Yodo Line

Yodo Line
JR Shikoku KiHa 32 series DMU at Ekawasaki Station
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Kōchi, Ehime Prefectures
Termini	Wakai Kita-Uwajima
Stations	20
Operation
Opened	1914
Operator(s)	JR Shikoku
Rolling stock	KiHa 32 series, KiHa 54 series, KiHa 185 series DMUs
Technical
Line length	76.3 km (47.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Old gauge	762 mm (2 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	110 km/h (70 mph)
Route map

The Yodo Line (予土線 Yodo-sen) is a railway line in Shikoku, Japan, operated by Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). It connects Shimanto in Kōchi Prefecture and Uwajima in Ehime Prefecture. Its name comes from the ancient provinces of Iyo (伊予) (now Ehime Prefecture) and Tosa (土佐) (now Kōchi Prefecture), which the line connects.

Services

Trains follow the Shimanto River between Kubokawa and Ekawasaki

The Yodo Line is a quiet, rural line with only local trains providing service. Except for a single round-trip between Ekawasaki and Uwajima, all trains are wanman driver-only operated.

Kubokawa Station on the Dosan Line serves as the departure point for nearly all trains, which travel over the Tosa Kuroshio Railway Nakamura Line to Wakai before entering the Yodo Line proper. Since this section is not owned by JR Shikoku, customers are required to pay an additional 200 yen fare. Passengers, especially those using the Seishun 18 Kippu, are reminded of this by conductor announcements.

In addition to trains between Kubokawa and Uwajima, other trains between Uwajima and Ekawasaki & Chikanaga are operated approximately once every one to three hours.

Stations

• All trains run through to Kubokawa on the Dosan Line and Uwajima on the Yosan Line.
• All trains on the Yodo Line are local trains and stop at all stations.
• Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇" and "^" and cannot pass at those marked "｜".

Station No.	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers		Location
			Between stations	From Wakai
TK26	Kubokawa	窪川	-	4.4	Dosan Line (K26)	◇	Shimanto, Takaoka District	Kōchi
Via the Tosa Kuroshio Railway Nakamura Line
TK27 G27	Wakai	若井	4.4	0.0	Tosa Kuroshio Railway Nakamura Line (TK27) (for Nakamura)	｜	Shimanto, Takaoka District	Kōchi
	Kawaoku Junction	川奥信号場	-	(3.6)	Official branch point for Nakamura Line and Yodo Line	◇	Kuroshio, Hata District
G28	Iejigawa	家地川	5.8	5.8		｜	Shimanto, Takaoka District
G29	Utsuigawa	打井川	4.9	10.7		｜
G30	Tosa-Taishō	土佐大正	6.9	17.6		◇
G31	Tosa-Shōwa	土佐昭和	8.9	26.5		｜
G32	Tōkawa	十川	4.5	31.0		◇
G33	Hage	半家	7.9	38.9		｜	Shimanto
G34	Ekawasaki	江川崎	3.8	42.7		◇
G35	Nishigahō	西ヶ方	2.7	45.4		｜
G36	Matsuchi	真土	5.9	51.3		｜	Matsuno, Kitauwa District	Ehime
G37	Yoshinobu	吉野生	1.7	53.0		◇
G38	Matsumaru	松丸	2.3	55.3		｜
G39	Izume	出目	3.5	58.8		｜	Kihoku, Kitauwa District
G40	Chikanaga	近永	1.6	60.4		◇
G41	Fukata	深田	2.1	62.5		｜
G42	Ōuchi	大内	2.9	65.4		｜	Uwajima
G43	Futana	二名	1.5	66.9		｜
G44	Iyo-Miyanoshita	伊予宮野下	2.2	69.1		◇
G45	Muden	務田	0.9	70.0		｜
G46	Kita-Uwajima	北宇和島	6.3	76.3	Yosan Line (U27) (for Matsuyama)	◇
Through to Uwajima via the Yosan Line
G47	Uwajima	宇和島	1.5	77.8		^	Uwajima	Ehime

History

In 1914, the Uji Light Railway Co. opened a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge line 18 km between Uwajima and Chikanaga. In 1923, the line was extended 7 km from Chikanaga to Yoshino. In 1931 the Uwajima Railway began operating a single gasoline-powered locomotive.

The Uwajima Railway was nationalised by Japanese Government Railways in 1933, becoming the Uwajima Line; Miyanoshita Station was renamed Iyo-Miyanoshita Station, Nakano renamed Futana, and Yoshino renamed Yoshinobu.

In 1941, the line was re-gauged to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), the section between Uwajima and Muden replaced by a new route, Kita-Uwajima became the line's starting point and Takagushi and Mitsuma stations on the old section were closed.

The 10 km Yoshinobu - Ekawasaki section opened in 1953, and the 43 km Ekawasaki - Wakai section opened in 1974, linking to the Dosan Line with the line renamed as the Yodo Line. In the same year, CTC signalling was commissioned, and freight operations ceased.

References

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

External links

• JR Shikoku official website (Japanese)