Rumoi Main Line

On 10 August 2015, JR Hokkaido informed the mayors of Rumoi and Mashike of its plans to close the 16.7 km (10.4 mi) section of the line from Rumoi and Mashike in 2016.[3] In April 2016, it was officially announced that the section from Rumoi to Mashike would close, and the last service operated on 4 December of that year.[4] The remaining section is also at very serious risk of closure, due to extremely poor passenger numbers. The 4 towns and cities along the line. Rumoi, Numata, Chippubetsu and Fukagawa were in discussion with JR Hokkaido regarding the line's future, but Rumoi left the group as the city was already well-equipped so they didn't see keeping the railway open as necessary. For this reason, the section of the line running from Ishikari Numata - Rumoi will likely be closed in the distant future. The 3 remaining municipalities are still in discussion with JR Hokkaido and it has been clarified that they are working to keep the Fukagawa–Ishikari-Numata section open for the benefit of students who use the railway to travel to and from their schools. in September 2022, JR Hokkaido submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to close an additional 35.7 km (22.2 mi) between Ishikari-Numata and Rumoi.[5][6] If approved, the last day of operations in that section will be on 31 March 2023. The remaining 13.3 km (8.3 mi) section to Fukagawa is slated to be closed in March 2026.[6] The proposal to close the section between Ishikari-Numata and Rumoi was approved on 9 December 2022.[7] As a result, the line will be shortened to 14.4 km (8.9 mi) (Fukagawa to Ishikari-Numata). In addition, the scheduled March 2026 closure of the final section to Fukugawa remains as planned.