Kosei Line

Kosei Line
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Special Rapid Service train (right) and Thunderbird limited express (left) at Hira Station
Overview
Native name	湖西線
Type	Heavy rail
System	Urban Network (Yamashina - Nagahara)
Locale	Kyoto Prefecture and Shiga Prefecture
Termini	Yamashina Ōmi-Shiotsu
Stations	21
Operation
Opened	1974
Owner	JR West
Operator(s)	JR West JR Freight
Technical
Line length
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	130 km/h (80 mph)

The Kosei Line (湖西線, Kosei-sen) is a commuter rail line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was completed in 1974 by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) to provide faster access from the Kansai region to the Hokuriku region. It originates at Yamashina Station in Yamashina-ku, Kyoto and ends at Ōmi-Shiotsu Station in Nagahama, Shiga.

Its name means "the line to the west of the lake," indicating that it approximately parallels the western shore of Biwako. Trains continue from Yamashina to Kyoto Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line for convenient transfer to lines serving the Kansai as well as the Tōkaidō Shinkansen.

In addition to local, Rapid and Special Rapid services, limited express trains such as Raichō, Thunderbird and Nihonkai as well as freight trains are frequently operated on the line. Some of limited express trains stop at Ōtsukyō or Katata and others skip all stations on the line.

History

A direct Tsuruga - Kyoto line was included in the 1922 Railway Construction Act.

In the meantime, the Kowaka Railway Co. opened a line from Hamaotsu on the Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line 51km to Omi-Imazu between 1923 and 1929. Between 1947 and 1965 there was a connection between Zeze on the Tokaido Main Line and Hamaotsu, allowing direct connection to the Tokaido Line.

The line was purchase by JNR and closed in 1969 so the Kosei line could be constructed over parts of the alignment, with the entire new line opening in 1974 as a dual track electrified line with CTC signalling.

The section from Nagahara to Ōmi-Shiotsu, originally electrified with 20 kV AC, was re-electrified to 1,500 V DC on September 24, 2006 enabling DC-only EMUs used in Osaka-Kyoto region to operate, and the Special Rapid through train service from JR Kyoto Line (Tokaido Main Line) was extended beyond Ōmi-Shiotsu to Tsuruga on the Hokuriku Main Line.

Stations

• S: trains stop
• s: Only extra trains stop

Line name	Name	Japanese	Distance (km)		Local	Rapid	Special Rapid	Transfers	Location
			between stations	from Yamashina
Tōkaidō Main Line	Kyoto	京都	5.5	5.5	S	S	S	Tōkaidō Shinkansen Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kyoto Line), San'in Main Line (Sagano Line), Nara Line Kintetsu Kyoto Line Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line	Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto	Kyoto
	Yamashina	山科	-	0.0	S	S	S	Tōkaidō Main Line (Biwako Line) Kyoto Municipal Subway Tōzai Line Keihan Keishin Line (Keihan Yamashina)	Yamashina-ku, Kyoto
Kosei Line
	Ōtsukyō	大津京	5.4	5.4	S	S	S	Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line (Ojiyama)	Ōtsu	Shiga
	Karasaki	唐崎	3.1	8.5	S	|	|
	Hieizan Sakamoto	比叡山坂本	2.6	11.1	S	S	S
	Ogoto-onsen	おごと温泉	3.4	14.5	S	S	|
	Katata	堅田	3.2	17.7	S	S	S
	Ono	小野	2.1	19.8	S	|	|
	Wani	和邇	2.7	22.5	S	|	|
	Hōrai	蓬莱	2.4	24.9	S	|	|
	Shiga	志賀	2.4	27.3	S	|	s
	Hira	比良	2.7	30.0	S	|	|
	Ōmi-Maiko	近江舞子	2.2	32.2	S	S	S
	Kita Komatsu	北小松	2.3	34.5	S	S	S
	Ōmi-Takashima	近江高島	6.4	40.9	S	S	S		Takashima
	Adogawa	安曇川	4.1	45.0	S	S	S
	Shin-Asahi	新旭	3.3	48.3	S	S	S
	Ōmi-Imazu	近江今津	4.9	53.2	S	S	S
	Ōmi-Nakashō	近江中庄	4.8	58.0	S	S	S
	Makino	マキノ	3.2	61.2	S	S	S
	Nagahara	永原	7.1	68.3	S	S	S		Nagahama
	Ōmi-Shiotsu	近江塩津	5.8	74.1	S	S	S	Hokuriku Main Line

Rolling stock

Current

Passenger

Local

• 113 series
• 117 series
• 207 series
• 221 series
• 321 series
• 521 series

Special Rapid and Local

• 223-1000/2000 series
• 225-0 series

Limited Express

• 681 series (Thunderbird services)
• 683 series (Thunderbird services)

Freight

• EF81
• EF510

Former

EMU

• 125 series (until March 2009)
• 201 series
• 419 series (until October 2006)
• 475 series (until October 2006)
• 485 series (Raichō services, until March 2011)

DMU

• KiHa 20 series (until 1991)
• KiHa 26 series (until 1991)
• KiHa 48 (until 1991)

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

References

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