The station is served by three lines. On the Nippō Main Line it is located 132.9 km from the starting point of the line at Kokura and on the Kyūdai Main Line it is located 141.5 km from the starting point of that line at Kurume. It is also the eastern terminus of 148.0 km Hōhi Main Line from Kumamoto.[2]
Layout
The station consists of four elevated island platforms serving eight tracks. The station building is located underneath the platforms. The ticket gate is located on the west side near the center of the concourse. An automatic ticket gate has been installed, and it has also been compatible with SUGOCA. The station has a Midori no Madoguchi staffed ticket office.[2]
Japanese Government Railways (JGR) opened the station on 1 November 1911 as the southern terminus of its then Hōshū Main Line (豊州本線) which it had been extending southwards in phases since 1907 when it had acquired the former Kyushu Railway's private track from Kokura south to Usa. Ōita became a through-station on 1 April 1914 when the track was extended further south to Kōzaki. On 15 December 1923, this entire stretch of track was redesignated as the Nippo Main Line.[3]
Separately, on 1 April 1914, JGR opened the Inukai Light Rail Line (犬飼軽便線) from Ōita westwards to Nakahanda. This track later linked up with another built eastwards from Kumamoto and the entire stretch was designated as the Hōhi Main Line on 2 December 1928.[4]
The origin of the third line to serve the station, the Kyudai Main Line lay with the private Daito Railway (大湯鉄道) which opened a track from Ōita westwards to Onoya on 30 October 1915. On 1 December 1922, the Daito Railway was nationalized and JGR designated this stretch of track as the Daito Line. By 1934, the track had linked up with a track built eastwards from Kurume and the entire route was designated the Kyudai Main Line.[5]
With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR), the successor of JGR, on 1 April 1987, Ōita came under the control of JR Kyushu.[6]
Passenger statistics
In fiscal 2016, the station was used by an average of 19,165 passengers daily (boarding passengers only), and it ranked 4th among the busiest stations of JR Kyushu.[7]
In popular culture
The JR Ōita City station complex was the main subject of an episode in the NHK World English documentary series Japan Railway Journal titled JR Ōita City: The Station Complex that Changed the Game, first broadcast on 15 February 2018. The episode describes how the station complex, which opened in 2015, contributed to increased ridership at the station and also to the economic revitalization of the surrounding area. The same episode also covered the Bungo-Mori Roundhouse Park, located near Bungo-Mori Station.[8]
^ abKawashima, Ryōzō (2013). 図説: 日本の鉄道 四国・九州ライン 全線・全駅・全配線・第4巻 福岡エリア [Japan Railways Illustrated. Shikoku and Kyushu. All lines, all stations, all track layouts. Volume 4 Fukuoka Area] (in Japanese). Kodansha. pp. 43, 81. ISBN9784062951630.
^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). Vol. I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 228–9. ISBN4-533-02980-9.
^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). Vol. I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 228. ISBN4-533-02980-9.
^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). Vol. I. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 227. ISBN4-533-02980-9.
^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). Vol. II. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 743. ISBN4-533-02980-9.
^"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 16 June 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
^"JR Ōita City: The Station Complex that Changed the Game". Japan Railway Journal. 15 February 2018. NHK World.
External links
Media related to Ōita Station at Wikimedia Commons
