The is a railway line 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 ...

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 ...

, Japan. The line extends 13.8 km from the city of

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 ...

to Hakusan with a total of 16 stations.

Service

All services are all-stations "Local" trains which travel the entire length of the line, from Nomachi to Tsurugi; the trip takes approximately 30 minutes. During the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day holidays, the line was operated all night to move passengers to and from now-closed Kaga-Ichinomiya, where the nearby Shirayama-Hime Shrine draws crowds. All trains are operated by drivers only; doors in the middle of each train car do not open. Until November 30, 2006, there was daytime semi-express service between Nomachi and Tsurugi; trains stopped at Osano, Nonoichi, Sodani, and Oyanagi, making the trip in 25 minutes. This semi-express service was intended to move trains from one part of the line to the other in order to have a more balanced schedule. On November 1, 2009, the section between Tsurugi and Kaga-Ichinomiya was closed.

Stations

Section closed in 2009

Rolling stock

Hokuriku Railroad uses ten 7000 series (formerly Tokyu 7000 series) and eleven 7700 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 ...

)

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 ...

s (EMUs) on the Ishikawa Line. They are typically run in paired sets.

History

*June 22, 1915: Ishikawa Electric Railway begins operating the 762mm gauge line between Shin-Nonoichi and Tsurugi stations, not electrified despite the company's name. *June 30, 1915: Ishikawa Electric Railway renamed to Ishikawa Railway *December 1, 1916: Kami-Nonoichi Station opens *August 1, 1921: Track gauge changed to 1,067 mm; electrified with 600 V DC overhead catenary *October 1, 1922: Nishi-Kanazawa — Shin-Nonoichi section opened by Kanazawa Electric Railway, through operation with Ishikawa Railway starts *May 1, 1923: Kanazawa Electric Railway absorbs Ishikawa Railway *September 5, 1925: Hinomiko Station opens *October 1, 1925: Nishi-Kanazawa Station renamed to Shiragikuchō Station; Shin-Nonoichi Station renamed to Shin-Nishi-Kanazawa Station; Kami-Nonoichi Station renamed to Nonoichi Station *August 17, 1927: Sanjūgari Station opens *December 28, 1927: Kinmei Railway opens Tsurugi — Jinjamae (now Kaga-Ichinomiya) section *March 11, 1929: Tsurugi — Jinjamae section transferred to Kanazawa Electric Railway *September 14, 1929: Tsurugi — Jinjamae section electrified *December 1, 1934: Nishi-Izumi Station opens *March 2, 1935: Awada Station opens *August 1, 1937: Inokuchi Station opens *December 8, 1937: Jinjamae Station renamed to Kaga-Ichinomiya Station *August 1, 1941: Hokuriku Gōdō Electric (now Hokuriku Electric Power Company) established; merges with Kanazawa Electric Railway *March 26, 1942: Hokuriku Gōdō Electric spins-off its transport division, establishes Hokuriku Railway *February 1, 1943: Magae Station opens *October 13, 1943: Hokuriku Railway, Kanaishi Electric Railway, Onsen Rail, Kinmei Railway, Noto Railway, etc. merge to form Hokuriku Railway *October 23, 1944: Through operation with the Shōkin Line begins *After 1946: Sanjūgari, Tsukihachi stations close *June 2, 1949: Through operation with the Nōmi Line begins *After April 1963: Awada Station renamed to Otomaru Station *April 11, 1963: Kami-Nonoichi Station renamed to Kōsen-Mae Station *July 15, 1965: Ōnuke Station renamed to Nuke-Jūtaku-Mae Station *September 15, 1966: Kōsen-Mae Station renamed to Nonoichi-Kōdai-Mae Station *April 1, 1970: Passenger operations on the Shiragikuchō — Nomachi section cease; freight-only operation continues *September 20, 1972: Shiragikuchō — Nomachi section closes *April 1, 1976: Freight operations cease *September 14, 1980: Nōmi Line closes *December 12, 1984: Kinmei Line operation stops *April 29, 1987: Kinmei Line closes *July 24, 1990: Driver-only operation begins *2002: Automatic Train Stop (ATS) system introduced *December 1, 2006: Semi-express trains abolished; entire line changes to local-only operation *November 1, 2009: Tsurugi — Kaga-Ichinomiya section closes *March 14, 2015: Hibari station opens

Former connecting lines

* Nomachi Station: In 1904, the 8 km, 915 mm gauge Matsukane horse-drawn tramway opened to Matto on the

Hokuriku Main Line The Hokuriku Main Line ( ja, 北陸本線, ) is a 176.6 kilometer railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting the Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with the Naoetsu Station in Joetsu, Niigata. The section betwee ...

, and also connected with Nonoichi station on this line (not the current JR West station of the same name, which opened in 1968). In 1916, the line was converted to 1,067 mm gauge and electrified at 600 V DC. The line was acquired by the Kanazawa Electric Railway in 1920, which merged with the Hokuriku Railway in 1942. The 3 km Nonoichi to Nomachi section closed in 1944, and the remaining 5 km line closed in 1955. * Tsurugi Station: The 17 km line to Yamashita was opened between 1926 and 1929, and electrified in 1949. Freight services ceased in 1971, and the line closed in 1983 after the Dainichigawa bridge was damaged by floodwaters. The Nomi Electric Railway opened a 17 km line, electrified at 600 V DC to Terai on the

in 1927. Flooding destroyed the Tedorigawa bridge in 1934, which was replaced nine months later. The company merged with the Hokuriku Railway in 1942. Freight services ceased in 1968, and the line closed in 1980.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia {{reflist Railway lines in Japan Rail transport in Ishikawa Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1915 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan