Katamachi Line

H   Katamachi Line (Gakkentoshi Line)
300px 207 series EMU on a Local service
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
System	Urban Network
Locale	Osaka Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture
Termini	Kizu Kyōbashi
Stations	24
Operation
Opened	1895
Owner	JR West
Operator(s)	JR West JR Freight
Rolling stock	207 series EMU 321 series EMU
Technical
Line length
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC, overhead line
Operating speed

Route map

Legend  Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line)   Nara Line  File:BSicon xkKRZu+l.svg 0.0 Kizu  Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line)  0.6 Shin-Kizuuntil 1911 2.2 Nishi-Kizu Yamada River  Kintetsu Kyoto Line  Kizugawadai 5.1 Hōsono Shin-Hōsono  7.4 Shimokoma Komada Hosono Branch Base Kintetsu Miyazu  Miyazu Depot  Miyamaki 9.4 JR Miyamaki (2)2002- 9.6 JR Miyamaki (1)-2002 10.5 Dōshisha-mae Kōdo 12.4 Kyōtanabe Shin-Tanabe  Bogagawa TunnelBoga River  Kintetsu Kyoto Line  Tenjingawa TunnelTenjin River 14.5 Ōsumi 17.0 Matsuiyamate Kyoto-Osaka boundary 18.6 Nagao 20.2 Fujisaka  Kin-ya Ammunition Dump  21.8 Tsuda 25.0 Kawachi-Iwafune Kawachi-Mori  Keihan Katano Line   Uji Weapon Kori Factory  27.1 Hoshida 28.8 Higashi-Neyagawa Uchiage Tunnel 30.1 Shinobugaoka 32.0 Shijōnawate 33.3 Nozaki Higashi-Suminodō-1948 Onji River 35.5 Suminodō 37.9 Kōnoikeshinden x20px Kinki Expressway Kinki Sharyo 39.8 Tokuan Aboshi Depot Hanaten Branch  Osaka Higashi Line  41.6 Hanaten Osaka Army Arsenal Warehouse Daini Neya River  Subway: Imazatosuji Line  43.2 Shigino Neya River Neyagawa Signal Box-1913  Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line   Jōtō Freight Line  Tatsumi Signal Box-1982 44.0 Shin-Kita-1916  Keihan Main Line   Yodogawa Freight Line  Sakuranomiya Line  Osaka Loop Line  44.8 Kyōbashi  Yodogawa Freight Line  Nakanocho Signal Box 45.3 Katamachi-1997  Subway: Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line   Keihan: Keihan Main Line   JR Tōzai Line  Amijima-1913 Sakuranomiya Old Yodo River  Osaka Loop Line

The Katamachi Line (片町線, Katamachi-sen), officially nicknamed the Gakkentoshi Line (学研都市線, Gakkentoshi-sen), is a commuter rail line and service in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area of Japan, owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line connects Kizu Station in Kyoto Prefecture and Kyōbashi Station in Osaka.

The common name "Gakkentoshi Line", literally "Research City Line", comes from the Kansai Science City, which is located along the line around the border of Osaka and Nara prefectures.

Basic data

• Operators, distances: 55.4 km / 34.4 mi.
  • West Japan Railway Company (Category-1, Services and tracks)
  • Japan Freight Railway Company (Category-2, Services)
• Track:
  • Double-track line:
    • From Matsuiyamate to Kyōbashi
  • Single-track line:
    • From Kizu to Matsuiyamate
• Railway signalling:
  • From JR Miyamaki to Kyōbashi: Automatic
  • From Kizu to JR Miyamaki: Special Automatic (Track Circuit Detection)
• CTC centers:Ōsaka Operation Control Center
• CTC system:Safety Urban Network Traffic System (SUNTRAS)

Route and operation

The line is connected via the JR Tōzai Line in downtown Osaka, at Amagasaki, to the Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line) and Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line). This link enables trains operated from Nara to the west, as Kobe, Himeji, and Sanda.

Rapid services of several types of stops, with no surcharge, are also provided. Abbreviations are tentative for this article.

Local (普通, Futsū) (Lo)

Operated all day, most trains between Matsuiyamate and Nishi-Akashi on Sanyō Main (JR Kobe) Line. Some in busy hours to Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line), some terminate at Kyōbashi.

