JR Tōzai Line

JR Tōzai Line
  H  

207 series EMU
Overview
Native name JR東西線
Type commuter rail
System Urban Network
Locale Osaka
Amagasaki, Hyogo
Termini Kyobashi
Amagasaki
Stations 9
Operation
Opened March 8, 1997
Owner Kansai Rapid Railway Co., Ltd.
Operator(s) JR West
Rolling stock 207 series EMU
321 series EMU
Technical
Line length 12.5 km (7.8 mi)
Number of tracks 2
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification 1,500 V DC, overhead lines
Operating speed 90 km/h (56 mph)

The JR Tōzai Line (JR東西線 Jei-āru Tōzai-sen) is one of several commuter rail lines and services in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line, whose name literally means "east-west", runs underground through central Osaka and connects the Gakkentoshi Line at Kyobashi Station in Osaka and the JR Takarazuka Line and the JR Kobe Line at Amagasaki. All stations on this line are in the city of Osaka, except for the western terminus in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture.

Basic data

Operation

All trains make local stop at every station on the line. Some trains terminate at Amagasaki, but most westbound trains continue on the Kobe Line to Nishi-Akashi and on the Takarazuka Line to Tsukaguchi and Takarazuka. All eastbound trains continue past Kyobashi on the Gakkentoshi Line.

History

The line was initially proposed in 1971 by Japanese National Railways (JNR) as a link between the Katamachi Line, which connected Osaka to its eastern suburbs, and Fukuchiyama Line, which connected the city to its northwestern suburbs. Osaka's municipal government had maintained tight controls over transportation within the city, and most intercity lines terminated outside the city center. The line, provisionally known as Katafuku Line (片福線, Kata- from Katamachi, -fuku from Fukuchiyama), and would give commuters a single-seat ride from the suburbs and an east-west connection through central Osaka.

A permit to lay the track was given 10 years later, but the project stopped because of JNR's financial problems.

In 1988, after JNR privatized and split into Japan Railway companies, West Japan Railway Company formed a private-public entity called Kansai Rapid Railway Co., Ltd. (関西高速鉄道株式会社 Kansai kōsoku tetsudō kabushiki gaisha) with the prefectural governments of Osaka and Hyōgo, and the cities of Osaka and Amagasaki.

The line was completed and opened as JR Tozai Line in 1997.

Stations

No [1] Station Transfers Location
Through train service to Katamachi Line (Gakkentoshi Line)
JR-H41 Kyobashi 京橋 Joto-ku Osaka
JR-H42 Ōsakajō-kitazume 大阪城北詰 Miyakojima-ku
JR-H43 Osaka-Temmangu 大阪天満宮 Kita-ku
JR-H44 Kitashinchi 北新地
JR-H45 Shin-Fukushima 新福島 Fukushima-ku
JR-H46 Ebie 海老江
JR-H47 Mitejima 御幣島 Nishiyodogawa-ku
JR-H48 Kashima 加島 Yodogawa-ku
JR-H49 Amagasaki 尼崎 Amagasaki,
Hyōgo Prefecture
Through train services to Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line) and Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line)

Rolling stock

Former

References

  1. ↑ New Station numbers. West Japan Railway News Release July 20, 2016
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