Ise Line
Railway line in Mie Prefecture, Japan
The Ise Line (伊勢線, Ise-sen) is a Japanese railway line in Mie Prefecture which runs between Kawarada Station in Yokkaichi and Tsu Station in Tsu. It is the only railway line of the third-sector operator Ise Railway (伊勢鉄道, Ise Tetsudō), also abbreviated Isetetsu (伊勢鉄). The company took over the former Japanese National Railways line in 1987.
The line was originally built as a shorter route between Nagoya and the Kii Peninsula (Kisei Main Line). As such, the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) limited express Nanki and rapid Mie use the line, providing the primary revenue stream for the company. The line also transports spectators when Formula One World Championship Japanese Grand Prix is held at Suzuka Circuit (1987-2006, 2009 onward).
01History
The line was opened by Japanese National Railways in 1973 as a shortcut between the Kansai Main Line and the Kisei Line. The entire line was built with future double-tracking and electrification in mind, with necessary equipment installed along the entire line. However, usage was sluggish and the line operated with a deficit due to the initial single track limiting the number of services to 7 round trips for local plus 3 round trips for limited express services daily. On the other hand, the parallel Kintetsu Nagoya Line operated with 44 limited express round trips, 34 express round trips, 9 semi-express round trips, and 62 local round trip services daily.
After the privatization of JNR, the Ise Line was scheduled to be abolished, and since the line ran outside urban areas there was no opposition from the local residents or government. In 1986, it was decided to convert the line to a third-sector railway, and in 1987, the line was transferred to the Ise Railway Co. At the time of conversion, the only train exchange facility was at Tamagaki Station; therefore, it was decided that the section between Kawarada and Nakaseko be double-tracked to increase transport capacity. In 1993, the track between Kawarada and Nakaseko was doubled, which increased the transport capacity to 55 round trips per day. The cost of construction for double-tracking between Kawarada and Nakaseko (12.8 km (8.0 mi)) was 2.05 billion yen; of this, Ise Railway paid 430 million yen, while the rest was paid by the national government, Mie Prefecture, and local governments along the line.
Most passengers pass through on the Rapid Mie and Limited Express Nanki services, but there are increasing commuter passengers due to the opening of Suzuka University near Nakaseko Station. In 1996, the line turned a profit for the first time.
Freight services started operations in 2008, but ceased in 2013.
02Stations
All stations are in Mie Prefecture.
Key:
- L: Local (普通, Futsū)
- R: Rapid "Mie" (快速「みえ」, Kaisoku Mie)
- E: Limited Express "Nanki" (特急「南紀」, Tokkyū Nanki)
- Lower case letters refer to some trains stopping on days of racing events at Suzuka Circuit.
| Number | Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Stop | Connecting lines | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yokkaichi | 四日市 | 6.9 | LRE |
|
Yokkaichi |
| 2 | Minami-Yokkaichi | 南四日市 | 3.7 | L | ||
| 3 | Kawarada | 河原田 | 0.0 | L | Kansai Main Line | |
| 4 | Suzuka | 鈴鹿 | 3.8 | LRE | Suzuka | |
| 5 | Tamagaki | 玉垣 | 7.0 | L | ||
| 6 | Suzuka Circuit Inō | 鈴鹿サーキット稲生 | 9.1 | Lre | ||
| 7 | Tokuda | 徳田 | 11.1 | L | ||
| 8 | Nakaseko | 中瀬古 | 12.7 | LR | ||
| 9 | Ise-Ueno | 伊勢上野 | 14.0 | L | Tsu | |
| 10 | Kawage | 河芸 | 16.4 | L | ||
| 11 | Higashi-Ishinden | 東一身田 | 19.4 | L | ||
| 12 | Tsu | 津 | 22.3 | LRE |
|
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Ise Line”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Ise Railway-ISEiii.JPG by まも(Mamo), Public domain
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