Hankyu Kyoto Main Line

Hankyu Kyoto Main Line
A 9300 series EMU on a limited express service
Overview
Native name 阪急京都本線
Locale Kansai
Termini Jūsō
Kawaramachi
Stations 26
Operation
Operator(s) Hankyu Railway
Depot(s) Shōjaku
Katsura
Technical
Line length 45.3 km (28.1 mi)
Number of tracks Double
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification 1,500 V DC, overhead line
Operating speed 115 km/h (70 mph)
Route map

The Hankyu Kyoto Main Line (阪急京都本線, Hankyū Kyōto Honsen) is a railway line in Japan operated by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Umeda Station, Osaka and Kawaramachi Station, Kyoto.

Definition

The Kyoto Main Line is often called the Kyoto Line (京都線, Kyōto-sen) for short, and in a broader sense its two branch lines, the Senri Line and the Arashiyama Line, are included to the Kyoto Line by historical, geographical and structural reasons. The other two sections of Hankyu, the Kobe Line and the Takarazuka Line are called the Shinpōsen (神宝線) as a whole.

Officially, the Kyoto Main Line is from Jūsō to Kawaramachi, however, all trains run beyond Jūsō to Umeda terminal, using the eastern tracks of the section exclusively. Hankyu treats the Kyoto Main Line in the same way as the passengers do, i.e. as the line between Umeda and Kawaramachi (except for special circumstances such as governmental procedures).

History

The Umeda - Juso section was opened in 1910 as part of the Hankyu Takarazuka Line.

The Northern Osaka Electric Railway Co. opened the Juso - Awaji section as 1435mm gauge dual track electrified at 600 VDC in 1921, and the company merged with Hankyu in 1923.

The Awaji - Saiin section was opened in 1928, the year the voltage was increased to 1500 VDC.

The Saiin - Omiya section opened in 1931, and the line was extended to Kawaramachi in 1963.

Proposed connecting line

A loop line from Juso to Awaji via Shin-Osaka station, to provide a direct connection to the Shinkansen has been proposed, but is not currently scheduled for construction.

Service types

In the timetable revised on December 21, 2013,[1] regular trains are classified in nine types:

  • Local (普通, futsū)
  • Semi-Express (準急, junkyū) (abbreviated as "S" in the table below)
  • Sakaisuji Semi-Express (堺筋準急, sakaisuji junkyū) ("SS")
  • Rapid Service (快速, kaisoku) ("R")
  • Rapid Express (快速急行, kaisoku kyūkō) ("E")
  • Limited Express (特急, tokkyū) ("L")
  • Limited Express (通勤特急, tsūkin tokkyū) ("C")
  • Limited Express (快速特急, kaisoku tokkyū) ("SL") - including extra trains named "Sagano" and "Ogura"
  • Limited Express (直通特急, chokutsū tokkyū) ("A") - named "Atago", "Togetsu" and "Hozu" (See below)
The four types of Limited Express differ in Japanese and have different stops, but the operator translates them all into English as simply "Limited Express". In this article tokkyū is translated as Regular Limited Express, tsūkin tokkyū as Commutation Limited Express, the kaisoku tokkyū as Sightseeing Limited Express, and the chokutsū tokkyū as Arashiyama Limited Express. Note that these are not official translations.

The following limited express trains are named follows;

  • Umeda - Arashiyama: "Sagano (さがの, named after the district in Ukyo-ku, Kyoto)"
  • Kawaramachi - Arashiyama: "Ogura (おぐら, named after Mount Ogura)"
  • Kosoku Kobe - Arashiyama: "Atago (あたご, named after Mount Atago)"
  • Takarazuka - Arashiyama (via the Imazu Line): "Togetsu (とげつ, named after Togetsukyo Bridge)"
  • Tengachaya - Arashiyama: "Hozu (ほづ, named after the Hozu River)" (seasonal service)

Through services

In addition to intra-line services, the line operates through services to/from other lines as follows:

Local
All-stations "Local" trains operate between Umeda and Kita-Senri (on the Senri Line, connected at Awaji) and between Takatsuki-shi and Tengachaya (on the Sakaisuji Line, via the Senri Line).
Sakaisuji Semi-Express
Sakaisuji Semi-Express trains operate between Kawaramachi or Takatsuki-shi and Tengachaya.
Arashiyama Limited Express
Arashiyama Limited Express trains (only on special timetable) operate between Arashiyama (on the Arashiyama Line, connected at Katsura) and Tengachaya, Kōsoku Kōbe (via the Kobe Main Line and the Kobe Kōsoku Line) and Takarazuka (via the Kobe Main Line and the Imazu Line).

Stations

In the table below, service types that stop at the station are shown by the abbreviations (see the section above). Blank means that the service type passes the station. In addition to the types shown here, local trains stop at all stations (not including Higashi-Suita Signal Stop, where only a garage of Osaka Subway cars exists).

