Kintetsu Yamada Line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kintetsu Yamada Line
Kintetsu Ise-Shima Liner at Ujiyamada Station
Info
Type	Commuter rail
Locale	Mie: Matsusaka, Meiwa, Ise
Terminals	Ise-Nakagawa Ujiyamada
No. of stations	14
Operation
Opened	Mar 17, 1931
Operator(s)	Kintetsu
Technical
Line length	28.3 km (17.6 mi)
No. of tracks	2
Gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)
Electrification	Overhead, 1500V DC
Line map Legend All lines are Kintetsu unless otherwise noted Namba (Osaka) Uehommachi (Osaka) Kyoto Kashihara Line • Kyoto Line Yamato-Yagi Nagoya Osaka Line • Nagoya Line 0.0 Ise-Nakagawa Yamada Line 3.0 Ise-Nakahara JR Kisei Main Line 5.7 Matsugasaki Matsue Closed 1937 Sakanai River 8.4 Matsusaka JR: Matsusaka National Route 42 10.0 Higashi-Matsusaka JR Kisei Main Line • JR Sangū Line National Route 42 Matsusaka-Taki Bypass 13.9 Kushida Kushida River 15.8 Koishiro 17.1 Saikū 19.8 Myōjō Myōjō Depot 22.4 Akeno 24.2 Obata Miya River JR Sangū Line 26.3 Miyamachi (Gekū-mae) 27.7 Iseshi (Yamada) JR: Iseshi JR Sangū Line 28.3 Ujiyamada Toba Line JR Sangū Line Toba JR: Toba Shima Line Kashikojima

The Kintetsu Yamada Line (近鉄山田線, Kintetsu Yamada-sen^?) is a railway line of the Japanese private railway company Kintetsu, connecting Ise-Nakagawa Station (Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture) and Ujiyamada Station (Ise, Mie Prefecture) in Japan. The line runs parallel to parts of the JR Central Kisei Main Line and Sangū Line.

The line connects with the Toba Line at Ujiyamada Station. The Yamada Line, Toba Line, and Shima Line form a single train line that begins at Ise-Nakagawa Station and serves the Ise-Shima tourist region.

In 1941 when the line received its name, the city of Ise was called Ujiyamada and was actually a merger of two towns formerly called Uji and Yamada. The heart of the old town of Yamada was near modern-day Ujiyamada Station, the terminus, and thus the line was named the "Yamada Line".

Contents 1 History 1.1 Sankyū Main Line 1.2 Yamada Line 1.3 Timeline 2 Service 3 Stations 4 Reference 5 External links

[edit] History

The Yamada Line was built in the late 1920's and early 1930's to provide a more direct link for pilgrims and travelers going between Osaka and Ise Grand Shrine in Ujiyamada (now Ise) and was designed to compete with the Kokutetsu Sangū Line (now owned by JR Central).

[edit] Sankyū Main Line

Originally built and operated by Sangū Express Electric Railway (Sankyū) the line was designed to link directly with what is now the Kintetsu Osaka Line. However, at that time the Osaka Line, which was operated under a different name by Osaka Electric Railroad (Daiki), only ran to Sakurai and Sankyū managed the section from Sakurai to Ujiyamada; this railway was known as the Sankyū Main Line (参急本線 Sankyū-honsen).

During the construction of the eastern-most section of the Sankyū Main Line (most of what is now the Yamada Line), another private railway company, Ise Electric Railway (Iseden), was constructing another line right alongside that would eventually link with Nagoya and was known as the Iseden Main Line. The two lines opened within just a few weeks of each other in 1930 which led to there being three parallel lines (the third being the Sangū Line) owned by three different companies running between Matsusaka and Ujiyamada. Sankyū and Iseden pledged to work together to ensure they both prospered, however both companies soon began a merger struggle and, in 1936, Sankyū won the battle and acquired Iseden and its lines. The Iseden Main Line became known as the Sankyū Ise Line.

Sankyū now owned two lines that both terminated in Ujiyamada: The Main Line which ran west towards Osaka and the Ise Line which ran north to Kuwana with plans for an extension to Nagoya. However, the last 20 km of both lines closely paralleled each other, so Sankyū developed a plan to utilize one of these two sets of tracks to provide service to both Osaka and Nagoya and to phase out and eventually close the other. It was decided that the Sankyū Main Line was the better line for this task and that Sankyū-Nakagawa Station (now Ise-Nakagawa) would serve as the three-way meeting point of trains bound for Osaka, Nagoya, and Ujiyamada. This plan became a reality within just a couple of years; the Ise Line was extended northeast to Nagoya and a new track connecting the Ise Line (at Edobashi) to Sankyū-Nakagawa was completed (this would later become the Kintetsu Nagoya Line). Once this major change took place, ridership on the Matsusaka ~ Ujiyamada section of the Main Line became significantly higher and the parallel section of the Ise Line was closed in 1942.

