Noto Railway Partially Resumes Service in Ishikawa after Earthquake; A Step Towards Normalcy for Residents

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, February 15, 2024

NANAO, Ishikawa — Noto Railway in Ishikawa Prefecture partially resumed operations on Thursday, more than a month after being hit by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

Services were back on track in the 16.3-kilometer-long section between Nanao and Noto-Nakajima stations in the city of Nanao.

Also Thursday, the JR Nanao Line restored operations for the 5.1-kilometer-long section between Nanao and Wakura-Onsen stations, almost six weeks after the Jan. 1 earthquake. This means the entire JR Nanao Line is now back in service.

At around 6:30 a.m. at Noto-Nakajima Station, about 20 people were seen boarding the day’s first Noto Railway train bound for Nanao. “Trains are a must for commuting to school,” said an 18-year-old senior at Nanao High School. “I’m very thankful for the resumption.”

Noto Railway continues to run substitute buses for the remaining 16.8-kilometer-long suspended segment from Noto-Nakajima through Anamizu terminal. The operator aims to fully resume services in early April.

“We’ve renewed our hope to restore the line through Anamizu Station,” President Tetsuya Nakata said after seeing off the first train.