture decides that the partly built line will be taken over by the Kashima Rinkai Railway, which had operated the Kashima Rinkō freight line; JNR could not open it directly under its local-line separation policy.
• 198514 March: the Ōarai Kashima Line opens, Mito–Kita-Kashima (now Kashima Soccer Stadium), 53.0 km — the first line in Japan to open as a third-sector railway from a partly built JNR new line; trains run through to Kashima-Jingū on the JNR Kashima Line and a rapid service begins.
• 19891 November: freight operations begin over the whole line.
• 199010 March: the maximum speed is raised from 85 km/h to 90 km/h.
• 199223 July: the rapid service 'Marine Liner Hamanasu', worked by Type 7000 diesel railcars, begins.
• 199412 March: Kita-Kashima Station is renamed Kashima Soccer Stadium Station.
• 199616 March: freight train operations are discontinued.
• 20011 April: one-man (driver-only) operation begins on the line.
• 201111 March: the Great East Japan Earthquake (Tōhoku earthquake) halts the entire line.
• 20112 April: the Mito–Ōarai section reopens; 7 April: the Ōyō–Kashima Soccer Stadium section reopens; 16 April: through-running with the JR Kashima Line resumes.
• 201112 July: the last remaining section, Ōyō–Shin-Hokota, reopens, restoring service along the whole line.