is a passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

located in the city of Saijō,

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

, Japan. It is operated by JR Shikoku and has the station number "Y31". It is the main station of the city of Saijō and a major terminal on the Yosan Line with many train services beginning or ending here.

Lines

Iyo-Saijō Station is served by the JR Shikoku Yosan Line and is located 114.3 km from the beginning of the line at Takamatsu. It is the western terminal for Yosan line local trains which ply the - Iyo-Saijō sector. Passengers on local services continuing eastwards or westwards have to change trains. The ''Rapid Sunport'', and ''Nanpū Relay'' which provide a through service to start and end here. In addition, the following JR Shikoku limited express services also serve the station: *'' Shiokaze'' - from to and *'' Ishizuchi'' - from to and *''Midnight Express Takamatsu'' - in one direction only, starts from and ends here *''Morning Express Takamatsu'' - in one direction only, starts here for *''Midnight Express Matsuyama'' - in one direction only, from to *''Morning Express Matsuyama'' - in one direction only, from to

Layout

The station consists of an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

and a

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

serving three tracks. The station building houses a waiting room, shops, a JR ''

Midori no Madoguchi , which stands for ''Multi Access (originally Magnetic-electronic Automatic) seat Reservation System'', is a train ticket reservation system used by the railway companies of former Japanese National Railways, currently Japan Railways Group (JR Grou ...

'' ticket window and a JR Travel Centre (Warp Plaza). Car parking and rental are available. The island platform is reached by means of a bridge equipped with elevators for barrier-free access. Numerous sidings and passing loops branch off on both sides of the station with some of them serving the Shikoku Railway Cultural Center, which has facilities both north and south of the station. File:IyosaijoStationPlatform.JPG, A view of the station platforms in 2008. Note the footbridge at the extreme right. It has since been replaced by a barrier-free bridge. File:IyosaijoStationPlatformUtinuki.JPG, A fountain serving water from a natural spring on the island platform. The white sign says: "Please drink".

Adjacent stations

History

The station opened on 21 June 1921 as the terminus of the then Sanuki Line which had been extended westwards from . It became a through-station on 1 May 1923 when the line was further extended to . At that time the station was operated by

Japanese Government Railways The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national railway system directly operated by the Japanese Ministry of Railways ( ja, 鉄道省, Tetsudō-shō, ) until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Rai ...

, later becoming

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). With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, control of the station passed to JR Shikoku. On 25 September 2017, JR Shikoku completed a barrier-free upgrade project for the station. The existing footbridge linking the platforms was replaced by a new bridge equipped with elevators.

Surrounding area

*The Railway History Park in Saijō, a complex of three attractions next to the station: **Shikoku Railway Cultural Center - a railway museum with wings to the north and south of the station and features among other exhibits, a 0 Series Shinkansen and a

JNR Class DF50 The is a class of Bo-Bo-Bo wheel arrangement diesel-electric locomotives operated by Japanese National Railways (JNR) in Japan from 1957 until 1983. Variants DF50-0 The first batch of 65 locomotives was built between 1957 and 1962 with Sulz ...

in working condition and kept on a siding for demonstration runs. **

Shinji Sogō was the fourth president of the Japanese National Railways (JNR), and is credited with the creation of the first "bullet train", the Tōkaidō Shinkansen. Born in Niihama, Ehime, Shikoku, in 1884, Shinji Sogo graduated from the Faculty of Law ...

Memorial Museum - dedicated to the fourth president of JNR and credited with the creation of the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...

. He was also a mayor of Saijō City. **Saijō Tourist Information Center

References

External links

Iyo-Saijō Station (JR Shikoku)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iyo-Saijo Station Railway stations in Ehime Prefecture Railway stations in Japan opened in 1921 Saijō, Ehime