Kesennuma Line

The Kesennuma Line (気仙沼線, Kesennuma-sen) is a local railway line in Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

As a result of the catastrophic damage to the line and prohibitive costs of restoration as a railway, JR East officially proposed the line's conversion into a dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) route on 27 December 2011.

[2] At present only the Maeyachi to Yanaizu section is operated as a railway, with services on the balance of the route provided by buses.

An autonomous driving system has been being tested on the BRT line since 2018 and has been fully implemented since 5 December 2022.

Greyed-out stations have been closed since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and operate only as bus stops for the JR East BRT route.

Remains of Kesennuma Line near Shizugawa Station following 2011 tsunami
BRT roadway near Saichi Station, completed in 2012