Kanbara Tetsudo is a bus company headquartered in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It was originally a railway operator running the Kanbara Tetsudo Line until that line was fully closed in 1999, after which it became a bus-only business. The company operates a charter bus service, provides part of the operation of Gosen's community buses, and has run a range of regular and expressway routes over the years, many of which were later transferred to local governments or other operators.
Railway history
The company was founded in 1922 and opened its railway line between Muramatsu and Gosen in 1923. The line was completed through to Kamo in 1930. Regular bus services began in 1951 and charter bus operations in 1953. The railway section was shut down in stages, with the Kamo to Muramatsu section converted to bus service in 1985 and the remaining Muramatsu to Gosen section closed in 1999, when replacement bus routes were added to cover it.
Bus operations
Regular route buses were withdrawn in 2010 and replaced with community and on-demand services organized by the municipalities. A subsidiary, Kantetsu Kogata Bus, operated replacement routes for a time. Today the company partly operates Gosen's community bus network and runs charter services. Its expressway route to Niigata was transferred to another operator in 2024.
Other businesses
The company formerly ran a travel agency under the brand KANTETSU Well, which suspended operations in January 2024. It also acts as an agent for non-life insurance and once operated a convenience store at Muramatsu Station, a business it later handed over.