Katamachi Line

The Katamachi Line (片町線, Katamachi-sen), officially nicknamed the Gakkentoshi Line (学研都市線, Gakkentoshi-sen), is a commuter rail line and service in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area of Japan, owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line connects Kizu Station in Kyoto Prefecture and Kyōbashi Station in Osaka.

Katamachi Line
207 series EMU on a Local service
Overview
Other name(s)	Gakkentoshi Line
Native name	片町線
Owner	JR West
Locale	Osaka Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture
Termini	H18  Kizu  H41  Kyōbashi
Stations	24
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	Urban Network
Operator(s)	JR West JR Freight
Rolling stock	207 series EMU 321 series EMU
History
Opened	1895
Technical
Line length	55.4 km (34.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC, overhead line
Operating speed	110 km/h (68 mph)

Route map

Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line)  Nara Line 0.0 Kizu Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line)  0.6 Shin-Kizu until 1911 2.2 Nishi-Kizu Yamada River  Kintetsu Kyoto Line  Kizugawadai 5.1 Hōsono  Shin-Hōsono 7.4 Shimokoma Komada Hosono Branch Base Kintetsu Miyazu Miyazu Depot  Miyamaki 9.4 JR Miyamaki (2) 2002– 9.6 JR Miyamaki (1) -2002 10.5 Dōshisha-mae Kōdo 12.4 Kyōtanabe  Shin-Tanabe Bogagawa Tunnel Boga River  Kintetsu Kyoto Line  Tenjingawa Tunnel Tenjin River 14.5 Ōsumi 17.0 Matsuiyamate Kyoto-Osaka boundary 18.6 Nagao 20.2 Fujisaka  Kin-ya Ammunition Dump 21.8 Tsuda 25.0 Kawachi-Iwafune Kawachi-Mori  Keihan Katano Line   Uji Weapon Kori Factory 27.1 Hoshida 28.8 Higashi-Neyagawa Uchiage Tunnel 30.1 Shinobugaoka 32.0 Shijōnawate 33.3 Nozaki Higashi-Suminodō -1948 Onji River 35.5 Suminodō 37.9 Kōnoikeshinden Kinki Expressway Kinki Sharyo 39.8 Tokuan Aboshi Depot Hanaten Branch Osaka Higashi Line  41.6 Hanaten Osaka Army Arsenal Warehouse Daini Neya River  Subway: Imazatosuji Line  43.2 Shigino Neya River Neyagawa Signal Box -1913  Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line  Jōtō Freight Line Tatsumi Signal Box -1982 44.0 Shin-Kita -1916  Keihan Main Line   Yodogawa Freight Line Sakuranomiya Line Osaka Loop Line  44.8 Kyōbashi  Yodogawa Freight Line Nakanocho Signal Box 45.3 Katamachi -1997  Subway: Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line   Keihan: Keihan Main Line  JR Tōzai Line  Amijima -1913 Sakuranomiya Old Yodo River  Osaka Loop Line

The common name "Gakkentoshi Line", literally "Research City Line", comes from the Kansai Science City, which is located along the line around the border of Osaka and Nara prefectures.

Basic data

• Operators, distances: 55.4 km / 34.4 mi.
  • West Japan Railway Company (Category-1, Services and tracks)
  • Japan Freight Railway Company (Category-2, Services)
• Track:
  • Double-track line:
    • From Matsuiyamate to Kyōbashi
  • Single-track line:
    • From Kizu to Matsuiyamate
• Railway signalling:
  • From JR Miyamaki to Kyōbashi: Automatic
  • From Kizu to JR Miyamaki: Special Automatic (Track Circuit Detection)
• CTC centers:Ōsaka Operation Control Center
• CTC system:JR Takarazuka JR Tozai Gakkentoshisen traffic control system

Route and operation

The line is connected via the JR Tōzai Line in downtown Osaka, at Amagasaki, to the Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line) and Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line). This link enables trains operated from Nara to the west, as Kobe, Himeji, and Sanda.

Rapid services of several types of stops, with no surcharge, are also provided. Abbreviations are tentative for this article.

Some trains terminate at Matsuiyamate due to the single track to Kizu.

Local (普通, Futsū)

Operated all day, most trains between Matsuiyamate and Nishi-Akashi on Sanyō Main (JR Kobe) Line. Some in busy hours to Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line), some terminate at Kyōbashi.

Regional Rapid (区間快速, Kukan Kaisoku)

Operated in early morning, late night, and busy hours only. Some from/to Nara, most from/to Dōshishamae or Kyōtanabe. Through to Nishiakashi or Shin-Sanda.

Rapid (快速, Kaisoku)

Mostly through to Shin-Sanda or Sasayamaguchi on Fukuchiyama (JR Takarazuka) Line. One per 15 minutes per direction.

Past services

Direct Rapid (直通快速, Chokutsū Kaisoku)

Through trains from Osaka Higashi Line, operated only between Hanaten and Kyōbashi in this line. Four trains to Amagasaki from Nara in the morning, 4 vice versa in the evening. This service has ceased operation on the Katamachi Line starting from 16 March 2019, with the opening of the Shin-Osaka Extension of the Osaka Higashi Line.

Stations

No.	Station		Stops		Transfers	Location
	English	Japanese	Regional Rapid	Rapid		District, City	Prefecture
Through service to/from Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line)
H18	Kizu	木津	●	●	Nara Line Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line)	Kizugawa	Kyoto
H19	Nishi-Kizu	西木津	●	●
H20	Hōsono	祝園	●	●	B  Kyoto Line (B21: Shin-Hōsono Station)	Seika, Sōraku
H21	Shimokoma	下狛	●	●
H22	JR Miyamaki	JR三山木	●	●		Kyōtanabe
H23	Dōshisha-mae	同志社前	●	●
H24	Kyōtanabe	京田辺	●	●	B  Kyoto Line (B16: Shin-Tanabe Station)
H25	Ōsumi	大住	●	●
H26	Matsuiyamate	松井山手	●	●
H27	Nagao	長尾	●	●		Hirakata	Osaka
H28	Fujisaka	藤阪	●	｜
H29	Tsuda	津田	●	｜
H30	Kawachi-Iwafune	河内磐船	●	●	Keihan Katano Line (KH66: Kawachi-Mori Station)	Katano
H31	Hoshida	星田	●	●
H32	Neyagawa-Kōen	寝屋川公園	●	｜		Neyagawa
H33	Shinobugaoka	忍ケ丘	●	｜		Shijōnawate
H34	Shijōnawate	四条畷	●	●		Daitō
H35	Nozaki	野崎	｜	｜
H36	Suminodō	住道	●	●
H37	Kōnoikeshinden	鴻池新田	｜	｜	Osaka Monorail Main Line (proposed extension)	Higashiōsaka
H38	Tokuan	徳庵	｜	｜
H39	Hanaten	放出	●	●	Osaka Higashi Line	Tsurumi, Osaka
H40	Shigino	鴫野	｜	｜		Jōtō, Osaka
H41	Kyōbashi	京橋	●	●	Osaka Loop Line Keihan Main Line (KH04) Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line (N22)
Through service to/from JR Tōzai Line, further to/from Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line) and Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line)

Rolling stock

• 207 series (from 1991)
• 321 series (from 2005)

All trains are based at Aboshi Depot.

Former

• 40 series
• 51 series
• 72 series
• 101 series
• 103 series
• 223-6000 series (until March 2011)
• KiHa 10 series
• KiHa 20 series
• KiHa 35 series
• KiHa 40 series
• KiHa 45 series
• KiHa 58 series
• KiHa 41000

History

The line was originally built and operated by the Naniwa Railway (浪速鉄道, Naniwa Tetsudō) between Katamachi and Shijōnawate in 1895. Two years later, the Kansai Railway bought the line in order to have its own trunk line to Osaka from Nagoya, combined with constructing the section between Shijōnawate and Kizu. Katamachi Station was unable to be expanded, thus Amijima terminus was constructed. However Kansai Railway bought the Osaka Railway (I, ja) line from Nara via Ōji to Minatomachi (present JR Namba) in downtown Osaka, and shifted its main line to the ex-Naniwa Railway line. Thereafter, the Katamachi Line became a branch of the railway network of Osaka.

The Shigino to Hanaten section was duplicated in 1927, with the Katamachi to Shigino section double-tracked in 1955, the Hanaten to Shijonawate section in 1969, extended to Nagao in 1979, to Matsuiyamate in 1989, and the balance of the section to Kyobashi double-tracked between 2007 and 2009.

The section between Katamachi and Shijōnawate became the first Japan Governmental Railways electrified line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area in 1932, with electrification extended to Nagao in 1950. After privatization of the then Japanese National Railways (JNR), the line became part of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) system, and the Kizu to Nagao section was electrified in 1989.

In 1997, the JR Tōzai Line was opened and connected to Katamachi Line at Kyōbashi, and Katamachi Station was closed (with Ōsakajō-kitazume Station becoming the replacement station). Most trains began operating through to the Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line).

Converted from a freight branch to a passenger route, the Osaka Higashi Line began service in 2008. Trains from Nara via Kansai Main (Yamatoji) Line began operation to Amagasaki Station. However, these through trains to Amagasaki have now ceased operation since March 2019, with the Osaka Higashi Line extension.

Military use

Entrance to the Kin-ya Ammunition Dump in January 2008

Three military/weapons-related facilities used during the early 20th century were serviced by spurs located between Fujisaka and Tsuda Stations (Kin-ya Ammunition Dump, where two explosions occurred in 1909 and 1939), between Kawachi-Iwafune and Hoshida Stations (Uji Weapon Kori Factory), and the Osaka Army Arsenal warehouse between Hanaten and Shigino Stations.

References