Kintetsu Shima Line

The line connects with the Toba Line at Toba Station. The Yamada Line, Toba Line, and Shima Line form a single train line that begins at Ise-Nakagawa Station and serves the Ise-Shima tourist region.

1 History
2 Service
3 Stations
4 References
5 External links

History

In the Meiji era, travelers coming to what is now Shima walked along a long-existing route that is now Mie Route 32, the Ise-Isobe road. As the Meiji era was near its end, in 1911, the government-owned Sangū Line (now owned by JR Central) was extended from the city of Ujiyamada (modern-day Ise) to Toba, therefore any plans for a railroad to Shima would assume Toba, not Ujiyamada, as the origin. As the Taishō period began, many plans were put forth by various members of the railroad industry in the 1910s but none were implemented.

Shima Electric Railway

In 1993, Shima Electric Railway (志摩電気鉄道, Shima Denki Tetsudō^?) was established by Kakuya Morimoto, and by 1924 the plan for a railroad to Shima was finally approved. This plan specified Toba Station as the origin and the gauge of the track would be 1067 mm so that the line could connect directly to the Sangū Line (also 1067 mm) in Toba. The original plan also specified that Ugata Station would be the terminus, however just before construction began, a request was made to members of an already-established railway company, Tōkyū, to see if the plan drawn up by Shima Electric Railway was sound. In the end, the only recommendation made was that the terminus be extended from Ugata to a nearby uninhabited island in Ago Bay called Kashiko Island, citing the island's natural beauty as being an ideal spot to establish a profitable resort and tourism industry to cater to travelers and pilgrims already coming to the area to visit nearby Ise Grand Shrine. Executives at Shima Electric Railway incorporated this suggestion into their plan and decided the line would include two stations on Kashiko Island: Kashikojima Station for tourists, and Shinjukō Station (真珠港駅 Shinjukō-eki lit: Pearl Port Station), the new terminus, for use as a freight station by the area's marine industry. However, the people living near Ugata, the original terminus, opposed the new plan because they felt having the line's endpoint in their area would bring economic benefit. This period of opposition lasted for four years and during that time people living near Ugata refused to sell the land needed by Shima Electric Railway to lay the tracks leading to Kashiko Island, thereby delaying construction. After an agreement was reached, the line was finally completed and opened in 1929, five years after the original plan had been drafted.

In 1944, Shima Electric Railway, along with six other companies, merged to form Mie Transport (Sanco). Twenty years later, the railway department of Sanco split off to become a separate company called Mie Electric Railway (Sanden), however this organization was short-lived as it was bought up by railway giant Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu) the following year, and thus in 1965 the line came under its current name and ownership.

Kintetsu renovation

In acquiring the line, Kintetsu now had a problem because the Shima Line, which originated at Toba Station, was not connected with the rest of Kintetsu's extensive rail network which only stetched as far as Ujiyamada Station in Ise. Moreover, the railway gauge and voltage used on the Shima Line were different from the majority of Kintetsu lines, including the nearby Yamada Line which terminated at Ujiyamada. For the time being, Kintetsu offered bus service between Ujiyamada and Toba, but in the late 1960s they decided it was worthwhile to create a rail connection between the two in hopes of attracting customers from the upcoming 1970 World's Fair in Osaka by offering direct rail service to the area. This was the impetus for the construction of the Kintetsu Toba Line, and to make direct service possible between the Shima Line, the under-construction Toba Line, the Yamada Line, and beyond, the Shima Line was closed for four months in late 1969 and early 1970 to change the gauge to 1435 mm and double the voltage to 1500V DC to match the other Kintetsu lines it would connect with. Other improvements were added such as the ATS system, a new switching network, and more gradual curves. The renovated Shima Line and the newly-built Toba Line opened together in March 1970, and Kintetsu began running limited express trains from Namba (Osaka) and Nagoya to Kashikojima just in time for the beginning of the World's Fair. The sharp increase of passengers on the line also motivated Kintetsu to invest money in a variety of tourism business enterprises in the Ise-Shima, especially along the Shima Line.

In 1986, it was decided that a second track on the Shima Line would assist in increasing the speed and number of trains on the line. Construction took several years and now most but not all of the line has dual tracks. The Aomine Tunnel between Shiraki and Gochi was also added to the line during this phase.

