Yamada Line (Kintetsu)

Yamada Line
 M 

Kintetsu Ise-Shima Liner at Ujiyamada Station
Overview
Type Commuter rail
Locale Mie Prefecture
Termini Ise-Nakagawa
Ujiyamada
Stations 14
Operation
Opened March 17, 1931
Operator(s) Kintetsu Railway
Technical
Line length 28.3 km (17.6 mi)
Number of tracks 2
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification 1,500V DC overhead
Route map
Legend
 All lines are Kintetsu unless otherwise noted
Osaka Namba
 Osaka Uehommachi
Kyoto
Kashihara Line • Kyoto Line
 Yamato-Yagi
Nagoya
Osaka Line •
Nagoya Line
 0.0 Ise-Nakagawa
 Yamada Line
 3.0 Ise-Nakahara
JR Central Kisei Main Line
5.7 Matsugasaki
MatsueClosed 1937
Sakanai River
8.4 Matsusaka
National Route 42
10.0 Higashi-Matsusaka
JR Central Kisei Main Line • JR Central 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 Central Sangū Line
26.3 Miyamachi(Gekū-mae)
27.7 Iseshi(Yamada)
JR Central Sangū Line
28.3 Ujiyamada
Toba Line
JR Central Sangū Line
Toba
 Shima Line
 Kashikojima

The Yamada Line (山田線 Yamada-sen) is a railway line of the Japanese private railway company Kintetsu Railway, connecting Ise-Nakagawa Station (Matsusaka, Mie) and Ujiyamada Station (Ise, Mie) 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".

Services

 LO  Local (普通 futsū)

For Ise-Nakagawa
For Ujiyamada, Toba, Kashikojima
(Locals stop at every station.)


 EX  Express (急行 kyūkō)

For Osaka Uehommachi; via Nabari and Yamato-Yagi (Kashihara)
For Nagoya; via Tsu and Yokkaichi
For Matsusaka, Ujiyamada, Isuzugawa, Toba
(Typically ends at Ujiyamada and Isuzugawa.)


 RE  Rapid Express (快速急行 kaisoku-kyūkō)

For Osaka Uehommachi; via Nabari and Yamato-Yagi (Kashihara)
For Matsusaka, Ujiyamada, Toba
(Only runs mornings and evenings.)
(Typically ends at Ujiyamada and Isuzugawa.)


 LE  Limited Express (特急 tokkyū)

For Osaka Namba and Osaka Uehommachi; via Nabari and Yamato-Yagi (Kashihara)
For Kyoto; via Yamato-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 Osaka Namba
For Nagoya
For Kashikojima
(Runs twice a day on weekends.)
(Seat reservations and limited express fee required.)

 SV  Premium Express Shimakaze (しまかぜ Shimakaze)[1]

For Osaka Namba
For Kyoto
For Nagoya
For Kashikojima
(Train to and from Osaka runs once a day except on Tuesday with some exceptions.)
(Train to and from Kyoto runs once a day except on Wednesday with some exceptions.)
(Train to and from Nagoya runs once a day except on Thursday with some exceptions.)
(Seat reservations, limited express fee and "Shimakaze" special vehicle fee required.)

Stations

Legend
● Trains stop here
○ Trains stop here sometimes
| Trains do not stop here
Station Distance (km) Transfers LO EX RE LE NS SV Location
Ise-Nakagawa 伊勢中川 0.0 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 Kisei Main Line, Meishō Line ● ● ● ● | |
Higashi-Matsusaka 東松阪 10.0 ● | | | | |
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 Sangū Line ● ● ● ● ● ●
Ujiyamada 宇治山田 28.3 Toba Line ● ● ● ● ● ●

History

The Yamada Line was built in the late 1920s and early 1930s 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 Japanese National Railways Sangū Line (now owned by JR Central).

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 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.

Yamada Line

In 1941, Sankyū and its parent company Daiki merged to form Kansai Kyuko 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 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge, however the Sankyū Ise Line (Nagoya Line) was built using a gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), 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 1,435 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 Toba Line which provided a connection between Ujiyamada at the end of the Yamada Line and Toba at the beginning of the then-isolated Shima Line.

Timeline

Former connecting lines

References

  1. ↑ 近畿日本鉄道｜観光特急しまかぜのご案内 - Kintetsu. (Japanese)

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