History
Horobetsu Station opened on 1 August 1892 as a Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company stop on the new Higashi-Muroran–Iwamizawa line. A fire destroyed the original building on 8 December 1899, and the station was relocated and rebuilt closer to Muroran on 1 September 1902. The line was nationalised on 1 October 1906. From 1907 a 9.6 km horse-drawn tramway ran from the Horobetsu mine to the station forecourt; it was upgraded to a steam tramway in 1927 and dismantled in 1954. The station became an elevated-walkway (kyōjō) building on 30 March 1978. Operation passed to JR Hokkaido at privatisation on 1 April 1987.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
Although Horobetsu sits next to Noboribetsu City Hall, long-distance Hokuto limited expresses skip the station entirely — only the Suzuran stops here, while the resort station Noboribetsu one stop east takes the through passengers.