 On May 15, 2015, JR East announced that it was placing an order for new diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains to be introduced from fiscal 2017.The private Ganetsu Railway opened the initial section from Kōriyama to Nakayamajuku on July 26, 1898, and extended the line to Aizu-Wakamatsu the following year.Japanese National Railways (JNR) started to modernize the line in the 1960s, introducing the line's first limited express service (as a part of the Yamagata-bound "Yamabata") in 1965 between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Aizu-Wakamatsu via the Tōhoku Main Line.