[edit] Yamada Line

In 1941, Sankyū and its parent company Daiki merged to form Kansai Express Railway (Kankyū), the precursor to Kintetsu. Before this merger, the Sankyū Main Line had originated at Sakurai and terminated at Ujiyamada, however after the merger the various lines were combined and renamed, resulting in the section between Sakurai and Ise-Nakagawa, along with part of Daiki's lines, becoming the Osaka Line and the section between Ise-Nakagawa and Ujiyamada becoming the Yamada Line, as it is today. In 1944, following mergers with other Kansai area railway companies, Kankyū became Kintetsu and the line came under its current ownership and name. Although the city of Ujiyamada (the basis for the name "Yamada Line") changed its name to Ise in 1955, the train line still maintains the same name to this day.

Even though Kintetsu owned both the Nagoya Line and the Yamada Line, direct service between Nagoya and Ujiyamada was not possible because the Sankyū Main Line (Yamada Line) was built using a railway gauge of 1435 mm, however the Sankyū Ise Line (Nagoya Line) was built using a gauge of 1067 mm, so it was necessary for passengers to change trains at Ise-Nakagawa. However, in September 1959, the Nagoya Line suffered severe damage due to the Ise-wan Typhoon and while repairing the line, Kintetsu widened the gauge of the entire line to 1435 mm so that express trains could travel directly from Nagoya to Ujiyamada without changing; this service began in early 1960.

Direct service from both Osaka and Nagoya was extended from Ujiyamada to Kashikojima in 1970 with the opening of the Kintetsu Toba Line which provided a connection between Ujiyamada at the end of the Yamada Line and Toba at the beginning of the then-isolated Kintetsu Shima Line.

[edit] Timeline

• Mar 27, 1930 - Matsusaka ~ Gekū-mae (now Miyamachi) section opens. Line is operated by Sangū Express Electric Railway (Sankyū)
• May 18, 1930 - Sankyū-Nakagawa (now Ise-Nakagawa) ~ Matsusaka section opens.
• Sep 21, 1930 - Gekū-mae ~ Yamada (now Iseshi) section opens.
• Mar 17, 1931 - Yamada ~ Ujiyamada section opens. Sankyū Main Line officially completed. Direct service between Osaka (via what is now the Osaka Line) and Ujiyamada begins.
• Jul 04, 1931 - Obata Station opens.
• Mar 01, 1933 - Gekū-mae Station officially renamed Miyamachi Station.
• Sep 15, 1936 - Sankyū acquires Ise Electric Railway (Iseden) and all of its lines. Iseden Main Line is officially renamed Sankyū Ise Line.
• Nov 03, 1937 - Sankyū-Matsue Station closed. Matsugasaki Station becomes the intersecting station between the Sankyū Main Line and the Sankyū Ise Line.
• Mar 15, 1941 - Osaka Electric Railroad (Daiki) and Sankyū merge to form Kansai Express Railway (Kankyū). Sankyū-Nakagawa Station officially renamed to Ise-Nakagawa Station. Sankyū-Nakahara Station officially renamed to Ise-Nakahara. Ise-Nakagawa ~ Ujiyamada section officially named Kankyū Yamada Line.
• Aug 11, 1942 - Ise Line: Shin-Matsusaka ~ Daijingū-mae (Ise Grand Shrine) section closes.
• Oct 23, 1943 - Koishiro Station opens.
• Jun 01, 1944 - Kankyū becomes Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu). Line officially renamed Kintetsu Yamada Line.
• Jul 15, 1959 - Yamada Station officially renamed Iseshi Station.
• Jan 20, 1960 - Direct service between Nagoya and Ujiyamada begins.
• Mar 01, 1968 - ATS system activated on entire line.
• Mar 12, 1992 - Passing tracks for express trains open at Kushida Station.
• Mar 14, 1992 - Passing tracks for express trains open at Akeno Station.
• Mar 18, 2004 - One man (conductor-less) train service begins.

[edit] Service

 LO  Local (普通 futsū)

For Nakagawa

For Ujiyamada, Toba, Kashikojima

(Locals stop at every station.)

