The is a Japanese railway line which connects

Kurashiki is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 478,651 and a population density of 1300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kurashiki is located in the south-central part of Okay ...

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

with Utazu in

Kagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Pr ...

. It is owned and operated jointly 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, ...

(JR West) and

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

(JR Shikoku). The line is the central section of the Seto-Ōhashi Line, a service connecting and ; as a result, the Honshi-Bisan Line is rarely referred to by itself, but rather as a part of the larger Seto-Ōhashi Line service. The line's name comes from the two islands it links:

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

and

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

, and the old provincial names of the areas through which the line passes,

Bitchū Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, in what is today western Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bizen and Bingo Provinces; those three provinces were settled in the late 7th Century, dividing form ...

Bizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mimasaka no Kuni''" in . Bizen bordered Bitchū Province, ...

and

Sanuki Province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sanuki''" in . Sanuki bordered on Awa to the south, and Iyo to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, ...

History

The Chayamachi - Kojima section opened on 20 March 1988, and the Kojima - Utazu on 10 April 1988 in conjunction with the opening of the Seto-Ohashi Bridge system. This provided the first rail connection between Honshu and Shikoku, prior to this passengers traveled via the

Uno Line The is a Japanese railway line which connects Okayama Station in Okayama, Okayama, Okayama to Uno Station in Tamano, Okayama, Tamano, both in Okayama Prefecture. It is owned and run by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is also refer ...

and train ferry to Takamatsu. The opening of the line also facilitated electrification of the

Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately p ...

between Takamatsu and Matsuyama, enabling direct services from both cities to Okayama.

Basic data

*Operators, distances: **

(JR West) (Services and tracks) ***Chayamachi – Kojima: **

(JR Shikoku) (Services and tracks) ***Kojima – Utazu: **

Japan Freight Railway Company , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was foun ...

(JR Freight) (Services) ***Chayamachi – Kojima – Utazu: *

Gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

narrow gauge 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 Minimum railw ...

*Stations: 6 *Double-tracked section: Entire line *

Electrification 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. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

: 1500 V DC *

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 ...

: Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) *Maximum speed: **Chayamachi – Kojima: **Kojima – Utazu: * CTC center: **Chayamachi – Kojima: Okayama Transport Control Center **Kojima – Utazu: Takamatsu Control Center

Station list

References

External links

* * {{Okayama transit Rail transport in Okayama Prefecture Rail transport in Kagawa Prefecture Lines of West Japan Railway Company Honshi-Bisan Line Railway lines opened in 1988 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan

History

Basic data

Station list

See also

References

External links