# Maibara Station

Maibara Station (米原駅, Maibara-eki) is an interchange passenger railway station located in the city of Maibara, Shiga, Japan. On the border between West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), it is jointly operated by both companies, along with the private railway operator Ohmi Railway. It is also a freight depot for the Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight).

## Lines

Maibara Station is served by the JR West Hokuriku Main Line and the Biwako Line section of the Tōkaidō Main Line. It is also served by the JR Central Tōkaidō Shinkansen and the JR Central portion of Tōkaidō Main Line towards Ōgaki and Gifu. It is 445.9 kilometers from Tokyo Station and is the southern terminus of the 176.6 kilometer Hokuriku Main Line to Kanazawa. It is also the terminus for the 44.7 kilometer Ohmi Railway Main Line to Kibukawa.

## Station layout
### JR

The JR portion of the station consists of three island platforms with six tracks for the Tōkaidō Line and the Hokuriku Line. There is an island platform, and a side platform with five tracks for the Tōkaidō Shinkansen.

#### Platforms

| 2, 3 | ■ Biwako Line | ■local trains, ■special rapid service, ■limited express and ■express for Kusatsu, Kyoto and Osaka |
| 5, 6, 7 | ■ Hokuriku Line | ■local trains, ■special rapid for Tsuruga ■limited express Shirasagi for Tsuruga |
| 7, 8 | ■ Tōkaidō Line | ■local trains, ■rapid trains, ■new rapid trains, ■special rapid trains and ■limited express Shirasagi for Ogaki, Gifu and Nagoya ■limited express Hida for Gero and Takayama |
| 11 | ■ Tōkaidō Shinkansen | ■Hikari and ■Kodama for Shin-Ōsaka, Okayama and Hiroshima |
| 12 | ■ Tōkaidō Shinkansen | ■Hikari and ■Kodama for Nagoya, Shin-Yokohama and Tokyo |
| 13 | ■ Tōkaidō Shinkansen | extra |

### Ohmi Railway

The Ohmi Railway portion of the station consists of one island platform serving two tracks.

#### Platforms

| 1, 2 | ■ Main Line (Hikone Taga-Taisha Line) | for Taga Taisha-mae, Yōkaichi, Ōmi-Hachiman and Kibukawa |

## Adjacent stations

| « | Service | » |
| Biwako Line (Tokaido Line) |||||
| Terminus | Local (3 doors) | Hikone |
| Terminus | Special Rapid Service | Hikone |
| Ogaki | Limited Express Hida | Kusatsu |
| Biwako Line (Hokuriku Line) |||||
| Terminus | Local | Sakata |
| Terminus | Special Rapid Service | Sakata |
| Ogaki | Limited Express Shirasagi | Nagahama or Tsuruga |
| Tokaido Line |||||
| Samegai | Local | Terminus |
| Samegai | Semi Rapid (terminating only) | Terminus |
| Samegai | Rapid | Terminus |
| Samegai | New Rapid | Terminus |
| Samegai | Special Rapid | Terminus |
| Ogaki | Limited Express Hida | Kusatsu |
| Ogaki | Limited Express Shirasagi | Nagahama or Tsuruga |
| Ohmi Railway Main Line (Hikone Taga-Taisha Line) |||||
| Terminus | Local | Fujitec-mae |

## History

Maibara Station opened on 1 July 1889 as a station on the Japanese Government Railway (JGR) Tōkaidō Line, which became the Japan National Railways (JNR) after World War II. The Ohmi Railway began operations of 15 March 1931. The station came under the aegis of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) on 1 April 1987 due to the privatization of the JNR.
Station numbering was introduced to the JR West and JR Central platforms in March 2018 with Maibara being assigned station number JR-A12 for the Biwako Line and CA83 on the JR Central network.

## Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2018, the JR West portion of the station was used by an average of 5,514 passengers daily, the JR Central portion by 7,240 passengers daily (boarding passengers only). The Ohmi Railway portion of the station was used by 1,069 passengers daily (boarding passengers only) in 2015.

## Surrounding area

* Maibara City Society of Commerce
* Shiga Prefectural Cultural Industry Exchange Center
* Shiga Prefectural Maibara High School
* Yanmar Central Research Institute