Yōrō Railway Yōrō Line

The Yōrō Line (養老線, Yōrō-sen) is a railway line of a Japanese private railway operator Yōrō Railway (養老鉄道, Yōrō Tetsudō). The line traverses the northeastern side of the Yōrō Mountains and connects Kuwana Station in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture and Ibi Station in Ibigawa, Gifu Prefecture.

Yōrō Line
A Local train, 7700 series
Service
Operator(s)Yōrō Railway Co., Ltd.
Technical
Line length57.5 km (35.7 mi)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Minimum radius160 m (520 ft)
Electrification1,500 V DC, overhead lines
Operating speed65 km/h (40 mph)
Maximum incline25
Yōrō Line
km
0.0
‹See TfM›Nishi-Kuwana‹See TfM›Kuwana
0.7
Higashikata truck
conversion facility
1.6
‹See TfM›Harima
4.0
‹See TfM›Shimo-Fukaya
6.6
‹See TfM›Shimo-Noshiro
8.6
‹See TfM›Tado
11.9
‹See TfM›Mino-Matsuyama
14.2
‹See TfM›Ishizu
16.2
‹See TfM›Mino-Yamazaki
19.8
‹See TfM›Komano
24.5
‹See TfM›Mino-Tsuya
28.8
‹See TfM›Yōrō
31.8
‹See TfM›Mino-Takada
34.5
‹See TfM›Karasue
Makita River Bridge
over Makita River
36.0
‹See TfM›Ōtoba
37.4
‹See TfM›Tomoe
39.4
‹See TfM›Mino-Yanagi
41.2
‹See TfM›Nishi-Ōgaki
Ogaki Depot
‹See TfM›Shin-Muro
43.0
‹See TfM›Ōgaki
44.1
‹See TfM›Muro
44.5
‹See TfM›Shiken-ya
45.4
‹See TfM›Kita-Ōgaki
‹See TfM›Gama
closed 1974
47.5
‹See TfM›Higashi-Akasaka
50.3
‹See TfM›Hiro-Gōdo
51.9
‹See TfM›Kita-Gōdo
53.5
‹See TfM›Ikeno
54.4
‹See TfM›Kita-Ikeno
55.2
‹See TfM›Mino-Hongō
57.5
‹See TfM›Ibi
km

The northern portion of the ‹See TfM›Ōgaki section is locally and unofficially called the Ibi Line (揖斐線, Ibi-sen), as Ōgaki is a reversing station.

Kintetsu Railway, one of largest private railway companies in Japan, owns the tracks and rolling stocks of the line whereon Yōrō Railway (a Class II railway),[clarification needed] a wholly owned subsidiary of Kintetsu, operated trains until 2018.[1]

Descriptions

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  • Company: Yōrō Railway (Category-2),[2] Kintetsu Railway (Category-3)
  • Length: 57.5 km (35.7 mi)[2]
  • Gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
  • Power: Electric 1500 V DC
  • No. of stations: 27 incl. both ends
  • Track: single[2]
  • Maximum speed: 65 km/h (40 mph)
  • Operation: All Local trains

History

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Initially steam powered, the line was constructed as a Class 1 railway by Yōrō Railway and opened in 1913 between ‹See TfM›Yōrō, ‹See TfM›Ōgaki, and ‹See TfM›Ikeno. In 1919, the present line was completed with extensions from Yōrō to ‹See TfM›Kuwana and Ikeno to ‹See TfM›Ibi. In 1922, Yōrō Railway merged with Ibi River Electric (揖斐川電気, Ibigawa Denki) and the following year the line was electrified (1500 V DC). In 1928, its railway was transferred to Yōrō Electric Railway (養老電気鉄道, Yōrō Denki Tetsudō). Since then, the operator has changed several times, namely to Ise Electric Railway (伊勢電気鉄道, Ise Denki Tetsudō) in 1929, to Yōrō Dentetsu (養老電鉄) in 1936, to Sangu Kyūkō Railway (参宮急行電鉄, Sangū Kyūkō Dentetsu) in 1940, to Kansai Kyūkō Railway (関西急行鉄道, Kansai Kyūkō Tetsudō) in 1941, finally to Kintetsu, then known as Kinki Nippon railway (近畿日本鉄道, Kinki Nippon Tetsudō), in 1944.

Following typhoon damage in 1959, the Kintetsu Nagoya Line was regauged to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in), the Kintetsu standard which enables through trains to Osaka. However, the Yōrō Line remained at 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) partly due to through freight trains to the Japanese National Railways (JNR) lines at Ōgaki and Kuwana, as the line provided a shortcut between these stations.

With accumulating deficit, Kintetsu Corporation decided to split off the operation of the Yōrō Line in 2007. Local governments along the line made an agreement of financial aid to the Yōrō Railway until 2010.

Stations

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All stations are unattended with the exceptions of Ōgaki, Nishi-Ōgaki, Ibi, Yōrō, Komano, Tado, and Kuwana.

Name Japanese Distance (km) Transfers Location
Between stations Total
‹See TfM›Kuwana 桑名 - 0.0   Kansai Main Line (CJ07)
  Kintetsu Nagoya Line (E13)
Sangi Railway Hokusei Line (‹See TfM›Nishi-Kuwana)
Kuwana Mie
‹See TfM›Harima 播磨 0.9 1.6
‹See TfM›Shimo-Fukaya 下深谷 2.4 4.0
‹See TfM›Shimo-Noshiro 下野代 2.6 6.6
‹See TfM›Tado 多度 2.0 8.6
‹See TfM›Mino-Matsuyama 美濃松山 3.3 11.9 Kaizu Gifu
‹See TfM›Ishizu 石津 2.3 14.2
‹See TfM›Mino-Yamazaki 美濃山崎 2.0 16.2
‹See TfM›Komano 駒野 3.6 19.8
‹See TfM›Mino-Tsuya 美濃津屋 4.7 24.5
‹See TfM›Yōrō 養老 4.3 28.8 Yōrō,
Yōrō District
‹See TfM›Mino-Takada 美濃高田 3.0 31.8
‹See TfM›Karasue 烏江 2.7 34.5
‹See TfM›Ōtoba 大外羽 1.5 36.0 Ōgaki
‹See TfM›Tomoe 友江 1.4 37.4
‹See TfM›Mino-Yanagi 美濃青柳 2.0 39.4
‹See TfM›Nishi-Ōgaki 西大垣 1.8 41.2
‹See TfM›Ōgaki 大垣 1.8 43.0   Tōkaidō Main Line (CA77)
Tarumi Railway Tarumi Line (TR01)
‹See TfM›Muro 1.1 44.1
‹See TfM›Kita-Ōgaki 北大垣 1.3 45.4
‹See TfM›Higashi-Akasaka 東赤坂 2.1 47.5 Gōdo,
Anpachi District
‹See TfM›Hiro-Gōdo 広神戸 2.8 50.3
‹See TfM›Kita-Gōdo 北神戸 1.6 51.9
‹See TfM›Ikeno 池野 1.6 53.5 Ikeda,
Ibi District
‹See TfM›Kita-Ikeno 北池野 0.9 54.4
‹See TfM›Mino-Hongō 美濃本郷 0.8 55.2
‹See TfM›Ibi 揖斐 2.3 57.5 Ibigawa, Ibi District

Connections

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At ‹See TfM›Kuwana

At ‹See TfM›Ōgaki

References

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  1. ^ "養老線の事業形態変更記念事業の実施について" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b c "会社案内 | 養老鉄道株式会社". www.yororailway.co.jp. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
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