The is a railway line in

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, operated by

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

(JR West) and the

Noto Railway is a Japanese railway company on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. It runs the Nanao Line with eight stops between Nanao and Anamizu, a distance of . There are 34 trains plus sightseeing trains on the line. It previously operated the ...

. It runs between

Tsubata Station is a railway station in the town of Tsubata, Kahoku District, Ishikawa, Japan, jointly operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and the third-sector railway operator IR Ishikawa Railway. Lines Tsubata Station is served by the 17.8&nb ...

in Tsubata and

Anamizu Station is a railway station on the Nanao Line in the town of Anamizu, Hōsu District, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Noto Railway. Lines Anamizu Station is a terminus of the Noto Railway Nanao Line, and is ...

in Anamizu. JR West operates the section between Tsubata and , while the Noto Railway (the second company with this name, see Former connecting lines section below) operates the section between and Anamizu. The section between Wakuraonsen and Nanao is served by both companies. A further section of the line between Anamizu and closed in 2001. Prior to the transfer of the Wakuraonsen — Wajima section from JR West to Noto Railway in 1991, Noto Railway took control of another former

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) line in 1988, the Noto Line. It closed in 2005. In 2015, the

IR Ishikawa Railway The is a Japanese third-sector railway company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Ishikawa Prefecture. The main line was separated from the JR West network on 14 Ma ...

took over 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 ...

at Tsubata, effectively isolating the Nanao Line from the rest of the JR network; however, all JR West Nanao Line services continue to run through into the

to terminate at Kanazawa.

JR West

JR West owns the entire Nanao Line between Tsubata and Anamizu, but it only operates the southern section while Noto Railway operates the rest of the line. Nearly all local and rapid trains run between Nanao and Kanazawa or Komatsu. Between Nanao and Anamizu, only Noto Railway operates local trains. The JR section is

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

and operates both local and

limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common ...

trains. Among others, there are nine ''

Thunderbird Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to: * Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture * Ford Thunderbird, a car Birds * Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds ...

'' limited express trains (4½ round trips) per day between and Wakuraonsen, as well as a single round-trip '' Shirasagi'' limited express train between and Wakuraonsen. JR West also operates the ''Hanayome Noren'' excursion train from Kanazawa to Wakuraonsen Station.

Basic data

*Operators, distances: **

(Tracks) ***Tsubata — Anamizu: **West Japan Railway Company (Services) ***Tsubata — Wakuraonsen: **

(Services) ***Nanao — Wakuraonsen: *Stations: 20 *Tracks: Entire line single-tracked *Electrification: Tsubata — Wakuraonsen (1,500 V DC) *

Railway signalling Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...

: **Tsubata — Wakuraonsen: Simplified automatic

Stations

The Nanao Line is entirely within

. Rapid trains stop at stations marked with a "●". Of trains bound for , some stop at stations marked with a "▲" while all stop at stations marked "■". All rapid trains pass stations marked "｜".

Rolling stock

Electric

681 series __NOTOC__ Year 681 ( DCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 681 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

(JR West) * 683 series (JR West) * 521-100 series (JR West and

) (from 3 October 2020)

Diesel

KiHa 48 The is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type introduced by Japanese National Railways (JNR) in 1977 and operated by all Japan Railways Group companies on suburban and rural services in Japan. Since 2017, the train type has seen use by other ...

(JR West) (Hanayome Noren) * NT 200 series (Noto Railway) (Nanao - Wakuraonsen) * NT 300 series (Noto Railway) (Nanao - Wakuraonsen)

Noto Railway

NT200 at Anamizu Station bound for Nanao

The Noto Railway section is not electrified (except for the section shared with JR West) and operates local trains only. Between Nanao and Anamizu, only Noto Railway operates local trains; there is no through service to the JR West-operated part of the line south of Nanao. In addition, which is a tourist train, has been run on holidays since 2017. The trains stop at all stations and seats can be reserved for 500 yen. There are also dining cars on partly services.

Basic data

*Operators, distances: **

(Tracks) ***Tsubata — Anamizu: **

(Services) ***Nanao — Anamizu: *Stations: 8 *Tracks: Entire line single-tracked *Electrification: Nanao — Wakuraonsen (1,500 V DC) *

: **Nanao — Anamizu: Simplified automatic

Stations

The Nanao Line is entirely within

History

The section between Tsubata Station (now Hon-Tsubata Station) and Yatashin Station (later renamed Nanaominato Station and closed in 1984) via Nanao Station was constructed and opened by the on April 24, 1898. The terminal in Tsubata was moved to the present Tsubata Station on August 2, 1900, and connected to the government-owned Hokuriku Main Line. Nanao Railway was nationalized on September 1, 1907. The line was extended and had been operated by the

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 ...

. In 1925, the Nanao to Wakura (now Wakuraonsen) section opened, and in 1935 the line was completed with the opening of the Anamizu to Wajima section. In 1991, the Nanao Line was electrified to Wakuraonsen, enabling through operation of trains from the

. Operation of the Nanao to Wajima section was transferred to the Noto Railway. In 2001, the section between Anamizu and Wajima was closed.

References

External links

Noto Railway official website
{{West Japan Railway Company Lines Railway lines in Japan Rail transport in Ishikawa Prefecture Lines of West Japan Railway Company Railway lines opened in 1898 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Japanese third-sector railway lines

JR West

Basic data

Stations

Rolling stock

Electric

Diesel

Noto Railway

Basic data

Stations

History

See also

References

External links