The is a third-sector railway line in the city of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

operated by the . Officially called the , it connects

Nagoya Station is a major railway station in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Japan. It is one of the world's largest train stations by floor area (410,000 m2), and houses the headquarters of the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). Much of this space is located in ...

with Kinjō-futō Station, and was a freight branch line of Tokaido Main Line, converted for passenger usage in October 2004. This line is still operated as a freight line by

Japan Freight Railway Company , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was foun ...

(JR Freight) between Nagoya and Nagoya Freight Terminal, and so the section between Nagoya and

Arako Station The is a third-sector railway line in the city of Nagoya operated by the . Officially called the , it connects Nagoya Station with Kinjō-futō Station, and was a freight branch line of Tokaido Main Line, converted for passenger usage in Octo ...

is used for both passenger and freight traffic.

Stations

There are two services on the line: Local and Non-stop. Non-stop services only stop at Nagoya and Kinjō-futō.

Rolling stock

Services on the line are operated by a fleet of eight four-car 1000 series

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

(EMU) trains.

History

The Nishi-Nagoyakō Line opened on 1 June 1950 as a freight branch of the Tokaido Main Line between and operated by

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR). Nagoya Freight Terminal opened on 1 October 1980, and with the closure of Sasashima Freight Terminal on 1 November 1986, Nagoya Freight Terminal became the starting point of the line. With the privatization and division of JNR on 1 April 1987, the line was transferred to

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

(JR Central) as a "Class 1 railway operator" and

JR Freight , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was foun ...

as a "Class 2 railway operator". Plans to operate passenger services on the line were formalized in the 1990s, and Nagoya Rinkai Rapid Transit company was established in 1997 as a third-sector company funded by the city of Nagoya. The passenger Aonami Line utilized approximately 12 km of existing freight line with a new approximately 4 km extension to Kinjō-futō Station. Construction started in 2000, with improvement to the line and new stations added between Nagoya and Nakajima stations. The tracks between Nakajima and Kinjō-futō stations were raised to remove level crossings and alleviate road congestion. Construction cost around 93 billion yen. The line opened on 6 October 2004, and at the same time, the section of track between Nagoya Station and Nagoya Freight Terminal was closed. Despite serving attractions such as the Nagoya International Exhibition Hall and Nagoya Race Course, passenger ridership figures fell short of targets, and in July 2010, the operating company declared debts of approximately 46 billion yen, applying for

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

(ADR) to avoid bankruptcy. A special "SL Aonami-go" steam train service operated on the Aonami Line on 16 and 17 February 2013, using

JNR Class C56 The Class C56 is a type of 2-6-0 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) from 1935 to 1939, and later operated by Japanese National Railways (JNR). They were numbered C56 1-C56 164 a total of 164 were built from 1935-1939 ...

locomotive number 160 as well as three 12 series passenger coaches. On 27 March 2017, a special

Legoland Legoland (, trademark in uppercase as LEGOLAND) is a chain of family theme parks focusing on the construction toy system Lego. They are not fully owned by The Lego Group itself; rather, they are owned and operated by the British theme park com ...

-themed train started operating on the line to commemorate the opening of

Legoland Japan is a theme park in Nagoya, Japan. It opened on April 1, 2017. It is the first Legoland theme park in Japan; the second in Asia, after Legoland Malaysia Resort; and the eighth worldwide. The park was projected to attract over two million visito ...

. The park is located by Kinjō-futō station.

References

External links

* {{Nagoya transit Railway lines in Japan Rail transport in Nagoya Railway lines opened in 2004 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Japanese third-sector railway lines

Stations

Rolling stock

History

See also

References

External links