is a

railroad company A railway company is a company within the rail industry. It can be a manufacturing firm or an operator. Some railway companies operate both the trains and the track, while, particularly in the European Union, operation of the track is undertake ...

based in Kyoto Prefecture,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(but with offices in

Fukui Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gi ...

) in operation since March 2, 1942. It is a parent company of

Keifuku Bus is a bus transportation company based in Fukui Prefecture, Japan in operation since June 1941. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Keifuku Electric Railroad is a railroad company based in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (but with offices in Fukui Pre ...

and Kyoto Bus, and an affiliated company of Keihan Electric Railway, which owns 42.89% of the company stock. The company's stock is traded on the second section of the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

Lines

This railway started service in 1910, operated at that time by . It was transferred to the Kyoto-based electric power generation company . Later it built the Kitano Line. Formerly the company operated several railway lines in

. Some of them are now operated by

Echizen Railway is a third-sector railway operating company located in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. It owns and operates the Katsuyama Eiheiji Line between Fukui and Katsuyama and the Mikuni Awara Line between Fukui and Sakai. History In 1992, Keifuku Ele ...

. The

Eizan Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway company whose two lines run entirely in Sakyō-ku in the city of Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the i ...

also belonged to Keifuku until 1985.

Randen

The is a small network of

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

lines classified legally as

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

ways in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Arashiyama Line

The connects Kyoto's city center (Shijo-Omiya terminal) and scenic Arashiyama area in the western suburb.

Kitano Line

The is from Kitano Hakubaicho Station near

Kitano Tenmangū is a Shinto shrine in Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. History The shrine was first built in 947 to appease the angry spirit of bureaucrat, scholar and poet Sugawara no Michizane, who had been exiled as a result of political maneuvers of his enemi ...

to Katabiranotsuji Station in the midst of Arashiyama (Main) Line.

Eizan Cable

The , officially the , is a

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

line in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto.

Eizan Ropeway

The ( Ja) is an

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto. The line length is . The cable and ropeway lines are for visitors to Mount Hiei on the northeastern edge of the city, together with

Eizan Main Line is a Japanese private railway company whose two lines run entirely in Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, Sakyō-ku in the city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture. The name of this small railway network is abbreviated as , and is derived from the name of its predecess ...

History

Arashiyama Line

The Arashiyama Tram opened the line in 1910, with 1,435 mm gauge and electrified at 600 V DC. The Kyoto Electric Light Company acquired the line in 1918, and double-tracked the track between 1925 and 1928. Keifuku acquired the line in 1942.

Kitano Line

The Kyoto Electric Light Company opened the line between 1925 and 1926, and double-tracked the Tokiwa to Narutaki section in 1930. Plans to double-track the rest of the line were abandoned as a result of the economic depression. Keifuku acquired the line in 1942.

Former connecting lines

* Arashiyama Station: A 3 km 1,435 mm gauge line electrified at 600 V DC and dual track except for the Kiyotaki tunnel operated to Kiyotaki between 1929 and 1944. It connected to a 2 km 1,067 mm gauge funicular which climbed 638 m to Atago Jinja on

Mount Atago ''Mount Atago is a very common name for peaks all over Japan.'' is a 924m mountain in the northwestern part of Ukyo-ku, in the city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an islan ...

, Kosaku line which operated for the same period. Closed due to war time austerity measures, efforts to re-establish the incline in the 1950s were unsuccessful. ()

Etymology

"Keifuku" is composed of two characters "京" and "福", the former denoting Kyoto and the latter Fukui. As the Kyoto Dento lines used to be in Fukui, the hydraulic source, and in Kyoto, the company took the name "Keifuku".

References

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

External links

Randen

Keifuku Electric Railroad
{{Authority control Railway companies established in 1942 Rail transport in Kyoto Prefecture Railway companies of Japan Companies based in Kyoto Railway lines opened in 1910 Tram transport in Japan Standard gauge railways in Japan Gondola lifts in Japan Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Japanese companies established in 1942 600 V DC railway electrification

Lines

Randen

Arashiyama Line

Kitano Line

Eizan Cable

Eizan Ropeway

History

Arashiyama Line

Kitano Line

Former connecting lines

Etymology

See also

References

External links