No trains stop at Nakatsu which is served by Local trains on the Kobe Line and the Takarazuka Line, because of the absence of platform, thus, in operation, there is no Nakatsu Station on the Kyoto Line. There are also through trains to the Senri Line from Awaji Station and the Osaka Municipal Subway Sakaisuji Line. Sakaisuji Semi-Express trains are routed from Tengachaya Station to Kawaramachi Station and operated on weekday rush hours and Saturdays and holidays.

The starting point of the distances (km) shown is Jūsō Station, which is officially the starting point of the Kyoto Main Line.

Line name No. Station Distance (km) S SS R E L C SL A Transfers Location
Takarazuka Main Line HK-01 Umeda梅田 (2.4) S R E L C SL Kita-ku, Osaka Osaka Prefecture
HK-03 Jūsō十三 0.0 S R E L C SL A Yodogawa-ku, Osaka
Kyoto Main Line
HK-61 Minamikata南方 1.9 S R
HK-62 Sōzenji崇禅寺 3.2 Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka
HK-63 Awaji淡路 4.2 S SS R E L SL A
HK-64 Kami-Shinjō上新庄 6.3 S SS R
HK-65 Aikawa相川 7.2
HK-66 Shōjaku正雀 9.4 Settsu
HK-67 Settsu-shi摂津市 10.9
HK-68 Minami-Ibaraki南茨木 12.9 S SS R Ibaraki
HK-69 Ibaraki-shi茨木市 14.8 S SS R E L C
HK-70 Sōjiji総持寺 16.8
HK-71 Tonda富田 17.3 Takatsuki
HK-72 Takatsuki-shi高槻市 20.6 S SS R E L C
HK-73 Kammaki上牧 24.9 S SS
HK-74 Minase水無瀬 25.7 S SS Shimamoto
HK-75 Ōyamazaki大山崎 27.7 S SS Ōyamazaki Kyoto Prefecture
HK-76 Nishiyama Tennozan[1][2]西山天王山 30.2 S SS Nagaokakyō
HK-77 Nagaoka-Tenjin長岡天神 31.7 S SS R E L C
HK-78 Nishi-Mukō西向日 33.6 S SS Mukō
HK-79 Higashi-Mukō東向日 35.0 S SS
HK-80 Rakusaiguchi洛西口 36.3 S SS Nishikyō-ku, Kyoto
HK-81 Katsura桂 38.0 S SS R E L C SL A
HK-82 Nishi-Kyōgoku西京極
(西京極総合運動公園前)		 40.1 S SS Ukyō-ku, Kyoto
HK-83 Saiin西院 41.9 S SS R E C
HK-84 Ōmiya大宮 43.3 S SS R E C
  • Keifuku Electric Railroad Arashiyama Main Line (A01: Shijō-Ōmiya Station)
 Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto
HK-85 Karasuma烏丸 44.4 S SS R E L C SL Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto
HK-86 Kawaramachi河原町 45.3 S SS R E L C SL

Rolling stock

Hankyu 6300 series EMU on a limited express service

Former

  • 1300 series EMU (1957)
  • 2000 series EMU (Temporary)
  • 2300 series EMU
  • 2800 series EMU
  • 5100 series EMU (Temporary)
  • Osaka Municipal Subway 60 series EMU (Awaji - Takatsuki-shi)

History

The Kyoto Main Line was constructed in the following phases:[3]

  • April 1, 1921: Jūsō – Awaji (by Kita-Osaka Electric Railway)
  • January 16, 1928: Awaji – Takatsuki-shi (by Shin-Keihan Railway)
  • November 1, 1928: Takatsuki-shi – Saiin (by Shin-Keihan Railway)
  • March 31, 1931: Saiin – Ōmiya (by Keihan Electric Railway)
  • February 18, 1959: The additional double tracks of the Takarazuka Main Line between Umeda and Jūso now used exclusively by the Kyoto Main Line
  • June 17, 1963: Ōmiya – Kawaramachi

Prior to the merger of Hankyu Railway (then Hanshin Kyūkō Railway) and Keihan Electric Railway in 1943, the line and its branches were owned by the latter and called the Shin-Keihan (New Keihan) Line. In the breakup of the merger in 1949, the line was not ceded to Keihan and became a competitor of the Keihan Main Line.[3]

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

  1. 1 2 News release on September 20, 2013 - Hankyu Corporation
  2. ↑ News release on March 30, 2012 - City of Nagaokakyō and Hankyu Corporation
  3. 1 2 Hankyu Corporation & Morokawa, Hisashi (1990). 日本の私鉄7 阪急 (in Japanese). Hoikusha. p. 147. ISBN 4-586-50796-9.
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