Takayama Main Line

Takayama Main Line
Hida limited express train
Overview
Native name	高山本線
Locale	Japan
Stations	45
Operation
Operator(s)	JR Central, JR West
Technical
Line length	225.8 kilometres (140.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	Not electrified
Route map Line map

Inotani Station covered in snow

The Takayama Main Line (高山本線 Takayama Honsen) is a Japanese railway line between Gifu Station in Gifu and Toyama Station in Toyama, operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line directly links the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area (metropolitan Nagoya) and Hokuriku region in a shorter distance, but with a longer travel time, than by using the combination of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and Hokuriku Main Line. Now the line primarily functions as a way to access the scenic areas of Hida (ancient Hida Province), in the rugged mountains of northern Gifu Prefecture, such as Gero onsen (hot spring), Takayama, Shirakawa-gō, and the Kiso River. The first section of the line, between Gifu and Kagamigahara, opened in 1920. The whole line was completed in 1934.

Basic data

• Operators, distances:
  • Total distance: 225.8 kilometres (140.3 mi)
  • Central Japan Railway Company (Category 1)
    • Gifu - Inotani: 189.2 kilometres (117.6 mi)
  • West Japan Railway Company (Category 1)
    • Inotani - Toyama: 36.6 kilometres (22.7 mi)
  • Japan Freight Railway Company (Category 2)
    • Inotani - Toyama: 36.6 km
• Railway signalling:
  • Gifu - Inotani: Automatic
  • Inotani - Toyama: Special Automatic, a simplified automatic system
• CTC center:
  • Gifu - Inotani: Tōkai Operation Control Center
  • Inotani - Toyama: Kanazawa Operation Control Center

Services

The Hida limited express train operates between Nagoya and Takayama, Hida-Furukawa, and Toyama, with ten return services a day, and between Ōsaka and Takayama with one return service a day.

The line is generally divided to three parts for local services: between Gifu and Takayama; between Takayama and Inotani; and between Inotani and Toyama. There are roughly two trains per one hour between Gifu and Mino-Ōta, while there is no local train for four hours between Gero and Takayama.

Stations

Station		Distance	Transfers	Location
JR Central
Gifu	岐阜	0.0	Tōkaidō Main Line Meitetsu: (at Meitetsu Gifu) ■ Meitetsu Kakamigahara Line ■ Meitetsu Nagoya Line	Gifu	Gifu
Nagamori	長森	4.2
Naka	那加	7.2		Kakamigahara
Sohara	蘇原	10.4
Kagamigahara	各務ヶ原	13.2
Unuma	鵜沼	17.3	Meitetsu: (at Shin-Unuma) ■ Meitetsu Inuyama Line ■ Meitetsu Kakamigahara Line
Sakahogi	坂祝	22.5		Sakahogi, Kamo
Mino-Ōta	美濃太田	27.3	Taita Line Nagaragawa Railway Etsumi-Nan Line	Minokamo
Kobi	古井	30.3
Nakakawabe	中川辺	34.1		Kawabe, Kamo
Shimoasō	下麻生	37.9
Kamiasō	上麻生	43.2		Hichisō, Kamo
Shirakawaguchi	白川口	53.1		Shirakawa, Kamo
Shimoyui	下油井	61.7
Hida-Kanayama	飛騨金山	66.7		Gero
Yakeishi	焼石	75.7
Gero	下呂	88.3
Zenshōji	禅昌寺	93.5
Hida-Hagiwara	飛騨萩原	96.7
Jōro	上呂	100.8
Hida-Miyada	飛騨宮田	105.4
Hida-Osaka	飛騨小坂	108.8
Nagisa	渚	115.9		Takayama
Kuguno	久々野	123.2
Hida-Ichinomiya	飛騨一ノ宮	129.5
Takayama	高山	136.4
Hozue	上枝	141.0
Hida-Kokufu	飛騨国府	147.6
Hida-Furukawa	飛騨古川	151.3		Hida
Sugisaki	杉崎	153.6
Hida-Hosoe	飛騨細江	156.0
Tsunogawa	角川	161.7
Sakakami	坂上	166.6
Utsubo	打保	176.5
Sugihara	杉原	180.5
Inotani	猪谷	189.2		Toyama	Toyama
JR West
Inotani	猪谷			Toyama	Toyama
Nirehara	楡原	196.2
Sasazu	笹津	200.5
Higashi-Yatsuo	東八尾	205.0
Etchū-Yatsuo	越中八尾	208.7
Chisato	千里	213.6
Hayahoshi	速星	217.9
Fuchū-Usaka	婦中鵜坂	219.6
Nishi-Toyama	西富山	222.2
Toyama	富山	225.8	Hokuriku Shinkansen Ainokaze Toyama Railway Line Toyama Chihō Railway Main Line Toyama City Tram Line Toyama Light Rail Toyamakō Line

