Takachiho Railway (高千穂鉄道, Takachiho Tetsudō) was a Japanese railway company. The company in Miyazaki Prefecture suspended operation of the railway after a typhoon disaster in 2005 and was liquidated in 2009.
The Takachiho Line, originally named the Hinokage Line (日ノ影線, Hinokage sen)ofJapanese Government Railways, opened on February 20, 1935, in the section between Nobeoka and Hyūga-Okamoto stations.
Following some extensions, the line reached Takachiho Station on July 22, 1972 and was renamed the Takachiho Line same day.[1]
Freight service ceased in 1974. In 1982 all service was suspended for four months due to typhoon damage.
When the national railway was privatized in 1987, the line belonged to JR Kyushu, which withdrew from the operation of the Takachiho Line and transferred it to Takachiho Railway, a new company established by local funds, on April 28, 1989.[1]
On September 6, 2005, flooding triggered by Typhoon Nabi washed away two bridges on the line, halting all operations. By December, it was clear that no government funding for rebuilding was available. Attempts by local communities to rebuild the railway were unsuccessful. A shareholders' resolution made on January 6, 2009 started the company's liquidation procedures which ended in March 2009 with no distribution to shareholders.[2]
A new company, the Takachiho Amaterasu Railway, was later established. It repurposed a section of the Takachiho Line in Takachiho for tourist services.[3]
After the line opened in 1972, construction of the 23 km section from Takachiho to the Takamori line continued until 1975, when flooding in the 6500m Takamori tunnel (16 km north of Takachiho) resulted in work being suspended. Construction was formally abandoned in 1980.
Following the closure of the line, two truck-style sightseeing cars, TR401 and TR402, were purchased by JR Kyushu upon an offer from Takachiho Railway.[4] They will be refurbished and used on the new Umisachi Yamasachi limited express service on the Nichinan Line from October 2009.[5]
Among ordinary railcars, TR201 was given to Asa Kaigan Railway without compensation. It will go into service in autumn 2009. Other ordinary cars were disused. TR104 and TR105 were given to the town of Hinokage and are preserved at Hinokage-Onsen Station. TR101 and TR202 were given to the town of Takachiho and are preserved at Takachiho Station. Others were scrapped.[6]
