The Enshū Railway Line, officially the , is a Japanese

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line in

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

, running north from Shin-Hamamatsu Station in Chūō Ward to Nishi-Kajima Station in Tenryū Ward, all within

Hamamatsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the t ...

. This is the only railway line Enshū Railway (Entetsu) operates. The line is nicknamed the , while locals often call it ''Akaden'' (あかでん, "The Red Train"), referring to the color of the EMUs. The line accepts NicePass, a

smart card A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an Embedded system, embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart ...

ticketing system, as well as ET Card, a magnetic card ticketing system.

Railway signalling Railway signalling (), or 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 enormous weight ...

on this line is automatic.

History

Most of the line opened as a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

on December 6, 1909 by the Dai-Nippon Light Railway. The line was transferred to the Enshu Railway (later re-named to Enshu Electric Railway) on October 12, 1919. On April 1, 1923, the line was closed as a narrow-gauge railway and was converted to gauge railway, electrified at 600 VDC. The line was extended from Entetsu-Hamamatsu (since closed) to Enshu-Magome (also closed) on February 1, 1924 and to the current Shin-Hamamatsu station on September 1, 1927. The voltage was increased to 750 VDC in 1961, and CTC signalling was commissioned between Nishi-Kajima and Hachiman in 1967, and extended to Shin-Hamamatsu in 1974. Freight services ceased in 1976.

Former connecting lines

* Hamakita station - The Seien Railway Co. opened a gauge line to Miyaguchi in 1924, and merged with the Enshu Railway Co. in 1928. The line closed in 1937.

Services

Trains operate every 12 minutes all day, every day. Early morning and after 9pm trains operate every 20 minutes. All trains stop at every station.

Stations

All stations are within

, Shizuoka.

In popular culture

Enshū Railway Line is the setting of the Japanese Urban Legend " Kisaragi Station".

References

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

External links

*
Enshū Railway official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Enshu Railway Line Railway lines in Japan Rail transport in Shizuoka Prefecture Transport in Hamamatsu Railway lines opened in 1909 Railway lines opened in 1927 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan 750 V DC railway electrification