On 1 April 1960, the Hitahikosan Line was formed by a merger of the following lines: • Main line • Jōno – Kawara and Soeda – Yoake sections of the Hita Line (the remaining Kawara – Soeda section became the
Soeda Line) • Kawara – Ita branch of the Hita Line • Ita – Soeda section of the
Tagawa Line (the Yukuhashi – Kawara section remained as the Tagawa Line) • Branches • Ishida – freight branch of the Hita Line • Buszen-Kawasaki – Daiichi-Ōtō freight branch of the Tagawa Line • Buszen-Kawasaki – Daini-Ōtō freight branch of the Tagawa Line All the branches were abolished in 1962, 1974 and 1970 respectively. On 16 July, JR Kyushu formally announced plans to convert this section of the line to a BRT service. The BRT route opened on 28 August 2020 under the name
BRT Hikoboshi Line[ja]. With the opening of the line, the number of stations along the route increased from 12 to 36, although travel times roughly doubled. Following the partial conversion of
JR East's
Ōfunato Line and
Kesennuma Line in the
Tōhoku region, the line is Japan's third rail service to be converted to BRT.
Former connecting lines Buzen Kawasaki Station: The 26 km Kamiyamada Line opened from Iizuka (on the
Chikuho Main Line) to Shimoyamada in 1898, extended to Kamiyamada in 1929 and to Buzen Kawasaki (as a passenger-only section) in 1966. Freight services ceased in 1980, and the line closed in 1988. This line had two connections: • A 2 km gauge line from Okuma (16 km from Buzen Kawasaki) - Okumamachi operated between 1924 and 1933. • The 8 km Urushio line from Shimokamoo (14 km from Buzen Kawasaki) - Shimayamada (connecting to the
Gotoji Line) opened in 1943, and closed in 1986. Soeda station - The Kokura Railway Co. opened a line to Ipponmatsu in 1915. The line was nationalised in 1943 and closed in 1985. ==References==