The is a commuter railway line of the

Izuhakone Railway The is a private railway company in Kanagawa Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The company also operates excursion ships, and the group companies operate buses and taxis. The company has its roots in founded in 1893. Izuhakone Railway ...

, a private railroad in

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 ...

. The line connects

Mishima Station is a railway station in the city of Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan, operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It is also a union station with the Izuhakone Railway. The station was also a freight terminal of the Japan Freight Railwa ...

in the city of

Mishima Mishima may refer to: Places * Mishima, Fukushima, a town in Fukushima Prefecture * Mishima, Kagoshima, a village in Kagoshima Prefecture * Mishima, Niigata, a town in Niigata Prefecture * Mishima, Shizuoka, a city in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan ...

with

Shuzenji Station is a railway station located in the city of Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan operated by the private railroad company Izuhakone Railway. Lines Shuzenji Station is the southern terminal station of the Sunzu Line, and is located 19.8 kilometers f ...

in the city of

Izu Izu may refer to: Places *Izu Province, a part of modern-day Shizuoka prefecture in Japan **Izu, Shizuoka, a city in Shizuoka prefecture **Izu Peninsula, near Tokyo **Izu Islands, located off the Izu Peninsula People with the surname

*, Japane ...

, both within

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

. The name "Sunzu" comes from the former provinces of Suruga and

*, Japane ...

, although the line at present operates only within the borders of former Izu Province.

Stations

Limited Express ''Odoriko''

On the line, the ''

Odoriko Odoriko ( ja, 踊り子) is a limited express train service in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), Izukyu Corporation, and Izuhakone Railway, which runs between and or in Sh ...

'' runs 2 services on weekdays and 3 services on Holidays. And employment vehicles are

185 series Year 185 ( CLXXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lascivius and Atilius (or, less frequently, year 938 ''Ab urbe cond ...

by spring 2021. From 2021,

E257 series The is a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated in Japan for limited express services by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and built jointly by Hitachi, Kinki Sharyo, and Tokyu Car Corporation. Variants * E257-0 series: ''Azu ...

is going to be introduced by

JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

. Besides, riding on the Limited Express ''Odoriko'' is only fares for riding Local train between

and

on Sunzu Line by spring 2021, but riding on the train is going to have to pursue Limited Express Ticket at 200 yen (adult) in addition to fares from spring 2021.

History

The Sunzu Line opened for operations on May 20, 1898, connecting Zuso-Mishima Station (present-day

Mishima-Tamachi Station is a railway station located in the city of Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan operated by the private railroad company Izuhakone Railway. Lines Mishima-Tamach Station is served by the Sunzu Line, and is located 2.0 kilometers from the starti ...

) with Nanjō Station (present-day

Izu-Nagaoka Station 270px, Platforms is a railway station located in the city of Izunokuni, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan operated by the private railroad company Izuhakone Railway. It is located in the former town of Nirayama. Lines Izu-Nagaoka Station is served b ...

). The terminus of the line was moved to Mishima Station (present-day

Shimo-Togari Station is a railway station in the town of Nagaizumi, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tōkai). Lines Shimo-Togari Station is served by the JR Tōkai Gotemba Line, and is located 55.6 kilometers from the o ...

) on June 15, 1898, and the southern end of the line was extended to

Ōhito Station 270px, Platforms is a railway station located in the city of Izunokuni, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan operated by the private railroad company Izuhakone Railway. Lines Ōhito Station is served by the Sunzu Line, and is located 16.6 kilometers fro ...

on July 17, 1899. The line became part of the on July 19, 1907, which in turn became the on April 1, 1912. This company merged with in 1914 and was spun back out as the on November 5, 1917. The line was electrified by June 1919, and the southern terminus extended to Shuzenji Station on August 1, 1924. In May 1933, regularly scheduled weekend services to

Tokyo Station Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is ...

began operation but were later suspended during World War II. With the opening of the

Tanna Tunnel is a railroad tunnel in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan operated by JR Central’s Tōkaidō Main Line. This 7.8 km long tunnel shortened the trunk route between Tokyo and Kobe by omitting a detour round the mountains between Atami and Numazu. ...

in 1934 and the re-routing of the

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

, the Sunzu ceased operations at Shimotogari Station and its northern terminus became the new Mishima Station. A

rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or u ...

and train factory was completed at Daiba Station on June 10, 1937. In 1949, the

Japan National Railway 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 pre ...

s began semi-express and limited-express train operations from Tokyo. The Sunzu Railway Company was acquired by the Izuhakone Railway on June 1, 1957. The line was upgraded from 600 V to 1,500 V on September 7, 1959. All freight operations were discontinued as of June 16, 1972. An

ATS ATS or Ats may refer to: Businesses * ATS Wheels, or ''Auto Technisches Spezialzubehör'', a German wheel manufacturer and sponsor of a Formula One racing team * ATS Automation Tooling Systems, an Ontario, Canada-based factory automation company ...

system was installed in December 1972 and a CTC system in 1985 (upgraded in 2007).

References

External links

*Official Website

{{HakoneFujiIzuTransit Railway lines in Kanagawa Prefecture * 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1898