The first 22 miles (35 km) of the railway, between Hakata Station in Fukuoka and Chitosegawa temporary station in Asahi, Saga (near Kurume, Fukuoka), opened on December 11, 1889 as the first railway in Kyushu.

As of 1907, it operated 442.8 miles (712.6 km) of railways in Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Ōita and Saga prefectures in northern Kyushu.

On July 1, 1907, the entire operation of the company was purchased by the government of Japan under the Railway Nationalization Act.

A special coach made by German car manufacturer van der Zypen & Charlier was imported by Kyushu Railway for VIP use in 1891.

[2] The Kyushu Railway History Museum was established near Mojikō Station in Kitakyūshū in 2003.