History
Shin-Asahikawa Station opened on 4 November 1922 as a general station on the Railway Ministry's Sōya Main Line between Asahikawa and Nagayama, simultaneously becoming the western terminus of the new Sekihoku Line — the planned Asahikawa-Engaru route. The opening reading was 'Shin-Asahigawa', changed officially to 'Shin-Asahikawa' on 13 March 1988. A dedicated siding to the Kokusaku Pulp (later Nippon Paper) Asahikawa mill was opened in October 1939 and closed in September 1997. JR Hokkaido and JR Freight inherited the station at the 1 April 1987 privatisation. Yards were electrified on 10 May 2003 to handle stock movements to and from the relocated Asahikawa Depot, although local trains remain diesel.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Shin-Asahikawa is Japan's northernmost junction station on a conventional railway — and the local government of the day petitioned against the 'new-Asahikawa' name in 1920 because the surrounding hamlet did not actually belong to Asahikawa City at the time.