[Abandoned railway line] Walking 16.1km along the Yubari Line 1/2
It opened in 1892 and closed in 2019.
It runs through Yubari City, the only financially bankrupt city in Japan.
The town prospered as a coal mining town, and in 1960 had a population of 116,908, but a series of accidents led to the mines being closed one after another, resulting in a loss of population.
It went bankrupt in 2007. The population in 2024 will be 6,348.
0:00 Shin-Yubari Station. Limited express stops. Local trains run three times a day.The station is unmanned
0:48 The Yubari Line platform is closed.
1:35 Former freight yard site
2:00 It’s in front of the station, but it’s in ruins.
2:50 The Yubari Line tracks. In the background is the current Sekisho Line.
5:00 bridge
6:18 Numanosawa Station Remains.
The Hokutan Mayachii Coal Mine Private Railway ran from here. I walked this line too.
8:00 bridge
9:18 bridge
10:10 ATS (Automatic Train Stop System) signal trace
11:10 Minami-Shimizusawa Station Site.
On the right hand side of the direction of travel was the Hokutan Yubari Coal Mine.
A fire breaks out and water has to be poured in with workers still inside. As a result, they are left to die.
This mine had state-of-the-art safety measures in place, but they didn’t work at all.
This accident led to the closure of all coal mines in Japan.
Currently, there are no coal mines in operation in Japan.
13:20 Bridge. A road worker warned me that this bridge is not for pedestrians.
14:27 Former site of Shimizusawa Station.
The starting station of the Oyubari Railway, which was closed in 1987.It was a large terminal station with a freight station.
The Oyubari Railway is now submerged at the bottom of a dam, but it is still walkable in the summer when there is less water.
Of course, I also walked along this route.
15:53 Spectacular views
16:42 bridge
17:29 Spectacular views
6 Comments
It opened in 1892 and closed in 2019.
It runs through Yubari City, the only financially bankrupt city in Japan.
The town prospered as a coal mining town, and in 1960 had a population of 116,908, but a series of accidents led to the mines being closed one after another, resulting in a loss of population.
It went bankrupt in 2007. The population in 2024 will be 6,348.
0:00 Shin-Yubari Station. Limited express stops. Local trains run three times a day.The station is unmanned
0:48 The Yubari Line platform is closed.
1:35 Former freight yard site
2:00 It's in front of the station, but it's in ruins.
2:50 The Yubari Line tracks. In the background is the current Sekisho Line.
5:00 bridge
6:18 Numanosawa Station Remains.
The Hokutan Mayachii Coal Mine Private Railway ran from here. I walked this line too.
8:00 bridge
9:18 bridge
10:10 ATS (Automatic Train Stop System) signal trace
11:10 Minami-Shimizusawa Station Site.
On the right hand side of the direction of travel was the Hokutan Yubari Coal Mine.
A fire breaks out and water has to be poured in with workers still inside. As a result, they are left to die.
This mine had state-of-the-art safety measures in place, but they didn't work at all.
This accident led to the closure of all coal mines in Japan.
Currently, there are no coal mines in operation in Japan.
13:20 Bridge. A road worker warned me that this bridge is not for pedestrians.
14:27 Former site of Shimizusawa Station.
The starting station of the Oyubari Railway, which was closed in 1987.It was a large terminal station with a freight station.
The Oyubari Railway is now submerged at the bottom of a dam, but it is still walkable in the summer when there is less water.
Of course, I also walked along this route.
15:53 Spectacular views
16:42 bridge
17:29 Spectacular views
The railway is well preserved, but sooner or later it will be dismantled. With such a low population, the railway there is really not profitable.
18.1km ?
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Another realaxing video! – Thank you ! 🙂
Wasn't for the Japanese writing and the style of some houses, that could have been a socialist labour village in Romania.
Despite this, for a rural semiabbandoned Japanese coal mine city, has still more infrastructure than an analogue area in my country.