Keihan Keishin Line Explained

Keihan Keishin Line
Native Name:京阪京津線
Native Name Lang:ja
Color:fc0
Locale:Kyoto Prefecture and Shiga Prefecture
End: or
Stations:7
Open:1912
Close:1997 (Misasagi - Keishin-Sanjo)
Operator:Keihan Electric Railway
Linelength:7.5km (04.7miles)
Tracks:2
Electrification:1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Map State:collapsed

The is an interurban partially-street running railway line in Japan operated by the private railway operator Keihan Electric Railway. The line connects Misasagi Station in Kyoto and Biwako-Hamaōtsu Station in the neighbouring city of Ōtsu.

Train service

Except trains between Shinomiya Station and Hamaōtsu Station in early morning and late night, all trains go directly from Hamaōtsu Station to Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae Station or Uzumasa Tenjingawa Station on the Kyoto Subway Tōzai Line.During off peak hours, the line operates every 20 minutes.

Stations and connecting lines

No.StationJapaneseDistance (km)TransfersLocation
Operations continue to Uzumasa Tenjingawa Station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Tōzai Line.
T08御陵0.0 Kyoto Municipal Subway Tozai Line (through trains)Yamashina-ku,
Kyoto
OT31京阪山科1.5JR West (Yamashina Station)
Tōkaidō Line (Biwako Line)
Kosei Line
Kyoto Municipal Subway Tozai Line (T07: Yamashina Station)
OT32四宮2.1
OT33追分3.4Ōtsu, Shiga
OT34大谷5.0
OT35上栄町6.7
OT12びわ湖浜大津7.5 Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line
Abandoned stations

Abandoned section

The station list is as of 1997 before the street running section was abandoned due to replacement by the Tōzai Line subway. It also lists the corresponding subway stations that replaced the Keishin Line stations.

StationConnection / noteReplaced byLocation
Keihan Main Line, Keihan Ōtō LineHigashiyama-ku, Kyoto
Higashiyama-Sanjō
Heianjingū-maeAbandoned in 1944
OkazakimichiAbandoned in 1931
Keage
KujōyamaYamashina-ku, Kyoto
Hinooka
Misasagi

Rolling stock

History

The line was built in 1912 (dual track electrified at 600 V DC) to connect the city centers of Kyoto and Ōtsu by electric streetcars, as the steam-powered Tōkaidō Main Line was an indirect route between the two cities before its realignment in 1921.

The busiest section of the line, between Keishin-Sanjō Station and Misasagi Station, was replaced in 1997 by the Kyoto Subway Tōzai Line, and the voltage increased to 1,500 V DC in conjunction with this project. One of the aims of the realignment was to move the tracks underground in the Kyoto area, in order to remove the former alignment along public roads. The line retains its public road alignment in Ōtsu.

References

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