[1] Yamada line reopened on 23 March 2019 with operations transferred to the Sanriku Railway.

Kamaishi Station was absorbed into the JR East network upon the privatization of the Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987.

The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 destroyed much of the tracks and many stations of the Yamada Line between Miyako and Kamaishi.

In February 2012, JR East officially proposed that this section of the Yamada Line be scrapped and the right-of-way used as a bus rapid transit (BRT) route [5] but this decision was subsequently overturned and the line restored pending transfer to the Sanriku Railway.

On 23 March 2019, the Yamada Line section from Miyako to Kamaishi was reopened and transferred to Sanriku Railway.