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 undertaken ...
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 n ...
(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, ...
) in operation since March 2, 1942. It is a parent company of
Keifuku Bus 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 ...
.
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
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, ...
. 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 ...
.
The
Eizan Electric Railway 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 ...
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 ...
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 c ...
.
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 enemie ...
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 ...
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
is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan.
The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei b ...
on the northeastern edge of the city, together with
Eizan Electric Railway's
Eizan Main Line
is a Japanese private railway company whose two lines run entirely in 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 predecessor, the of the ...
.
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 island ...
, 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".
See also
* List of railway lines in Japan
List of railway lines in Japan lists existing railway lines in Japan alphabetically.
The vast majority of Japanese railways are classified under two Japanese laws, one for and another for . The difference between the two is a legal, and not alway ...
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