Shigaraki Line

The route grew out of a planned line from Kibukawa, on the Kusatsu Line, toward Kamo on the Kansai Main Line, added to the national railway construction programme in 1922 under the Railway Construction Act. Construction began on 16 May 1929, and on 8 May 1933 the state-run Shigaraki Line opened between Kibukawa and Shigaraki, then measured at 14.8 kilometres, with Kumoi and Shigaraki stations. The intended extension onward to Kamo was downgraded from a line under construction to a merely projected line later in 1933 and was never built; for decades a Japan National Railways bus filled the gap between Shigaraki and Kamo until 2002.

During the Pacific War the line fell victim to wartime austerity. On 1 October 1943 it was suspended as a non-essential line and its rails and sleepers were requisitioned for the war effort, a substitute state-run bus taking its place. Service was restored on 25 July 1947, an effort in which the people of Shigaraki are said to have contributed sleepers and labour. A further interruption came in August 1953, when torrential rain washed away the First Ōdogawa Bridge; it was rebuilt in 1954 as a prestressed-concrete structure whose roughly 30-metre span was a pioneering application of concrete to long-span rail and road bridges in Japan, and the bridge was later registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2008.

Passenger trains were converted to diesel railcars on 1 May 1962, and Chokushi Station opened on 1 June 1963. As road traffic grew the line's finances weakened, and in 1968 it was listed among the so-called 83 deficit lines; in 1981 it was designated in the first round of specified local lines slated for abolition under the reforms that preceded the breakup of Japanese National Railways. With the privatisation of JNR on 1 April 1987 the line passed to the West Japan Railway Company (JR West), and on 13 July 1987 the JR Shigaraki Line was abolished and reopened the same day as the Shigaraki Kōgen Railway Shigaraki Line, a third-sector company; Shigarakigūshi and Tamakeiji-mae stations were added, and the new operation was the first conversion of a JR line to a third-sector railway after privatisation.

In preparation for the World Ceramic Festival held in Shigaraki in 1991, the single-track line's capacity was expanded: on 16 March 1991 a special automatic block system was introduced and Onotani Signal Station was opened between Kibukawa and Shigarakigūshi to let trains pass, and the timetable was increased to eighteen round trips a day. On 14 May 1991 a Shigaraki Kōgen Railway train and a JR West special rapid service bound for the festival collided head-on near Onotani, between Kibukawa and Shigarakigūshi, killing 42 people and injuring 614; it was the deadliest railway accident in Japan since the Tsurumi accident of 1963 and would remain so until the Amagasaki derailment of 2005.

Investigations attributed the crash to the Shigaraki Kōgen Railway running a train past a red signal at Shigaraki without confirming that the JR West train had stopped, together with a failed interlocking that let the JR West train advance past Onotani; both companies had independently made unauthorised modifications to the signalling. The whole line was suspended, and service resumed on 8 December 1991 with the Onotani passing point taken out of use, the line worked as a single block under staff working and frequency reduced to fourteen round trips a day. The two companies were found liable for negligence by the Ōtsu District Court in 1999, and JR West's appeal was rejected by the Osaka High Court in 2002; the compensation burden led Shiga Prefecture and Kōka City to take over ownership of the line's infrastructure to keep the railway from bankruptcy, and JR West ended through services onto the line.

On 1 April 2013 the line moved to a vertical-separation arrangement under an officially approved railway-business reconstruction plan: the Shigaraki Kōgen Railway became the Type-2 operator running the trains, while Kōka City, having taken over the track and rolling stock, became the Type-3 owner of the infrastructure. Disaster struck again on 15 September 2013, when Typhoon No. 18 forced the line to close; the following day floodwaters washed away part of the Somagawa Bridge over the Soma River, and replacement bus services began on the 17th. Train operations were not restored until 29 November 2014, about a year and two months later. Onotani Signal Station, long out of use, was formally abolished in 2018, and today the line carries about fifteen round trips a day of one-person-operated local trains, taking roughly 24 minutes end to end.

• 1922A line from Kibukawa toward Kamo is added to the national railway construction programme under the Railway Construction Act.
• 19338 May: the state-run Shigaraki Line opens between Kibukawa and Shigaraki (14.8 km); Kumoi and Shigaraki stations open.
• 19431 October: the line is suspended as a non-essential wartime line and its rails and sleepers are requisitioned; a substitute state-run bus begins.
• 194725 July: service is restored, reportedly with sleepers and labour donated by the people of Shigaraki.
• 1953August: torrential rain washes away the First Ōdogawa Bridge, cutting the line.
• 1954The First Ōdogawa Bridge is rebuilt as a prestressed-concrete structure (a pioneering long-span concrete rail bridge) and service resumes.
• 19621 May: passenger trains are converted to diesel railcars.
• 19631 June: Chokushi Station opens.
• 198118 September: the line is designated a first-round specified local line slated for abolition (having been listed among the '83 deficit lines' in 1968).
• 19871 April: with JNR's privatisation the line passes to JR West; 13 July: the JR Shigaraki Line (14.8 km) is abolished and reopens the same day as the third-sector Shigaraki Kōgen Railway Shigaraki Line (14.7 km), with Shigarakigūshi and Tamakeiji-mae stations added — the first JR-to-third-sector conversion after privatisation.
• 199116 March: a special automatic block system is introduced and Onotani Signal Station opens (Kibukawa–Shigarakigūshi) for the World Ceramic Festival; service rises to 18 round trips a day.
• 199114 May: a Shigaraki Kōgen Railway train and a JR West special rapid collide head-on near Onotani (Kibukawa–Shigarakigūshi), killing 42 and injuring 614 — Japan's deadliest rail accident since 1963; the whole line is suspended.
• 19918 December: service resumes; Onotani Signal Station is taken out of use, the line is worked as a single block under staff working, and frequency is cut to 14 round trips a day.
• 2002Both companies having been found liable (Ōtsu District Court 1999; JR West's appeal rejected by the Osaka High Court 2002), the compensation burden leads Shiga Prefecture and Kōka City to take over the line's infrastructure, and JR West ends through services.
• 20131 April: the line moves to vertical separation — Shigaraki Kōgen Railway as Type-2 operator, Kōka City as Type-3 infrastructure owner. 15 September: Typhoon No. 18 closes the line and washes away part of the Somagawa Bridge the next day; replacement buses begin on the 17th.
• 201429 November: train service resumes, about a year and two months after the typhoon washout. (Onotani Signal Station is formally abolished in 2018.)