Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station
Lines. Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station is served by the Hokkaido Shinkansen between Tokyo or Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. It used to be served by the Kaikyō Line between and prior to the opening of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. After the beginning of the bullet train services, the Kaikyō Line is normally only used by freight trains. Station layout. Before the Hokkaido Shinkansen stations were made, Tsugaru-Imabetsu Station had two opposed side platforms serving two tracks. There was no station building, but only a small weather shelter on the platform. The station was unattended. Although the station  is in the middle of the 82-kilometer section shared by the standard-gauge Hokkaido Shinkansen and the-narrow gauge Kaikyō Line, narrow gauge trains use separate tracks (two each) on the both sides of the Shinkansen station so that only bullet trains pass through the passenger platforms. It is physically connected to Tsugaru-Futamata Station on the JR East Tsugaru Line by an underground passage. History. on the Kaikyō Line opened on 13 March 1988. From 2002, only the limited express "Hakuchō" services stopped at this station. According to the 2015 timetable, there were two trains per day in  each direction. The station became a stop on the Hokkaido Shinkansen on 26 March 2016 and was renamed, becoming Okutsugaru-Imabetsu Station. As the work to convert the Tsugaru-Imabetsu Station into the Shinkansen station was in progress, passenger services at the station were suspended from August 10, 2015. From August 2015, there were no train services at this station due to the work to convert the station to a stop on the high-speed line.