The is a Japanese railway line which connects

Kanazawa Station is a major railway station in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West), the private railway operator Hokuriku Railroad, and the third-sector operator IR Ishikawa Railway. Beneath a square in front of the JR ...

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...

with Uchinada Station in Uchinada,

. It is owned and operated by

Hokuriku Railroad The is a transportation company in Kanazawa, Japan. The company or its lines are commonly known as . The company was founded in 1943, when all the private railway and bus operators in Ishikawa Prefecture were merged into one. Some of its lin ...

. Due to its history as the former Asanogawa Electric Railway, the line is often referred to as the .

Service

All trains make the run from Hokutetsu-Kanazawa to Uchinada once every 30 minutes during the day, and once every 22–24 minutes during peak periods. The trip takes 17 minutes. Until December 2006, there was an express service which stopped at Kami-Moroe, Waridashi, Mitsuya, and Kagatsuma; the trip took 14 minutes.

History

*May 10, 1925: Asanogawa Electric Railway opens Nanatsuya — Shin-Susaki section, electrified at 600 VDC *May 18, 1926: Kanazawa-Ekimae (now Hokutetsu-Kanazawa) — Nanatsuya section opens *July 14, 1929: Shin-Sumachi — Awagasaki-Yūen-Mae (now Uchinada) — Awagasaki-Kaigan section opens *February 11, 1945: Awagasaki-Yūen-Mae — Awagasaki-Kaigan section closes *October 1, 1945: Hokuriku Railway absorbs Asanogawa Electric Railway; line becomes Asanogawa Line *April 21, 1946: Mitsuya Station renamed Tsuribashi Station *1952: Awagasaki-Yūen-Mae — Awagasaki-Kaigan section reopens *July 5, 1956: Hokutetsu-Kanazawa Station moved due to expansion of Kanazawa Station plaza *May 14, 1960: Awagasaki-Yūen-Mae Station moves 0.1 km, renamed to Uchinada Station *June 30, 1961: Shin-Susaki Station closes *April 1, 1972: Freight operations end *July 8, 1974: Uchinada — Awagasaki-Kaigan section closes *November 26, 1974: Tsuribashi Station renamed Mitsuya Station *December 19, 1996: Catenary voltage increased from 600 V to 1500 V DC; Driver-only operation begins *March 28, 2001: Hokutetsu-Kanazawa — Nanatsuya section moved underground; ATS system begins operation *December 1, 2006: Express service abolished

Former connecting lines

* Kanazawa Station: The 5 km 762 mm gauge Jinshi horse-drawn tramway opened in 1898, being converted to 1,067 mm gauge and electrified at 600 V DC in 1914. In 1920, the line was extended to Ono Port, and a further 2 km to Ono Minato in 1923. A 400m branch to Ryokuchi Park opened in 1930, passenger services on the branch ceasing in 1945 though the line remained to service a paper mill. The entire system closed in 1970.

Rolling stock

Hokuriku Railway uses ten 8000 series (formerly

Keio 3000 series The was a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by Keio Corporation on the Keio Inokashira Line in Japan from 1962 until 2011. Design The 3000 series was the first Keio rolling stock to use completely stainless steel body construc ...

) railcars on the Asanogawa Line. They are typically run in paired sets. Former

Tokyo Metro 03 series The was an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 42 eight-car trainsets were built, between 1988 and 1994, entering service on 1 July 1988. Operations The 03 serie ...

trains entered service on the line on December 21, 2020.

Stations

All stations are located in

References