Wakkanai Station (稚内駅, Wakkanai-eki) is a railway station located in the city of Wakkanai, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is operated by JR Hokkaido.[1][2] It is the northernmost railway station in Japan. The station is numbered "W80".
Wakkanai Station is an above-ground station with one side platform and one track. Previously, it had one island platform and two tracks, but on 30 January 2010, the second track was abolished, and the tracks, switches, departure signals, and in-house signals were removed, and the train stops and rails that were previously used were donated by JR Hokkaido to Wakkanai City, to create a monument in the station square. The passage from the ticket gate to the platform is a slope, making the station barrier-free. The station has a Midori no Madoguchi staffed ticket office. The station building was renewed in 2011.
Marker on the platform showing the station as the northernmost station in Japan. (July 2018)
Station platform and station structure in the back, October 2017.
History
The station opened on 26 December 1926, initially named Wakkanai Minato Station (稚内港駅, lit. "Wakkanai Port Station") on the Teshio Line. On April 1, 1930 the Teshio Line was incorporated into the Sōya Main Line. [3] It was renamed Wakkanai on 1 February 1939 at the same time as the original Wakkanai Station was renamed Minami-Wakkanai Station.[3] With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, the station then became under the control of JR Hokkaido.[3]
Passenger statistics
In fiscal 2022, the station was used by an average of 48 passengers daily.[4]
^Kawashima, Ryōzō (2016). 北海道ライン 全線・全駅・全配線・第3巻 道東 道北 エリア [Japan Railways Illustrated. Hokkaido. All lines, all stations, all track layouts. Volume 3 East and North areas] (in Japanese). Kodansha. pp. 22, 67. ISBN4062951800.
^"稚内駅" [Wakkanai Station]. hacchi-no-he.net. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
^ abcdIshino, Tetsu, ed. (1998). 停車場変遷大辞典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory – JNR/JR] (in Japanese). Vol. II. Japan: JTB. pp. 903–904. ISBN4-533-02980-9.
^令和５年度 稚内市統計書・第１０章 交通) [Reiwa 5 Wakkanai City Statistics Book Chapter 10 Transportation] (in Japanese). Japan: Wakkanai City. 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
