Tobu Kinugawa Line
Railway line in Nikko, Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kinugawa Line (鬼怒川線, Kinugawa-sen) is a 16.2 km (10.1 mi) long Japanese railway line from Shimo-Imaichi Station to Shin-Fujiwara Station in Nikkō, Tochigi. It is owned and operated by the private railway operator Tobu Railway.[1]
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| Kinugawa Line | |
|---|---|
| |
 | |
| Overview | |
| Native name | 鬼怒川線 |
| Status | In service |
| Owner | Tobu Railway Co., Ltd. |
| Locale | Tochigi Prefecture |
| Termini | |
| Stations | 9 |
| Service | |
| Type | Heavy rail |
| System | Tobu Railway |
| Route number | TN |
| Operator(s) | Tobu Railway Co., Ltd. |
| History | |
| Opened | 2 January 1917 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 16.2 km (10.1 mi) |
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Electrification | 1,500 V DC, overhead catenary |
At Shimo-Imaichi Station it connects with the Nikko Line. At Shin-Fujiwara Station it connects with the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line. Some trains go beyond the Aizu Kinugawa Line terminus at Aizu-Kōgen Oze-guchi Station onto the Aizu Railway Aizu Line.
The line runs surcharged, reserved-seat limited express services from and to Asakusa and Shinjuku in Tokyo.
The whole line is electrified at 1,500 V DC, but it is single tracked except for a 0.8 km (0.50 mi) double-tracked section at Kinugawa-Onsen Station.
Stations
All stations are located within Nikkō, Tochigi.
| No. | Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | SPACIA | JR | Revaty Aizu |
Revaty Kinu |
SL&DL Taiju |
Ozatoro Tenbō Ressha YUMEGURI |
Transfers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between stations |
Total | ||||||||||
| TN23 | Shimo-Imaichi | 下今市 | - | 0.0 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |  Nikkō Line (TN23) | |
| TN51 | Daiya-Mukō | 大谷向 | 0.8 | 0.8 | ↕ | ↕ | ◆ | ↕ | ↕ | ||
| TN52 | Ōkuwa | 大桑 | 4.0 | 4.8 | ↕ | ↕ | ◆ | ▲ | ↕ | ||
| TN53 | Shin-Takatoku | 新高徳 | 2.5 | 7.3 | △ | ↕ | ● | ▲ | ↕ | ||
| TN54 | Kosagoe | 小佐越 | 2.6 | 9.9 | ↕ | ↕ | ◆ | ▲ | ↕ | ||
| TN55 | Tobu World Square | 東武ワールドスクウェア | 0.7 | 10.6 | ● | ● | ● | ▲ | ↕ | ||
| TN56 | Kinugawa-Onsen | 鬼怒川温泉 | 1.8 | 12.4 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| TN57 | Kinugawa-Kōen | 鬼怒川公園 | 2.1 | 14.5 | △ | ● | ↓ | ||||
| TN58 | Shin-Fujiwara | 新藤原 | 1.7 | 16.2 | △ | ● | ● | ■ Aizu Kinugawa Line | |||
History
- 1915: Fujiwara Tramway (藤原軌道株式会社, Fujiwara Kidō Kabushiki-gaisha) was licensed to build a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge steam-hauled tramway. It was renamed Shimotsuke Tramway (下野軌道株式会社, Shimotsuke Kidō Kabushiki-gaisha) in the same year.
- 2 January 1917: A 3.6-mile (5.8 km) section from Daiya-gawa Hokugan Station to Kinugawa Nangan Station was opened. The line was extended a further 2.5 miles (4.0 km) the same year.
- March 1919: Ōhara Station to Shimotaki Station section was opened.
- October 1919: Daiya Mukō Imaichi Station to Shin-Imaichi Station section was opened.
- 1 January 1920: Shimotaki Station to Fujiwara Station section was open to complete the whole 10.9-mile (17.5 km) line.
- 6 June 1921: The company name was renamed Shimotsuke Electric Railway Co., Ltd. (下野電気鉄道株式会社, Shimotsuke Denki Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha).
- 9 March 1922: The whole line was electrified at 600 V DC.
- April 1927: The corporate headquarters was relocated to the Tobu Railway headquarters in Tokyo.
- 22 October 1929: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge operation began on all the line.
- 1931: The voltage was raised to 1,500 V.
- 1 May 1943: Shimotsuke Electric Railway was bought out by Tobu Railway. The line became Tobu Kinugawa Line.
- 9 October 1986: Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line through service began.
- 12 October 1990: Aizu Railway Aizu Line through service to Aizu Tajima Station began.
- 18 March 2006: New Kinugawa services to/from Shinjuku commence.[2]
From 17 March 2012, station numbering was introduced on all Tobu lines, with Tobu Kinugawa Line stations adopting the prefix "TN" in orange.[3]
A new station, called Tobu World Square Station, opened between Kosagoe and Kinugawa-Onsen on 22 July 2017 to serve the nearby Tobu World Square theme park.[4] From this date, Tobu World Square Station was numbered "TN-55", and the station numbers for Kinugawa-Onsen to Shin-Fujiwara were adjusted on 21 April 2017, ahead of the opening.[4]
Future developments
Steam-hauled services
Tobu has leased former JNR Class C11 steam locomotive C11 207 from JR Hokkaido for use on the 12.4 km section of the Kinugawa Line between Shimo-Imaichi and Kinugawa-Onsen stations from 10 August 2017.[5] Turntables will also be installed at Shimo-Imaichi and Kinugawa-Onsen to turn the locomotive in service.[5] A two-stall engine shed is also being constructed for the steam loco at Shimo-Imaichi.
