Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Pref. – Train services on a section of the Hisatsu Orange Railway line in Kumamoto Prefecture resumed Tuesday after having been suspended due to damage from an earthquake in July. All railway lines in affected areas are now back in operation, 77 days after the July 28 temblor. On Tuesday, services resumed on the 23.6-kilometer section between Yatsushiro and Higo-Tanoura stations.
Located near the epicenter, the tracks had been deformed and the platforms had been damaged. Seiki Nakamura, president of Hisatsu Orange Railway, a third-sector railway operator, said, “I’m delighted that we are finally able to operate trains along the entire line.” The Hisatsu Orange Railway line was separated from operations of Kyushu Railway (JR Kyushu) when a section of the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train line opened in 2004. Hisatsu Orange Railway briefly suspended services on the entire line after the earthquake damaged more than 100 locations along the line.
The heavily damaged section between Kumamoto and Shin-Minamata stations of the Kyushu Shinkansen resumed operations Sept. 18. JR Kyushu also resumed operations Saturday on a section between Uto and Yatsushiro stations on its Kagoshima Line.
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