Kabe Line

Kabe Line
  B  
Overview
Type Regional rail
System Hiroshima City Network
Locale Hiroshima Prefecture
Termini Yokogawa
Kabe
Stations 12
Operation
Opened 1909
Owner JR West
Technical
Line length 14.0 km (8.7 mi)
Number of tracks 1
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification 1,500 V DC, overhead lines
Operating speed 65 km/h (40 mph)

The Kabe Line (可部線 Kabe-sen) is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) within the city of Hiroshima in Japan. It connects Hiroshima Station and Kabe Station in Asakita-ku. The actual junction station is Yokogawa. It is one of the commuter lines to Hiroshima.

Route data

History

Private railway

The section now in operation of the Kabe Line was originally constructed by a private company and later purchased by Japanese Government Railways.

The section was opened by Dainippon Kidō in four phases.

The line was handed over to Kabe Kidō on March 11, 1919. Kabe Kidō was merged to Hiroshima Denki Kidō on May 1, 1926.

The line was originally built to 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge and not electrified. The line was electrified and re-gauged (to the national standard of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)) in the following steps.

The line was handed over to the Kōhin Railway on July 1, 1931. On December 1, 1935, the line's legal status was changed from light railway to railway.

After nationalization

The line was nationalized on September 1, 1936, and became a part of Japanese Government Railways as the Kabe Line. Simultaneously, some station names were changed as follows:

The line voltage was raised from 750 V to 1,500 V (JNR standard) on April 23, 1962.

Since September 4, 1968, the line had been on the government's list of deficit-ridden railways where service was to be discontinued.

After JR West took over the line in 1987, wanman driver-only operation was introduced on the Kabe – Sandankyō section.

Beginning in summer 2007, the ICOCA card can be used in all stations in the Hiroshima City Network, including all stations on the Kabe Line.

On 4 February 2011, it was announced that a 1.6 km section of the abandoned segment, between Kabe Station and the former Kōdo Station, would be electrified and reopened. This will be the first such reopening by a JR Group company since the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR).[1] Operation is scheduled to resume from fiscal 2015.[2]

Discontinued/suspended section

a train for non-electrified section at Kake Station

JGR extended the line beyond Kabe Station. The extended sections were not electrified.

The line was intended to be extended to Hamada station on the Sanin Main Line, and construction on that section commenced in 1974, before being abandoned in 1980.

The Kabe – Sandankyō section was closed on December 1, 2003.

Stations

Station Japanese Distance
(km)
Transfers Location
Sanyō Main Line
Hiroshima 広島 Sanyō Shinkansen, Kure Line, Geibi Line, Hiroden Main Line Minami
Shin-Hakushima 新白島 Astram Line Naka
Kabe Line
Yokogawa 横川 0.0 Sanyō Main Line, Hiroden Yokogawa Line Nishi
Mitaki 三滝 1.1
Aki-Nagatsuka 安芸長束 2.6 Asaminami
Shimo-Gion 下祗園 3.9
Furuichibashi 古市橋 5.3
Ōmachi 大町 6.5 Astram Line
Midorii 緑井 7.3
Shichikenjaya 七軒茶屋 8.0
Bairin 梅林 9.6
Kami-Yagi 上八木 11.2
Nakashima 中島 12.6 Asakita
Kabe 可部 14.0
Opening in spring 2017
Kōdo-Homachigawa 河戸帆待川 14.8 Asakita
Aki-Kameyama あき亀山 15.6

Rolling stock

New 2- and 3-car 227 series electric trains are scheduled to be introduced on the Kabe Line from around 2015, replacing older 115 series trains.[3]

References

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kabe Line.
  1. "JR廃線、初の復活…広島市の可部線" [First-ever reopening of an abandoned JR line: the Kabe Line in Hiroshima]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 4 February 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  2. 可部線、15年度に延伸 [Kabe Line to be extended in fiscal 2015]. The Chigoku Shimbun Online (in Japanese). Japan: Chugoku Shimbun. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  3. "JR西日本、広島地区に227系近郊形直流電車を投入" [JR West to introduce 227 series DC suburban trains in Hiroshima area]. The Page (in Japanese). Japan: Wordleaf Corporation. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.

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