Flower Nagai Line

Flower Nagai Line
A Flower Nagai Line train at Akayu terminal
Overview
Locale	Yamagata Prefecture
Termini	Akayu Arato
Stations	17
Operation
Opened	1913
Operator(s)	Yamagata Railway
Technical
Line length	30.5 km (19.0 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None

Flower Nagai Line

JR East：Yamagata Shinkansen JR East Ōu Main Line（Yamagata Line） 0.0 Akayu 0.9 Nanyō-Shiyakusho 3.0 Miyauchi 4.4 Orihata 6.8 Ringō Mogami River 10.3 Nishi-Ōtsuka JR East：Yonesaka Line 12.2 Imaizumi Shirakawa River Shirakawa Signal Stop-1984 JR East：Yonesaka Line 14.9 Tokiniwa 17.3 Minami-Nagai 18.3 Nagai 19.1 Ayame-Kōen 21.0 Uzen-Narita 23.2 Shirousagi 24.6 Koguwa 27.9 Ayukai 28.6 Shikinosato Mogami River 30.5 Arato

The Flower Nagai Line (フラワー長井線, Furawā-Nagai-sen^?) is a Japanese railway line in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. It connects Akayu Station in Nanyō to Arato Station in Shirataka.

The Flower Nagai Line is the only line operated by the third sector Yamagata Railway Company (山形鉄道, Yamagata Tetsudō^?), which took over the former JR East line in 1988.

In 2005, Yamagata Railway was in danger of having to shut down due to low patronage, leaving many residents, especially the young and old, without a mode of transportation from their farms. The only option available to the company was to try to attract more tourists to the scenic views. Lone train operator, Tatsuo Asakura, working without the knowledge of his superiors increased out-of-town passengers from 350 in 2005 to 7,000 in 2006, and in September 2008 had entertained more than 20,000 tourists with his uplifting guided tours, spoken in local dialect.

Seven single-car diesel multiple units serve the line, running from Akayu to Arato once every one to two hours.

All stations are located in Yamagata Prefecture.