Passing loops

Hisuikyō

In Hichisō, Gifu. (Coordinates: 35°32′43″N 137°08′39″E / 35.54514°N 137.144238°E )

Washibara

In Shirakawa, Gifu. (Coordinates: 35°36′06″N 137°10′24″E / 35.601801°N 137.173399°E )

Fukurai

In Gero, Gifu. (Coordinates: 35°40′51″N 137°10′00″E / 35.680959°N 137.16673°E )

Shōgano

In Gero, Gifu. (Coordinates: 35°47′42″N 137°15′13″E / 35.795115°N 137.253662°E )

• 

  Hisuikyō
  A: Kamiasō
  B: Shirakawaguchi

• 

  Washibara
  A: Shirakawaguchi
  B: Shimoyui

• 

  Fukurai.
  A: Yakeishi
  B: Hida-Kanayama

• 

  Shōgano
  A: Yakeishi
  B: Gero

Rolling stock

JR Central

• KiHa 75 DMUs
• KiHa 85 series DMUs (Hida limited express services
• KiHa 25 DMUs (from March 2015)

JR West

• KiHa 120 DMUs

Former rolling stock

• KiHa 11 DMUs (until March 2015)
• KiHa 40 series DMUs (until June 2015)

From the start of the March 2015 timetable revision, JR Central KiHa 25 diesel multiple unit (DMU) trains displaced from the Taketoyo Line were phased in on Takayama Line services, with the last remaining KiHa 40 series DMU trains withdrawn from the line on 30 June 2015.^[1]

• 

  A JR Central KiHa 40 DMU, May 2012

• 

  A KiHa 25 DMU

History

The Gifu to Mino-Ota section opened in 1920, and the line was then extended in sections, opening to Gero in 1930 and Hida-Osaka in 1933. At the northern end the first section from Toyama opened in 1927, reached Inotani in 1930 and Takayama and Hida-Osaka in 1934, completing the line.

CTC signalling was commissioned in 1968, and in 1980, a ground-breaking ceremony was held at Takayama for the proposed electrification of the line, but the program was cancelled later that year before any significant work was undertaken. Freight services ceased on the line in 2007.

Between 2004 and September 8, 2007, the section between Tsunogawa Station and Inotani Station was closed due to flood damage from Typhoon Tokage.^[2]

Former connecting lines

• Hida-Osaka Station: The 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge Kosaka Forest railway commenced operation in 1933, and by 1953 consisted of seven lines with a total length of 65 km. Line closures commenced in 1954, and the system closed in 1971.
• Inotani Station: The 610 mm (2 ft) 24 km line to Kamioka-Cho (which was opened in 1910 by the local government from Sasazu station) was acquired by the Mitsui Mining Co. in 1927. In 1931, a 2 km line to alter the connection to Inotani Station opened (with the 16 km section providing the Sasazu connection closing at the same time) and an 8 km branch opened in 1937, connecting to the 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge Sugoroku-Kanakida Forest railway (which consisted of a 16 km main line and three branches between 3 to 6 km in length, and operated from 1930 to 1963). Passenger services ceased in 1962, and the mine and railway closed in 1967.
• Sasazu Station: As mentioned above, the 610 mm gauge 24 km line to Kamioka-Cho operated from 1910 until altered to connect at Inotani station in 1931. The Toyama Railway operated a 12 km line to Minami-Toyama between 1914 and 1933. In 1943, the Toyama Electric Railway reopened the line, electrified at 600 V DC, and operated it until 1975. The 20 km Kamioka Line to Okuhida-Onsenguchi opened in 1966. Freight services ceased in 1981, and the line closed in 2006.

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

1. 高山本線からキハ40系が引退 [KiHa 40 series withdrawn from Takayama Main Line]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
2. 高山線全線の運転再開について (About resuming the operation of the whole Takayama Line), news release by JR Central. Archived 23 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine.