Ryūgasaki Line

Ryūgasaki Line
Kanto Railway KiHa 532 DMU
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
System	Kantō Railway
Locale	Ibaraki Prefecture
Termini	Sanuki Ryūgasaki
Stations	3
Operation
Opened	1900
Owner	Kantō Railway
Technical
Line length	4.5 km (2.8 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Old gauge	762 mm (2 ft 6 in)
Minimum radius	207 m (679 ft)
Operating speed	50 km/h (31 mph)

The Ryūgasaki Line (竜ヶ崎線, Ryūgasaki-sen) operated by the Kantō Railway in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan. It is a non-electrified line which connects Sanuki, on the Jōban Line, to Ryūgasaki, with one intermediate station at Ireji.^[1]

History

The Ryuzaki Railway Co. opened the line on 14 August 1900 as a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge steam-operated line. The line was regauged to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) in July 1915.

The company merged with the Kashima Sangu Railway Co. in 1944, which merged with the Kanto Railway Co. in 1965.

Freight services ceased in 1971, the same year the line switched to driver-only-operation (in August 1971), becoming the first driver-only-operation line in Japan.^[1]

References

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