Kabe Line

Kabe Line
Overview
Type	Regional rail
System	Hiroshima City Network
Locale	Hiroshima Prefecture
Termini	Yokogawa Kabe
Stations	12
Operation
Opened	1909
Owner	JR West
Technical
Line length
No. of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC, overhead lines
Operating speed	65 km/h (40 mph)

The Kabe Line (可部線, Kabe-sen) is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) within the city of Hiroshima in Japan. It connects Hiroshima Station and Kabe Station in Asakita-ku. The actual junction station is Yokogawa. It is one of the commuter lines to Hiroshima.

Route data

• Operator: West Japan Railway Company (Class-1 railroad)
• Official line length: 14 km
• Gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
• Double track: none (entirely single track)
• Electrified sections: entire line (1500 VDC)
• Safeworking system:
  • special automatic occlusive (track circuit detection type)

History

Private railway

The section now in operation of the Kabe Line was originally constructed by a private company and later purchased by Japanese Government Railways.

The section was opened by Dainippon Kidō in four phases.

• December 19, 1909: Yokogawa Station to Gion Station
• November 19, 1910: Gion Station to Furuichibashi Station
• December 25, 1910: Furuichibashi Station to Ōtagawabashi Station
• June 12, 1911: Ōtagwabashi Station to Kabe Station

The line was handed over to Kabe Kidō on March 11, 1919. Kabe Kidō was merged to Hiroshima Denki Kidō on May 1, 1926.

The line was originally built to 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge and not electrified. The line was electrified and re-gauged (to the national standard of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)) in the following steps.

• November 9, 1928: Yokogawa – Furuichibashi section. Bus service temporary replaces rest of the line. Matsubara Station closes and Taishi Station opens.
• August 10, 1929: Furuichibashi – Shichikenjaya section.
• December 2, 1929: Ōtagawabashi – Kabe section.

The line was handed over to the Kōhin Railway on July 1, 1931. On December 1, 1935, the line's legal status was changed from light railway to railway.

After nationalization

The line was nationalized on September 1, 1936, and became a part of Japanese Government Railways as the Kabe Line. Simultaneously, some station names were changed as follows:

• Oshibakoenguchi Station to Mitaki Station
• Nagatsuka Station to Aki-Nagatsuka Station
• Ōtagawabashi Station to Kami-Yagi Station
• Nakashima Station to Aki-Nakashima Station
• Kōhin-Kabe Station to Kabe Station

The line voltage was raised from 750 V to 1,500 V (JNR standard) on April 23, 1962.

Since September 4, 1968, the line had been on the government's list of deficit-ridden railways where service was to be discontinued.

After JR West took over the line in 1987, wanman driver-only operation was introduced on the Kabe – Sandankyō section.

Beginning in summer 2007, the ICOCA card can be used in all stations in the Hiroshima City Network, including all stations on the Kabe Line.

On 4 February 2011, it was announced that a 1.6 km section of the abandoned segment, between Kabe Station and the former Kōdo Station, would be electrified and reopened. This will be the first such reopening by a JR Group company since the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR). Operation is scheduled to resume from fiscal 2015.

Discontinued/suspended section

a train for non-electrified section at Kake Station

JGR extended the line beyond Kabe Station. The extended sections were not electrified.

• October 13, 1936: Extension to Aki-Imuro Station completed
• March 30, 1954: Extension to Kake Station completed (on completion of this extension, the total length of Japanese National Railways exceeded 20,000 km.)
• July 27, 1969: Extension to Sandankyō Station, 60.2km from Yokogawa, completed

The line was intended to be extended to Hamada station on the Sanin Main Line, and construction on that section commenced in 1974, before being abandoned in 1980.

The Kabe – Sandankyō section was closed on December 1, 2003.

• Operator: West Japan Railway Company (Class-1 railroad)
• Official line length: 46.2 km
• Gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
• Double track: none (entirely single track)
• Electrified sections: non
• Closure system:
  • section between Kabe Station and Kake Station: Special automatic closure type
  • section between Kake Station and Sandankyō Station: Staff closure type

Rolling stock

New 2- and 3-car 227 series electric trains are scheduled to be introduced on the Kabe Line from around 2015, replacing older 115 series trains.

References

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