The Hakata Minami Line (博多南線) is an 8.5 km railway line in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, connecting Hakata Station in Fukuoka to Hakata-Minami Station in Kasuga. It is operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was originally built in the 1970s to transport Sanyō Shinkansen trains from the Hakata terminal to a large train depot in Kasuga. At that time, Kasuga was a rural region and did not merit a train station of its own. By the late 1980s, however, the area had become a sprawling suburb of Fukuoka. JR decided to build a station adjacent to the depot, and inaugurated service in 1990 with 0 Series Shinkansen trains. Although the line uses Shinkansen equipment, it is not considered a part of the Shinkansen network; trains are officially designated as limited express (特急) trains. This may change if the Kyushu Shinkansen, which is currently under construction, decides to use it as part of the route. The trip from Hakata to Hakata-Minami takes ten minutes and costs 290 yen.
