Miyoshi Station is served by the JR West Geibi Line, and is located 90.3 kilometers from the terminus of the line at Bitchū-Kōjiro and 96.7 kilometers from Niimi. It is also the terminus for the Fukuen Line to Fukuyama. [2] It was also the terminal station for the Sankō Line before the line ceased operation on 31 March 2018.
Station layout
Miyoshi Station is a reinforced concrete two-story building. It features two platforms which handle four lines: one side platform next to the station building and an island platform accessible via an enclosed footbridge above the tracks. The station building houses a small convenience store as well as automatic ticket vending machines and a "Midori no Madoguchi" staffed ticket office. There is a large waiting area inside the station building, as well as enclosed and unenclosed waiting areas on the platforms. There is a siding track without a platform between Platform 1 and Platform 2, and there are many train sidings on the south side of Platform 3. In the past, there was a notched platform on the Hiroshima side of the side platform that served as Platform 0 for trains on the Sanko Line.
The station opened on 1 June 1933, initially named Bingo Tōkaichi Station (備後十日市駅).[3] On 10 December 1954, the station was renamed Miyoshi.[3] With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR West.[3]
The station was a terminal station of the Sankō Line. On 16 October 2015, JR West announced that it was considering closing the Sankō Line due to poor patronage.[5] On 29 September 2016, JR West announced that the entire rail line would close on 31 March 2018.[6] The line then closed on March 31, 2018, with an event hosted by JR West[7] and will be replaced by a bus service.[8]
Passenger statistics
In fiscal 2019, the station was used by an average of 433 passengers daily.[9]
^Kawashima, Reizo (2012). 山陽・山陰ライン - 全線・全駅・全配線』5 鳥取・出雲・尾道エリア [Sanyo/Sanin Line - All Lines, All Stations 5 Tottori/Izumo/Onomichi Area] (in Japanese). Kodansha. ISBN978-4-06-295155-5.
^Ishino, Satoshi (1998). Teishajo (in Japanese). Japan Travel Bureau. p. 266. ISBN978-4-533-02980-6.
^ abcIshino, Tetsu, ed. (1998). 停車場変遷大辞典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR]. Vol. II. Japan: JTB. p. 266. ISBN4-533-02980-9.
^蒸気機関車(SL)復活運転の車両・施設計画概要について [Details of rolling stock and facilities planned for steam locomotive operation] (pdf). News release (in Japanese). Japan: Tobu Railway. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
^JR西:三江線、廃止も検討...人口減、利用低迷で [JR West considering closure of Sanko Line - declining population and poor patronage]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Japan: The Mainichi Newspapers. 16 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
^三江線18年3月末で廃線 [Sanko Line to close at end of March 2018]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Japan: The Mainichi Newspapers. 29 September 2016. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2018.