in 1939, and converted the line to gauge in 1941. The Ena Railway rebuilt the Onahama - Ena section as in 1953. In 1965 a typhoon caused the collapse of a retaining wall, and the Onahama - Ena section formally closed in 1967. The passenger service on the Izumi - Onahama section ceased in 1972, the line is now freight-only operated by the Fukushima Rinkai Railway. Yumoto station: The gauge Iwaki Coalmine Railway operated to Onahama between 1905 and 1944. Yumoto station: A line to Nagahashi was operated by the Iwaki City Council between 1914 and 1929. Uchigo station: The Furukawa Co. built a gauge line to the Kita-Yoshima coal mine in 1905. In 1908 the line was rebuilt to gauge and shortened by . The mine and line closed in 1969. Iwaki station: The Yoshima and Akai local railways connected here, details of these lines are not currently available. Basic data Operators, distances: East Japan Railway Company (JR East) (Services and tracks) Nippori – Haranomachi – Iwanuma: Mikawashima – Sumidagawa – Minami-Senju (Sumidagawa freight branch): Mikawashima – Tabata (Tabata freight branch): Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) (Services) Mikawashima – Haranomachi – Iwanuma: Mikawashima – Sumidagawa – Minami-Senju (Sumidagawa freight branch): Mikawashima – Tabata (Tabata freight branch): Double/quadruple tracking: Quadruple: Ayase – Toride Double: Nippori – Ayase, Toride – Yotsukura, Hirono – Kido, Ōno – Futaba Electrification: 1,500 V DC: Nippori – Toride, Mikawashima – Sumidagawa – Minami-Senju, Mikawashima – Tabata 20 kV AC, 50 Hz: Fujishiro – Iwanuma. This section of the line, along with a nearby section of the Tsukuba Express in Ibaraki Prefecture (Moriya – Tsukuba), uses alternating current in order to minimize interference with the nearby Kakioka Magnetic Observatory in Ishioka. The dead section is located between Toride and Fujishiro Railway signalling: Automatic Train Control (ATC): Ayase – Toride Automatic Signaling Block for all other sections operation control ATOS: Ueno – Hatori, local train track Ayase – Toride CTC: All other sections Services The Jōban Line connects Tokyo and the Tōhoku region. After the opening of the Tōhoku Shinkansen in 1982, the Jōban Line was split into two parts at Iwaki. South of Iwaki is mainly double track (Ayase - Toride is quad track), and north of Iwaki is predominantly single track. After the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the Jōban Line is further segmented in the Iwaki – Sendai section. Shinagawa – Ueno – Iwaki