Regional Rapid (区間快速, Kukan Kaisoku) (RR)

Operated in early morning, late night, and busy hours only. Some from/to Nara, most from/to Dōshishamae or Kyōtanabe. Through to Nishiakashi or Shin-Sanda.

Rapid (快速, Kaisoku) (Ra)

Mostly through to Shin-Sanda or Sasayamaguchi on Fukuchiyama (JR Takarazuka) Line. One per 15 minutes per direction.

Direct Rapid (直通快速, Chokutsū Kaisoku) (DR)

Through trains from Osaka Higashi Line, only between Hanaten and Kyōbashi in this line. Four trains to Amagasaki from Nara in the morning, 4 vice versa in the evening.

Stations

Station	Stops	Location
Kizu	RR Ra	Kizugawa	Kyoto
Nishi-Kizu	RR Ra
Hōsono	RR Ra	Seika, Sōraku
Shimokoma	RR Ra
JR Miyamaki	RR Ra	Kyōtanabe
Dōshisha-mae	RR Ra
Kyōtanabe	RR Ra
Ōsumi	RR Ra
Matsuiyamate	RR Ra
Nagao	RR Ra	Hirakata	Osaka
Fujisaka	RR
Tsuda	RR
Kawachi-Iwafune	RR Ra	Katano
Hoshida	RR Ra
Higashi-Neyagawa	RR	Neyagawa
Shinobugaoka	RR	Shijōnawate
Shijōnawate	RR Ra	Daitō
Nozaki
Suminodō	RR Ra
Kōnoikeshinden		Higashiosaka
Tokuan
Hanaten	RR Ra DR	Tsurumi, Osaka
Shigino		Jōtō, Osaka
Kyōbashi	RR Ra DR

Rolling stock

• 207 series (from 1991)
• 321 series (from 2005)

All trains are based at Aboshi Depot.

Former

• 40 series
• 51 series
• 72 series
• 101 series
• 103 series
• 223-6000 series (until March 2011)
• KiHa 10 series
• KiHa 20 series
• KiHa 35 series
• KiHa 40 series
• KiHa 45 series
• KiHa 58 series
• KiHa 41000

History

The line was originally built and operated by the Naniwa Railway (浪速鉄道, Naniwa Tetsudō) between Katamachi and Shijōnawate in 1895. Two years later, the Kansai Railway bought the line in order to have its own trunk line to Osaka from Nagoya, combined with constructing the section between Shijōnawate and Kizu. Katamachi station was unable to be expanded, thus Amijima terminus was constructed. However Kansai Railway bought the Osaka Railway (I, ja) line from Nara via Ōji to Minatomachi (present JR Namba) in downtown Osaka, and shifted its main line to the ex-Naniwa Railway line. Thereafter, the Katamachi line became a branch of the railway network of Osaka.

The Kansai Railway Co. was nationalised in 1907.

The Shigino - Hanaten section was duplicated in 1927, with the Katamachi - Shigino section duplicated in 1955, the Hanaten - Shijonawate section in 1969, extended to Nagao in 1979, to Matsuiyamate in 1989, and the balance of the section to Kyobashi duplicated between 2007 and 2009.

The section between Katamachi and Shijōnawate became the first Japan Governmental Railways electrified line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area in 1932, with electrification extended to Nagao in 1950. After privatization of the then Japanese National Railways (JNR), the line became part of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) system, and the Kizu - Nagao section was electrified in 1989.

In 1997, the JR Tōzai Line was opened and connected to Katamachi Line at Kyōbashi, and Katamachi Station was closed (with Ōsakajō-kitazume Station becoming the replacement station). Most trains began operating through to the Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line).

Converted from a freight branch to a passenger route, the Osaka Higashi Line began service in 2008. Trains from Nara via Kansai Main (Yamatoji) Line are operated to Amagasaki Station.

Military use

File:Earthwork in Kinya Kayakuko.jpg

Entrance to the Kin-ya Ammunition Dump, January 2008

Three military/weapons-related facilities used during the early 20th century were serviced by spurs located between Fujisaka and Tsuda Stations (Kin-ya Ammunition Dump, where two explosions occurred in 1909 and 1939), between Kawachi-Iwafune and Hoshida Stations (Uji Weapon Kori Factory), and the Osaka Army Arsenal warehouse between Hanaten and Shigino Stations.