Kōtoku Line

Kōtoku Line
Local train traveling over the Kasuga River with Yashima in the background
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Kagawa, Tokushima prefectures
Termini	Takamatsu Tokushima
Stations	29
Operation
Opening	1899
Operator(s)	JR Shikoku
Technical
Line length	74.5 km (46.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	130 km/h (80 mph)
Route map

The Kōtoku Line (高徳線, Kōtoku-sen) is a railway line owned and operated by Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). It connects the prefectural capitals of Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture and Tokushima in Tokushima Prefecture. The route approximates the northeastern coast of the island of Shikoku. Its name comes from the characters in the names of the prefectures that the line connects: Takamatsu (高松) and Tokushima (徳島).

Sanuki, the name of the ancient province that preceded the modern Kagawa Prefecture, appears in the names of some stations on the line.

Services

The Uzushio limited express serves the entire line. Two round-trips per day run through to/from Okayama.

In addition to local trains that run the entire length of the Kōtoku Line, there are trains that run between Takamatsu and Orange Town, Sambommatsu, and Hiketa, as well as between Tokushima and Itano and Tokushima and Hiketa. For a single-tracked line service levels are quite high, except along the prefectural border between Itano and Hiketa. In Tokushima there are through trains to/from the Naruto and Mugi lines, with one train per day running from Takamatsu to Mugi via Anan.

Since the completion of electrification work between Takamatsu and Iyoshi on the Yosan Line, the Kōtoku Line has received some of the newest DMUs on the JR Shikoku network. Local services often use 1000 series, 1200 series and 1500 series DMUs, while limited express services are handled by N2000 series DMUs.

Station list

• Local trains stop at all stations. For details of the Uzushio limited express service see that article.
• Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇" and "^" and cannot pass at those marked "｜".

History

The first part of what is now the Kotoku Line was built by the Tokushima Railway Co., being the Sako - Tokushima section of its line from Kamojima (now the Tokushima Line) opened on February 16, 1899. That company was nationalised in 1907.

In 1916 the Awa Electric Railway Co. opened a line from Nakahara to Naruto, including the Yoshinari - Ikenotani section, which is now part of the Kotoku Line.

The Takamatsu - Hikida section was opened between 1925-28 by the (then) Japanese Imperial Railways.

In 1933 the Awa Electric Railway was nationalised, and in 1935 the Hikida - Ikenotani and Yoshinari - Sako sections were opened, completing the line.

In 1977 CTC signalling became operational for the line, and freight operations ceased in 1986.

With the privatization of JNR, the line became part of the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) on April 1, 1987. On June 1, 1988 the line name changed from Kōtoku Main Line to Kōtoku Line.

The elevated Sako Station was commissioned in 1993, and in 1998 track improvement allowing faster speeds was completed, and Orange Town Station opened.

Former connecting lines

• Itano station - The Awa Electric Railway Co. opened a 7km line to Kajiyabara in 1923, it being taken over by the Japanese Imperial Railways when the company was nationalised in 1933. The line closed in 1972.

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

References

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kōtoku Line.

• JR Shikoku official website (Japanese)

Mass transit in Shikoku Railways JR Shikoku Asa Kaigan Iyo Takamatsu-Kotohira Tosaden Tosa Kuroshio JR lines Dosan Honshi-Bisan Seto-Ōhashi Kōtoku Mugi Naruto Tokushima Uchiko Yodo Yosan JR trains Ashizuri Ishizuchi Marine Liner Muroto Nanpū Shimanto Shiokaze Tsurugisan Uwakai Uzushio Airports Kōchi Matsuyama Takamatsu Tokushima