By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-10-10 03:16:50 | Updated at 2026-10-11 06:07:25
1 day ago
TOKYO - JR Kyushu’s train lines were fully restored on Oct 10, 74 days after the devastating earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture in south-western Japan on July 28.
Services resumed between Uto and Yatsushiro stations in Kumamoto Prefecture, a section that had remained suspended, with a passenger saying it represented “the first step of reconstruction”.
The section is heavily used by students. Until Oct 9, substitute buses had been running along with alternative transport on the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train line, which fully reopened in September.
At Yatsushiro Station, the first train bound for Kumamoto Station departed shortly after 5am on Oct 10 (4am, Singapore time). From around 6.30am, junior and senior high school students in uniform were seen boarding trains.
Yukiko Miyagawa, a first-year junior high school student from Yatsushiro, had been spending about two hours commuting to Kumamoto, transferring between substitute buses and trains that had continued operating after the quake.
“I can finally return to normal life,” the 13-year-old said with relief, after being forced to take a break from school club activities for a period.
According to JR Kyushu, formally Kyushu Railway, the suspended section suffered major damage, including deformed tracks and broken utility poles, requiring repair work such as replacing rails and installing new poles and overhead wires.
The company began operating substitute buses between Uto and Yatsushiro on Aug 26. The trip, however, took about 1 hour and 50 minutes by bus, compared with around 30 minutes by local train, inconveniencing commuters and students.
Since Sept 18, passengers have been able to use the Kyushu Shinkansen bullet train between Kumamoto and Shin-yatsushiro stations without limited express tickets.
Another local train service that runs between Yatsushiro and Higo-Tanoura stations has also remained suspended since the Kumamoto earthquake.
Those services are scheduled to resume on Oct 13, clearing all railway suspensions caused by the quake. KYODO NEWS