 EX  Express (急行 kyūkō)

For Uehommachi (Osaka); via Nabari and Yagi (Kashihara)

For Nagoya; via Tsu and Yokkaichi

For Matsusaka, Ujiyamada, Isuzugawa, Toba

(Typically ends at Ujiyamada.)

 SR  Suburban Rapid Express (区間快速急行 kukan-kaisoku-kyūkō)

For Uehommachi (Osaka); via Nabari and Yagi (Kashihara)

For Matsusaka

(Only runs mornings and evenings.)

(Suburban rapid express trains typically end at Aoyamachō on the Osaka Line, occasionally they run all the way to Matsusaka.)

 RE  Rapid Express (快速急行 kaisoku-kyūkō)

For Uehommachi (Osaka); via Nabari and Yagi (Kashihara)

For Ujiyamada, Toba

(Only runs mornings and evenings.)

(Typically ends at Ujiyamada.)

 LE  Limited Express (特急 tokkyū)

For Namba and Uehommachi (Osaka); via Nabari and Yagi (Kashihara)

For Kyoto; via Saidaiji (Nara)

For Nagoya; via Tsu and Yokkaichi

For Matsusaka, Ujiyamada, Toba, Kashikojima

(Seat reservations and limited express fee required.)

 NS  Non-stop Limited Express (ノンストップ特急 nonsutoppu tokkyū)

For Namba (Osaka)

For Nagoya

For Kashikojima

(Runs once a day on weekdays, three times a day on weekends.)

(Seat reservations and limited express fee required.)

[edit] Stations

Legend
●	Trains stop here
○	Trains stop here sometimes
|	Trains do not stop here

Station		Dist (km)	Connections	LO	EX	SR	RE	LE	NS	Location
Ise-Nakagawa	伊勢中川	0.0	Kintetsu: Osaka Line, Nagoya Line	●	●	●	●	●	|	Matsusaka	Mie Prefecture
Ise-Nakahara	伊勢中原	3.0		●	|	|	|	|	|
Matsugasaki	松ヶ崎	5.7		●	|	|	|	|	|
Matsusaka	松阪	8.4		●	●	●	●	●	|
Higashi-Matsusaka	東松阪	10.0	JR: Kisei Main Line, Meishō Line	●	|		|	|	|
Kushida	櫛田	13.9		●	|		|	|	|
Koishiro	漕代	15.8		●	|		|	|	|
Saikū	斎宮	17.1		●	|		|	|	|	Meiwa
Myōjō	明星	19.8		●	|		|	|	|
Akeno	明野	22.4		●	|		|	|	|	Ise
Obata	小俣	24.2		●	|		|	|	|
Miyamachi	宮町	26.3		●	○		|	|	|
Iseshi	伊勢市	27.7	JR: Sangū Line	●	●		●	●	|
Ujiyamada	宇治山田	28.3	Kintetsu: Toba Line	●	●		●	●	●

[edit] Reference

• (Japanese) Kintetsu Line Archives - Yamada Line
• (Japanese) Wikipedia - Kintetsu Yamada Line
• (Japanese) Wikipedia - Sangū Express Electric Railway
• (Japanese) Wikipedia - Ise Electric Railway

[edit] External links

• Kintetsu railway network map - Osaka Line • Yamada Line • Toba Line • Shima Line
• Hisakyu - Kintetsu Yamada Line
• Japan Guide - Shima Peninsula Travel - Ise Shrines
• Japan Guide - Shima Peninsula Travel - The Wedded Rocks
• Japan Guide - Shima Peninsula Travel - Oharaimachi

view • talk • edit Kintetsu Lines
1,435 mm lines
Osaka • Nagoya Line Area	Osaka Line • Shigi Line • Nagoya Line • Yunoyama Line • Suzuka Line • Yamada Line • Toba Line • Shima Line
Nara • Kyoto Line Area	Namba Line • Nara Line • Ikoma Line • Keihanna Line • Kyoto Line • Kashihara Line • Tenri Line • Tawaramoto Line
1,067 mm lines	Minami-Osaka Line • Dōmyōji Line • Nagano Line • Gose Line • Yoshino Line
762 mm lines	Utsube Line • Hachiōji Line
Funicular lines	Ikoma Cable Line • Nishi-Shigi Cable Line
Ropeway lines	Katsuragi Ropeway
Former lines	Iga Line • Hokusei Line • Yōrō Line