Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (新函館北斗駅, Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto-eki) is a railway station on the Hakodate Main Line in Hokuto, Hokkaido, Japan, operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). The station – rebuilt and very extensively enlarged to serve from March 2016 as the northern terminal of the new Hokkaido Shinkansen – occupies the site of the former Oshima-Ōno Station (渡島大野駅), and is currently the northernmost high-speed Shinkansen railway station in Japan.
Shin Hakodate Hokuto station has a total of 2 platforms serving 4 tracks on the ground level for the Hakodate Main line, and 2 side platforms on the upper level for the Hokkaido Shinkansen.
Old station building in 2008Temporary station building
The station opened on 10 December 1902, named Hongō Station (本郷駅).[1] It was renamed Oshima-Ono on 1 April 1942.[1] With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR Hokkaido.[1]
Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto station under construction, July 2014
The station has been rebuilt and renamed Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station (新函館北斗駅), becoming a stop on the Hokkaido Shinkansen high-speed line, which opened on 26 March 2016.[2][3] "Relay" shuttle services using three-car 733 series electric trains operate to and from the centrally-located Hakodate Station (approximately 18 km away).[4]
The rebuilt station features large windows and white support pillars modeled after poplar trees near the local Trappist monastery. Ticket vending machines are located on the second floor of the structure. The inside uses a large number of locally sourced cedar lumber and Hokkaido bricks.[5]
Since the construction of the new station, the immediate surrounding areas have been redeveloped significantly with new roads, homes and businesses.
The Hokkaido Shinkansen, connecting Honshu, Japan's main island, to the northern island of Hokkaido commenced service on 26 March 2016. Due to the line's extension to Sapporo (under construction), the Oshima-Ōno Station at Hokuto, Hokkaido, has been upgraded into the "New Hakodate-Hokuto Station," and received a bronze Fist of the North Star statue.[6]
Future
The extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo is scheduled to commence operation in 2031.
^駅名は「新函館北斗」 道新幹線 道がJRに近く提案 [Hokkaido to propose name "Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto" to JR]. Doshin Web (in Japanese). Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press. 4 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
^北海道新幹線「新函館北斗」決定 JR、新駅名発表 [JR announces new Hokkaido station name: "Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto"]. Doshin Web (in Japanese). Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press. 11 June 2014. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
^JR、地元・函館の要望に消極的 リレー列車3両／観光型車両は導入せず [JR to run 3-car relay trains, unresponsive to local wishes, with no plans for tourist trains]. Doshin Web (in Japanese). Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press. 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
