San'yō Railway
Former private railway company in Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sanyō Railway (山陽鉄道, San'yō-tetsudō) was established in 1887 and served as a major railroad company during the Meiji period in Japan. The railroad was headquartered in Kobe, and Nakamigawa Hikojirō served as head of the railroad.[1]
| |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Kobe |
| Locale | Japan |
| Dates of operation | 1888–1906 |
| Successor | JGR |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Length | 667.7 km (414.9 mi) (1906) |
Rail lines
The first rail line opened in 1888. By 1894, the Sanyō Railway had been extended west, along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, from Kobe to Hiroshima.[2] The railroad was later extended to Shimonoseki. The Sanyō Main Line connected with the Tōkaidō Main Line in Kobe, and the Kyūshū Railway at Moji. The railway gained a reputation for being one of the most progressive and innovative in Japan in its day, introducing the first sleeping cars, dining cars, and electric lighting on its trains.[3] In 1904, the 530 km (330 mile) trip from Kobe to Shimonoseki took 11 hours.[4] An express train from Kobe to Hiroshima took 81⁄2 hours, travelling 304 km (189 miles).[5]
| Endpoints | Length (km) |
Length (miles) |
Line names (designated after nationalization) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kōbe – Shimonoseki | 530.0 | 329.3 | Sanyō Main Line | |
| Himeji – Shikama | 5.6 | 3.5 | Bantan Line | |
| Himeji – Wadayama | 65.8 | 40.9 | Bantan Line | |
| Asa – Ōmine | 19.6 | 12.2 | Mine Line | |
| Hyōgo – Wadamisaki | 2.9 | 1.8 | Sanyō Main Line (Wadamisaki Line) | |
| Takamatsu – Kotohira | 43.8 | 27.2 | Yosan Line | |
| Subtotal | 676.7 | 414.9 | ||
| Kaitaichi – Kure | 20.0 | 12.4 | Kure Line | Leased from Government Railways |
| Hiroshima – Ujina | 6.0 | 3.7 | Ujina Line | Leased from Army |
| Total | 693.7 | 414.9 |
Steamship
Sanyō also operated steamship service, from Shimonoseki to Busan in Korea.[7] Sanyō Railway also operated a ferry from Miyajimaguchi Station, which opened on September 25, 1897, to Itsukushima (Miyajima).
Nationalization
The railroad was nationalized in 1906, under the Railway Nationalization Act, becoming the San'yō Main Line.
