Yunoyama Line

Yunoyama Line
 K 

Local bound for Yunoyama
Overview
Type Commuter rail
Locale Mie Prefecture
Yokkaichi • Komono
Termini Kintetsu-Yokkaichi
Yunoyama-Onsen
Stations 10
Operation
Opened September 24, 1913
Operator(s) Kintetsu Railway
Technical
Line length 15.4 km (9.6 mi)
Number of tracks 1
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification Overhead, 1500V DC
Operating speed 80 km/h (50 mph)
Route map
All lines are Kintetsu unless otherwise noted
Nagoya
Up arrow Nagoya Line
Left arrow Yunoyama Line
0.0 Kintetsu Yokkaichi(Suwa)
Right arrow Nagoya Line
Left arrow Yunoyama-Utsube link - Closed 1964
Right arrow Utsube Line
1.7 Nakagawara
2.8 Ise-Matsumoto(Matsumotomura)
5.3 Ise-Kawashima(Kawashimamura)
6.7 Takatsuno
Higashi-Meihan Expressway
8.7 Sakura(Sakuramura)
11.3 Komono
12.6 Naka-Komono
13.5 Ōbane-en
15.4 Yunoyama-Onsen(Yunoyama)

The Yunoyama Line (湯の山線 Yunoyama-sen) is a railway line of the Japanese private railway company Kintetsu Railway, connecting Kintetsu-Yokkaichi Station (Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture) and Yunoyama-Onsen Station (Komono, Mie Prefecture) in Japan.

The line connects with the Nagoya Line and Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway Utsube Line at Kintetsu-Yokkaichi Station.

History

Yokkaichi Railway

The Yunoyama Line was originally conceived and built by Yokkaichi Railway (四日市鉄道 Yokkaichi Tetsudō) in the 1910s and was constructed with the purpose of both providing access within the city of Yokkaichi but also providing tourists access to the Yunoyama area. The line was completed in 1913 and in 1916 an extension from the line's origin, Kintetsu-Yokkaichi (at that time called Suwa Station and located slightly to the east), to JR Yokkaichi was added. However, this extension had a relatively short life as part of the Yunoyama Line as it was sold off to Ise Electric Railway (Iseden) in 1927, who utilized it for the extension of their main line from Yokkaichi to Kuwana. This made Suwa Station, a hub between three different private railways and the biggest station in Yokkaichi, the origin again. Steam engines originally ran on the tracks however in the 1920s the line was electrified, following a trend of many railways in the area.

Ownership of the line has shifted a few times during its existence. Yokkaichi Railway created the line but was absorbed by Mie Railway (Santetsu) in 1931, who built and operated the nearby Utsube Line which also originated from Suwa Station at that time. Then in 1944, Santetsu, along with six other companies, merged to form Mie Transport (Sanco). Twenty years later, the railway department of Sanco split off to become a separate company called Mie Electric Railway (Sanden), however this organization was short-lived as it was bought up by railway giant Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu) the following year, and thus in 1965 the line came under its current name and ownership.

Renovation

In 1954 the beginning of the route received a significant re-routing at the hands of Sanco, the owner at that time. The Nagoya Line suffered from many sharp curves on its way through Yokkaichi to Suwa Station. Kintetsu developed a plan to straighten the line as well as enlarge Suwa Station, which would be moved about a kilometer to the west; construction began in 1952 and took a few years to be completed. In accordance with this plan, Sanco altered its own Yokkaichi-area railways in 1956 to utilize the new location of Suwa Station, which was renamed to Kintetsu-Yokkaichi Station. From Nakagawara Station, the track that ran to the old Suwa Station was closed and a new track was built to Kintetsu-Yokkaichi. After this new section was completed, the Yunoyama Line originated from the part of Kintetsu-Yokkaichi Station where the Utsube Line still originates today; the two lines both had the same track gauge at that time and connected directly with each other.

About 10 years later, in 1964, when Sanden took over the railway, more improvements were carried out even though Sanden only owned the line for about one year. Yokkaichi Railway constructed the line with an especially narrow gauge of 762 mm (2 ft 6 in), but in the interest of direct connection with the Kintetsu Nagoya Line, the technical specs of the line were altered to match those of the Nagoya Line; the Yunoyama Line gauge was widened to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge and the voltage was also increased to 1500V. These changes severed the line's direct connection with the Utsube Line, however direct connection with the Nagoya Line, a major railway trunk line, was seen as more beneficial. When Kintetsu acquired the line the following year, it was relatively painless to tie the two lines together and it soon began offering limited express service directly from both Uehommachi in Osaka and Nagoya to Yunoyama, aimed at attracting tourists to the onsen and nearby Mount Gozaisho. This service was offered for over 30 years but was ceased in 1998 due to insufficient ridership. Limited express trains that originated at Kintetsu-Yokkaichi continued to run the length of the Yunoyama Line for a few more years, but this service was finally ended in 2004. The Yunoyama Line is notable because it is the only one of Kintetsu's many small branch lines to have ever offered limited express service.

Timeline

Service

 LO  Local (普通 futsū)

For Yokkaichi
For Yunoyama-Onsen
Locals stop at every station.
All trains offer conductor-less (one man) service.
Trains run twice per hour during the day, three or four times per hour in the mornings and evenings.


Limited express service on the Yunoyama Line ended in 2004.

2008 limited express service

Direct limited express service to and from Nagoya will be temporarily resumed on weekends and holidays in late July and early August 2008 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Gozaisho Ropeway as well as the 40th anniversary of Suzuka National Park. These trains will only run once a day in each direction.[1] Limited express trains on the Yunoyama Line will go all the way from Kintetsu-Yokkaichi to Yunoyama-Onsen without stopping.

Stations

Station Distance
(km)		 Connections Location
Kintetsu-Yokkaichi 近鉄四日市 0.0 Nagoya Line
Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway Utsube Line		 Yokkaichi Mie
Prefecture
Nakagawara 中川原 1.7
Ise-Matsumoto 伊勢松本 2.8
Ise-Kawashima 伊勢川島 5.3
Takatsuno 高角 6.7
Sakura 桜 8.7
Komono 菰野 11.3 Komono
Naka-Komono 中菰野 12.6
Ōbane-en 大羽根園 13.5
Yunoyama-Onsen 湯の山温泉 15.4

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ (Japanese) Temporary resumption of the Nagoya ~ Yunoyama-Onsen limited express direct service: 2008-05-13 (PDF). Kintetsu.

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