JR Banetsu Line 磐越西線
Ban'etsu East Line train in Tamura City.
@Wikimedia
The JR Banetsu West Line and JR Banetsu East Line connect Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture with Niitsu and Iwaki respectively.
The JR Ban'etsu Line consists of the Ban'etsu West Line and the Ban'etsu East Line. The name Ban'etsu comes from the ancient names of the provinces the line runs through: Iwaki (磐城, the first kanji character being pronounced on its own as ban) and Echigo (越後, the first character being pronounced on its own as etsu).
JR Ban'etsu West Line 磐越西線
The JR Ban'etsu West Line connects Koriyama Station in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture and Niitsu Station in Niigata Prefecture.
The JR Ban'etsu West Line is approximately 175 km long and passes through some beautiful countryside and is the gateway to the volcanically formed, colored lakes of Goshikinuma in the Aizu region. Local trains generally stop at all stations though some trains skip some stations.
Ban-etsu Line train at Aizu-Wakamatsu Station
Koriyama Station connects with the Tohoku Shinkansen to Tokyo Station, the Yamagata Shinkansen from Tokyo to Shinjo, the Tohoku Main Line from Tokyo to Morioka, the Ban'etsu East Line and the Suigun Line, which connects Mito Station in Mito with Koriyama.
JR Ban'etsu East Line 磐越東線
The 85.6 km JR Ban'etsu East Line connects Koriyama Station with Iwaki.
There are 16 stations altogether on the JR Ban'etsu East Line: Iwaki, Akai, Ogawago, Eda, Kawamae, Natsui, Ononiimachi, Kanmata, Sugaya, Ogoe, Iwaki-Tokiwa, Funehiki, Kanameta, Miharu, Mogi and Koriyama.
Only local trains stopping at every station run on the line and since the opening of the Ban-etsu Expressway in 1995, services have become less frequent between Ononiimachi and Iwaki due to competition with highway buses.
The Ban'etsu East Line dates back to 1914 when the Koriyama to Miharu section opened.
Ban'etsu Monogatari Crossing over the Ichinotogawa River
@Wikimedia
