The is a railway line owned and operated by the

Kintetsu Railway , referred to as , is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railway network connects Osaka, Nara, Ky ...

, a Japanese

private railway A private railway is a railroad run by a private business entity (usually a corporation but not need be), as opposed to a railroad run by a public sector. Japan In Japan, , commonly simply ''private railway'', refers to a public transit railway o ...

company, connecting

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

and Ise Nakagawa Station in Matsusaka,

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefectur ...

via

Kuwana is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 141,045 in 60,301 households and a population density of 1000 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kuwana is located in northern Mie P ...

Yokkaichi is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 310,259 in 142162 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Yokkaichi is located in north-ce ...

, Suzuka, Tsu municipalities along the

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie and Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the smaller Mikawa Bay by two channels: ...

. The official starting-point of the line is Ise-Nakagawa and the terminus is Nagoya; however, operationally trains run "down" from and "up" towards Nagoya. The line approximately parallels the

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...

(JR Central)

Kansai Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, which connects Nagoya Station with JR Namba Station in Osaka. It is jointly run by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), with the boundary between both compan ...

, the Ise Railway Ise Line, and the JR Central

Kisei Main Line The is a railway line that parallels the coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the ''kanji'' characters from the names of the old provinces of and . The line is operated by Ce ...

, and all three offer rapid services from Nagoya to Ise. At Ise-Nakagawa, the line has connections to the

Osaka Line is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 ...

to Uehommachi and Kintetsu Namba Stations of downtown

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, and to the Yamada Line to Ujiyamada Station and beyond

Toba Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Toba, Mie Prefecture. Japan. It is jointly operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and the private railway operator Kintetsu Railway. Lines Toba Station is served ...

on the

Toba Line The is a railway line operated by the Japanese private railway company Kintetsu Railway, connecting Ujiyamada Station in Ise, Mie with Toba Station in Toba, Mie. The line runs parallel to JR Central's Sangū Line. The line connects with the ...

and

Kashikojima Station is a passenger railway station in located in the city of Shima, Mie Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kintetsu Railway. Lines Kashikojima Station is a terminus of the Shima Line and a common destination for Kintetsu ...

of the Shima Line, to provide touristic access to scenic Shima Peninsula and

Ise Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner ...

Services

LO Local (; )
Trains stop at every station. : For , , : For , , ,
SE Semi-Express (; ) : For : For ,
EX Express (; ) : For : For , , ,
LE Limited Express (; )
Seat reservations and limited express fee required. : For : For ; via and (Kashihara) : For , ,
NS Non-stop Limited Express (; )
Trains for Ōsaka Namba run hourly. Trains for Kashikojima run once a day on weekends. Seat reservations and limited express fee required. : For : For : For
SV Premium Express Shimakaze (; ) - Kintetsu.
Trains for Kashikojima run once a day except on Wednesday with some exceptions. :(Seat reservations, limited express fee and special vehicle fee required. : For : For

Stations

History

The first section, between Shiroko and Takadahonzan, was opened in 1915 by an independent railway operator with rail gauge . The line was extended to Tsu-shinmachi and Kusu in 1917, and to (now) Kintetsu-Yokkaichi in 1922, the line being electrified at 1500 VDC in 1926. It was extended as an electrified line to Kuwana in 1929, and to Ise-Nakagawa the following year. In 1936 the line was acquired by the Sangu Express Railway Co., which duplicated the Kuwana - Kusu section in 1938, the year that the Kansai Express Railway Co. opened the Nagoya - Kuwana section as electrified dual track. In 1940 the merged with the Kansai Express Railway Co., a predecessor of Kintetsu. The Kusu - Hisai section was duplicated between 1937 and 1955, and the dual tracking of the line was completed in 1972 with duplication of the Hisai - Ise-Nakagawa section.

Gauge conversion

After the acquisition of a 1435mm connection to Osaka, Kintetsu passengers to that destination needed to change trains due to the difference of gauges. In 1959 the disastrous

Ise-wan Typhoon Typhoon Vera, also known as the , was an exceptionally intense tropical cyclone that struck Japan in September 1959, becoming the strongest and deadliest typhoon on record to make landfall on the country as a Category 5 equivalent storm. Th ...

destroyed the line and Kintetsu decided to

convert Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to gauge (

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...

) with the reconstruction, the standard of the company to enable direct operation between Osaka and Nagoya. Today a number of Limited Express trains between Osaka and Nagoya, and between Nagoya and Ise and Shima area are operated.

Former connecting lines

* Kuwana station - The 762mm gauge

Sangi Railway Hokusei Line The , commonly known as the Sangi Hokusei Line, is a narrow gauge railway line owned and operated by the , a Japanese private railway company. The line connects Nishi-Kuwana Station in Kuwana, Mie with Ageki Station in Inabe, Mie, in Japan. F ...

section to Kuwana Kyobashi operated between 1913 and 1961, being electrified in 1930 at 600 VDC, and boosted to 750 VDC in 1954. * Edobashi station - the

Ise Electric Railway , usually abbreviated as Iseden (伊勢電), was a private railway company that operated mostly in Mie Prefecture, Japan, for 25 years from 1911 to 1936, when it was absorbed by Sangū Express Electric Railway. At its height, Iseden operated thr ...

1067mm gauge line to Daijingumae opened between 1926 and 1930, and closed between 1943 and 1961. * Tsu-shimmachi station - The Anou Railway Co. operated a 762mm gauge line to Mukumoto between 1914 and 1944. There was a branch to Katada operated from 1917 to 1927. * Hisai station - The Dainippon Railway Co. operated a 762mm gauge line to Ise-Kawaguchi on the Meisho Line between 1925 and 1943.

Proposed connecting line

* Toda station - The 1972 Nagoya regional transport plan proposed a subway (Line 5) from this station to Kurokawa. In 2008 it was determined the line was not economically viable.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia * * {{Kintetsu Lines Nagoya Line Rail transport in Aichi Prefecture Rail transport in Mie Prefecture Rail transport in Nagoya Standard gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1915 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan