Hokuhoku Line

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Hokuhoku Line
A HK100 Yumezora train, Kubiki - Saigata, September 2014
Overview
Owner	Hokuetsu Express
Locale	Niigata Prefecture
Termini	Muikamachi Saigata
Stations	12
Service
Operator(s)	Hokuetsu Express
History
Opened	22 March 1997; 27 years ago (1997-03-22)
Technical
Line length	59.5 km (37.0 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed	130 km/h (80 mph)
Route map

The Hokuhoku Line (ほくほく線, Hokuhoku-sen) is a Japanese railway line in Niigata Prefecture that runs from Muikamachi in Minamiuonuma City to Saigata in Jōetsu City. It is the sole railway line operated by Hokuetsu Express (北越急行, Hokuetsu Kyūkō). Construction of the line first began in 1968 by the Japanese National Railways (JNR), and was initially referred to as the Hokuetsu-Kita Line (北越北線, Hokuetsu-kita-sen). However, the construction of the line was plagued by numerous delays, and was finally completed as a third sector line on 22 March 1997,^[1][2] including the 10,472 m (6.5 mi) Akakura Tunnel, the longest on a non-JR line.

Unlike most other third sector company lines, the Hokuhoku Line made steady profits after its opening, as the former Hakutaka Limited Express train service, which travelled using the line, served as the principal link between the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Hokuriku region until the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen in 2015. The line's former maximum speed limit of 160 km/h (99 mph) allowed the Hakutaka to become the fastest narrow gauge train service in the country, matched only by the standard gauge Keisei Skyliner services to Narita International Airport as the fastest non-Shinkansen service (also at 160 km/h (99 mph)); however, following the withdrawal of Hakutaka services on the line on 14 March 2015, the maximum speed limit of the line was reduced to 130 km/h (80 mph).^[3]