The brought many of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

's private railway lines under national control

Nationalization

Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...

. The Diet of Japan

Diet of Japan

The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...

 promulgated the Act on March 31, 1906. The Act was repealed by Article 110 of the Japan National Railway Reform Act of 1988, which formed the modern Japan Railways Group.

Between 1906 and 1907, 2812 miles (4,525.5 km) of track were purchased from seventeen private railway companies. The national railway network grew to about 4400 miles (7,081.1 km) of track, and private railways were relegated to providing local and regional services.

Railways nationalized

Date	Railway	Length
		mi	km
October 1, 1906	Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company was a company engaged in coal mining, railway operation and shipping in Hokkaidō, Japan.The company was established in 1889 when the state-owned and Horonai Railway were sold to the company...	204.5	329.1
	Kōbu Railway	27.8	44.7
November 1, 1906	Nippon Railway Nippon Railway was the first private railway company in the history of Japan. The company built trunk lines connecting Tokyo with the Tōhoku region to the northeast...	860.8	1,385.3
	Ganetsu Railway	49.5	79.7
December 1, 1906	Sanyō Railway Sanyo Railway The was established in 1887 and served as a major railroad company during the Meiji period in Japan. The railroad was headquartered in Kobe, and Nakamigawa Hikojirō served as head of the railroad.-Rail lines:...	414.9	667.7
	Nishinari Railway	4.6	7.4
July 1, 1907	Kyūshū Railway Kyushu Railway was a company that built and operated railways in Kyushu, one of four main islands of Japan. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationalization in 1907, and many are now operated by Kyushu Railway Company.-Outline:...	442.8	712.6
	Hokkaidō Railway	159	255.9
August 1, 1907	Kyōto Railway	22.2	35.7
	Hankaku Railway	70.3	113.1
	Hokuetsu Railway	85.8	138.1
September 1, 1907	Sōbu Railway	73.2	117.8
	Bōsō Railway	39.4	63.4
	Nanao Railway	34.4	55.4
	Tokushima Railway	21.5	34.6
October 1, 1907	Kansai Railway	275.2	442.9
	Sangū Railway	26.1	42

See also

• Railway Construction Act
  Railway Construction Act
  The Railway Construction Act was promulgated by the Diet of Japan on June 21, 1892, and designated government support for a network of thirty-three railway lines covering most of Japan, with the exception of Hokkaidō. On April 11, 1922, the Diet amended the law to add an additional network of...
  
  
• Railway nationalization
  Railway nationalization
  Railway nationalization refers to the act of nationalizing rail transport assets, taking them into public ownership. Several countries have nationalized part or all of their railway system at different times....
  
  
• Japanese Government Railways
  Japanese Government Railways
  The Japanese Government Railways was the national railway system directly operated by the central government of Japan until 1949. It is a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the Japan Railways Group.- Name :...