Arita Station

Arita Station (有田駅, Arita-eki) is a railway station in Arita, Saga, Japan, jointly operated by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) and the third-sector Matsuura Railway and is a transfer station between the Sasebo Line and the Nishi-Kyushu Line.[1][2]

Arita Station

有田駅
Arita Station in 2017
LocationHonmachi, Arita-cho, Nishimatsuura-gun, Saga-ken
Japan
Coordinates33°11′02″N 129°52′54″E
Operated by
Line(s)
Distance
  • 28.2 km from Hizen-Yamaguchi (Sasebo Line)
  • 0.0 km (starting point of the Nishi-Kyushu Line)
Platforms1 side + 1 island platforms
Tracks3 + 1 through-track and multiple sidings
Construction
Structure typeAt grade
ParkingAvailable, rentals available
Disabled accessNo - platforms linked by footbridge
Other information
Status
Website
History
Opened10 July 1897 (1897-07-10)
Passengers
  • 888 daily (JR Kyushu FY2016)
  • 390 daily (Matsuura FY2015)
Rank178th (among JR Kyushu stations)
Location
Arita Station
Location within Japan

Lines

Arita Station is served by the JR Kyushu Sasebo Line and is located 28.2 km from the starting point of the line at Hizen-Yamaguchi. Besides the Sasebo Line local services, the JR limited services Huis Ten Bosch from Hakata to Huis Ten Bosch and Midori from Hakata to Sasebo also stop at the station.[3]

The station is also the terminus for the Matsuura Railway Nishi-Kyushu Line.[4]

Layout

The station consists of a side platform and an island platform serving three tracks. Platforms 1 (side platform) and 2 (on the island) are used by Sasebo Line trains while platform 3 (also on the island), whose track is a dead-end siding, is used by Nishi-Kyushu Line trains. A through-track runs between the two platforms.[5]

The station building is a modern structure with a distinctive circular skylight. It houses a waiting area, staffed ticket windows for both JR Kyushu and the Matsuura Railway, an Arita tourist information centre and a cafe. Access to the island platform from the station building is by means of a footbridge. Paid parking is available at the station forecourt and car rentals are available.[2][3][4][6]

Management of the JR facilities at the station has been outsourced to the JR Kyushu Tetsudou Eigyou Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of JR Kyushu specialising in station services. It staffs the ticket counter which is equipped with a Midori no Madoguchi facility.[7][8]

To the north of the station, beyond platform 3, are multiple sidings, some of which are used by the Arita Off-Rail Station (有田オフレールステーション) (Arita ORS), a JR Freight facility for the transhipment of container freight by trucks.[5][9]

Platforms
1 ■ Midori・Huis Ten Bosch for Sasebo and Huis Ten Bosch
■ Sasebo Line for Haiki and Sasebo
2 ■ Midori・Huis Ten Bosch for Saga and Hakata
■ Sasebo Line for Hizen-Yamaguchi and Tosu
3 ■ Nishi-Kyushu Line for Imari
  • A view of the station platforms and tracks from the footbridge. Note the through-track between the platforms.
  • View of Platform 1 looking west, in the direction of Haiki. Note there is a siding branching off the track.
  • View of platform 3. Note the sidings and containers of the Arita ORS.

Adjacent stations
←Service→
JR Kyushu
Sasebo Line
Kami-Arita Local Mikawachi
Limited Express Services
Takeo-Onsen Huis Ten Bosch Haiki
Takeo-Onsen Midori Haiki
Matsuura Railway
Nishi-Kyushu Line
Terminus Local Midaibashi

History

The private Kyushu Railway had opened a track from Tosu to Saga and Takeo (today Takeo-Onsen) by 5 May 1895. In the next phase of expansion, the track was extended further west with Haiki opening as the new western terminus on 10 July 1897. Arita was opened on the same day as an intermediate station on the new track.[10]

On 7 August 1898, the private Imari Railway opened a track from Imari with Arita as its southern terminus. The Imari Railway merged with the Kyushu Railway on 28 December the same year.[11][12]

The Kyushu Railway was nationalized on 1 July 1907 and Japanese Government Railways (JGR) took over control of the station. On 12 October 1909, the line to Nagasaki was designated the Nagasaki Main Line while the branch to Imari was designated the Imari Line. On 1 December 1934, another route was given the designation Nagasaki Main Line and track serving the station from Hizen-Yamaguchi to Sasebo was redesignated the Sasebo Line. On 1 March 1945, the track to Imari was designated as part of the Matsuura Line. With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, control of the station passed to JR Kyushu. On 1 April 1988, the Matsuura Line was divested to the third-sector Matsuura Railway and the line was renamed the Nishi-Kyushu Line.[10][11][13]

Passenger statistics

For the JR Kyushu station, in fiscal 2016, the station was used by an average of 888 passengers daily (boarding passengers only), and it ranked 178th among the busiest stations of JR Kyushu.[14]

For the Matsuura Railway station, in fiscal 2015, there were a total of 142,266 boarding passengers, giving a daily average of 390 passengers.[15]

See also

References
  1. "JR Kyushu Route Map" (PDF). JR Kyushu. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  2. "有田" [Arita]. hacchi-no-he.net. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  3. "有田" [Arita]. JR Kyushu official station website. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  4. "松浦鉄道" [Matsuura Railway]. Matsuura Railway official station website. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  5. Kawashima, Ryōzō (2013). 図説: 日本の鉄道 四国・九州ライン 全線・全駅・全配線・第5巻 長崎 佐賀 エリア [Japan Railways Illustrated. Shikoku and Kyushu. All lines, all stations, all track layouts. Volume 5 Nagasaki Saga area] (in Japanese). Kodansha. pp. 24, 71. ISBN 9784062951647.
  6. "佐賀有田車站行程" [Arita Station (Saga) Tour]. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2018.Blog entry with detailed photographic coverage of station facilities.
  7. "長崎支店内各駅" [Stations within the Nagasaki Branch]. JRTE website. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  8. "有田駅" [Arita Station]. jr-mars.dyndns.org. Retrieved 30 March 2018. See images of tickets sold.
  9. "有田ORSのV19C" [Arita ORS's V19C]. Retrieved 30 March 2018. Blog entry with detailed photographic coverage of the Arita ORS.
  10. Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR] (in Japanese). I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 216, 227. ISBN 4533029809.
  11. Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR] (in Japanese). I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 225–6. ISBN 4533029809.
  12. Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR] (in Japanese). II. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 729–730. ISBN 4533029809.
  13. Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR] (in Japanese). II. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 728–9. ISBN 4533029809.
  14. "駅別乗車人員上位300駅（平成28年度）" [Passengers embarking by station - Top 300 stations (Fiscal 2016)] (PDF). JR Kyushu. 31 July 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  15. "佐賀県統計年鑑（平成28年版）" [Saga Prefecture Statistics Yearbook 2016 Edition]. Saga Prefectural Government website. Retrieved 23 March 2018. See table 12-7 at section under Transportation and Communications.
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