Nagoya Line (Kintetsu)


The Nagoya Line is a railway line owned and operated by the Kintetsu Railway, a Japanese private railway company, connecting Nagoya and Ise Nakagawa Station in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture via Kuwana, Yokkaichi, Suzuka, Tsu municipalities along the Ise Bay. The official starting-point of the line is Ise-Nakagawa and the terminus is Nagoya; however, operationally trains run "down" from and "up" towards Nagoya.
The line approximately parallels the Central Japan Railway Company Kansai Main Line, the Ise Railway Ise Line, and the JR Central Kisei Main Line, and all three offer rapid services from Nagoya to Ise.
At Ise-Nakagawa, the line has connections to the Osaka Line to Uehommachi and Kintetsu Namba Stations of downtown Osaka, and to the Yamada Line to Ujiyamada Station and beyond Toba Station on the Toba Line and Kashikojima Station of the Shima Line, to provide touristic access to scenic Shima Peninsula and Ise Shrine.

Services

LO Local
Trains stop at every station.
SE Semi-Express
EX Express
LE Limited Express
Seat reservations and limited express fee required.
NS Non-stop Limited Express
Trains for Ōsaka Namba run hourly. Trains for Kashikojima run once a day on weekends. Seat reservations and limited express fee required.
SV Premium Express Shimakaze
Trains for Kashikojima run once a day except on Wednesday with some exceptions. :(Seat reservations, limited express fee and special vehicle fee required.

Stations

History

The first section, between Shiroko and Takadahonzan, was opened in 1915 by an independent railway operator Ise Electric Railway with rail gauge. The line was extended to Tsu-shinmachi and Kusu in 1917, and to Kintetsu-Yokkaichi in 1922, the line being electrified at 1500 VDC in 1926. It was extended as an electrified line to Kuwana in 1929, and to Ise-Nakagawa the following year.
In 1936 the line was acquired by the Sangu Express Railway Co., which duplicated the Kuwana - Kusu section in 1938, the year that the Kansai Express Railway Co. opened the Nagoya - Kuwana section as electrified dual track.
In 1940 the Sangū Kyūkō Electric Railway merged with the Kansai Express Railway Co., a predecessor of Kintetsu.
The Kusu - Hisai section was duplicated between 1937 and 1955, and the dual tracking of the line was completed in 1972 with duplication of the Hisai - Ise-Nakagawa section.

Gauge conversion

After the acquisition of a 1435mm connection to Osaka, Kintetsu passengers to that destination needed to change trains due to the difference of gauges. In 1959 the disastrous Ise-wan Typhoon destroyed the line and Kintetsu decided to convert to gauge with the reconstruction, the standard of the company to enable direct operation between Osaka and Nagoya. Today a number of Limited Express trains between Osaka and Nagoya, and between Nagoya and Ise and Shima area are operated.

Former connecting lines