The Akita Port Line (a freight branch of the Ou Main Line, Tsuchizaki–Akita-Ko, 1.8 km) has no regular passenger service. JR East only ran a special train—the “Akita Port Cruise Train”—on days when cruise ships docked at Akita Port. Normally only cruise passengers could ride it, but JR East’s Akita branch office organized an open experience event, so I signed up.
This line is scheduled for abolition on July 1, 2026. Cruise train operations ended in fiscal 2025. There is no longer any way to ride it.
About the Akita Port Line
The Akita Port Line is a 1.8 km freight branch splitting off from Tsuchizaki Station to reach Akita-Ko Station. In an unusual arrangement, the track is owned by JR Freight while passenger trains were operated by JR East as a class-two railway operator—the reverse of the typical relationship.
The line once connected to the Akita Rinkai Railway and carried chemical and paper products. Scheduled freight service ended in 2021, and the Akita Rinkai Railway ceased operations in 2022. Passenger service for cruise ship passengers began in 2017 but also ended in fiscal 2025. JR Freight filed for abolition in December 2025.
The Experience Event
Like the 3rd Shinkin Line Passenger Service Prayer Train, I found this by searching the internet for freight line tours. Experience events on the Akita Port Line had been held before, but I could never make the schedule work. This time I finally made it.
The train was a GV-E400 series, 2-car formation. Train numbers were 9645D (outbound) and 9654D (return). Several seat types were available. The standard plan was ¥2,000, which included a ¥1,000 shopping voucher for the Port Tower Selion roadside station. A special plan (¥20,000) offering exclusive access to the space behind the driver’s cab was also available.
I took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Akita the night before and stayed overnight.
Itinerary
The Day
The Diamond Princess was scheduled to dock at Akita Port that day, but bad weather forced the cancellation. The cruise ship never came, but the experience event went ahead as planned. Riding a line built for cruise passengers on a day when no cruise ship showed up was a strange experience.
Boarded at Akita Station. Most passengers were rail enthusiasts, with some families mixed in. The train moved slowly. The Akita Port Line is a freight branch not designed for speed. It’s a short 1.8 km stretch, but there was a real sense of traveling on tracks that are normally off-limits.
Akita-Ko Station was a simple setup—just a station building and a platform.
Akita Port
From Akita-Ko Station, about an 8-minute walk to Port Tower Selion. I used the ¥1,000 shopping voucher. With no cruise ship in port, the harbor was quiet.
Coverage Results
Completed the Akita Port Line (Ou Main Line freight branch, Tsuchizaki–Akita-Ko, 1.8 km). This line is scheduled for abolition on July 1, 2026. Once abolished, it disappears from the coverage list entirely—but I’m glad I rode it while I still could.