Timeline

July 23, 1929 - Toba ~ Kashikojima ~ Shinjukō section opened by Shima Electric Railway.
February 11, 1944 - Shima Electric Railway and six other companies merge to form Mie Transport (Sanco). Line officially renamed Sanco Shima Line.
December 1, 1946 - Ugataguchi Station officially renamed to Shima-Yokoyama Station.
July 25, 1949 - Shima-Akasaki Station opens.
February 1, 1964 - Sanco railway division splits off and forms a new company Mie Electric Railway (Sanden). Line officially renamed Sanden Shima Line.
April 1, 1965 - Sanden, and all of its lines, are acquired by Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu). Line officially renamed Kintetsu Shima Line.
July 1, 1969 - Freight service along the line ceases and Shinjukō Station closes. Kashikojima becomes endpoint.
December 10, 1969 - Shima Line is closed and construction to make various improvements on the line begins.
March 1, 1970 - Improvements are finished and the Shima Line reopens, now connected to the rest of the Kintetsu rail network. Shima-Isobe Station renamed Kaminogō; Hasama Station renamed Shima-Isobe. Direct service begins from both Osaka and Nagoya to Kashikojima begins.
March 6, 1988 - Second track opens on Ugata ~ Shima-Shimmei section.
December 8, 1990 - Second track opens on Shima-Shimmei ~ Kashikojima section.
November 6, 1992 - Second track opens on Toba ~ Nakanogō section.
December 22, 1992 - Second track opens on Funatsu ~ Kamo section.
April 28, 1993 - Second track opens on Gochi ~ Kaminogō section.
June 1, 1993 - Second track opens on Shima-Isobe ~ Ugata section.
September 11, 1993 - Second track opens on Kamo ~ Gochi section. Aomine Tunnel completed.
September 21, 1993 - Tracks re-routed through Aomine Tunnel on Shiraki ~ Gochi section. Total line length reduced by 0.7 km.
May 30, 2001 - One man (conductor-less) train service begins.

Service

LO Local (普通 futsū)

For Nakagawa

For Kashikojima

(Locals stop at every station.)

LE Limited Express (特急 tokkyū)

For Osaka Namba and Osaka Uehommachi; via Nabari and Yamato-Yagi (Kashihara)

For Kyoto; via Yamato-Saidaiji (Nara)

For Nagoya; via Tsu and Yokkaichi

For Kashikojima

(Seat reservations and limited express fee required.)

NS Non-stop Limited Express (ノンストップ特急 nonsutoppu tokkyū)

For Osaka Namba

For Nagoya

For Kashikojima

(Runs once a day on weekdays, three times a day on weekends.)

(Seat reservations and limited express fee required.)

Stations

Legend
●	Trains stop here
\|	Trains do not stop here

Station		Dist (km)	Connections	LO	LE	NS	Location
Toba	鳥羽	0.0	JR Central: Sangū Line Kintetsu: Toba Line	●	●	●	Toba	Mie Prefecture
Nakanogō	中之郷	1.0	Ise-wan Ferry	●	\|	\|
Shima-Akasaki	志摩赤崎	2.3		●	\|	\|
Funatsu	船津	3.9		●	\|	\|
Kamo	加茂	5.5		●	\|	\|
Matsuo	松尾	6.9		●	\|	\|
Shiraki	白木	7.9		●	\|	\|
Gochi	五知	11.0		●	\|	\|	Shima
Kutsukake	沓掛	12.7		●	\|	\|
Kaminogō	上之郷	14.6		●	\|	\|
Shima-Isobe	志摩磯部	16.0		●	●	●
Anagawa	穴川	17.6		●	\|	\|
Shima-Yokoyama	志摩横山	20.4		●	\|	\|
Ugata	鵜方	21.3		●	●	●
Shima-Shimmei	志摩神明	23.1		●	\|	\|
Kashikojima	賢島	24.5		●	●	●

References

(Japanese) Kintetsu Line Archives - Shima Line
(Japanese) Wikipedia - Kintetsu Shima Line

External links


1,435 mm lines
Osaka • Nagoya Line Area	Osaka Line • Shigi Line • Nagoya Line • Yunoyama Line • Suzuka Line • Yamada Line • Toba Line • Shima Line
Nara • Kyoto Line Area	Namba Line • Nara Line • Ikoma Line • Keihanna Line • Kyoto Line • Kashihara Line • Tenri Line • Tawaramoto Line
1,067 mm lines	Minami-Osaka Line • Dōmyōji Line • Nagano Line • Gose Line • Yoshino Line
762 mm lines	Utsube Line • Hachiōji Line
Funicular lines	Ikoma Cable Line • Nishi-Shigi Cable Line
Ropeway lines	Katsuragi Ropeway

Former lines	Iga Line • Hokusei Line • Yōrō Line

Kintetsu Shima Line

Contents

History

Shima Electric Railway

Kintetsu renovation

Timeline

Service

Stations

References

External links