Tōzai Line (Kyoto)

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Tōzai Line
Subway KyotoTozai.png
Kyoto Municipal Subway 50 Series 5614.jpg
50 series EMU
Overview
LocaleKyoto
TerminiRokujizō
Uzumasa Tenjingawa
Stations17
Websitewww.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu
Service
TypeRapid transit
SystemKyoto Municipal Subway
Operator(s)Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau
Depot(s)Daigo
Rolling stock50 series EMUs
Keihan 800 series EMUs
History
OpenedOctober 12, 1997
Technical
Line length17.5 km (10.9 mi)[1]
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed75 km/h (47 mph)[1]
Route map
hide
Legend
←Keihan Uji Line→
|-
←Nara Line→
0.0 T01 Rokujizō
1.1 T02 Ishida
2.4 T03 Daigo / Daigo Depot
3.6 T04 Ono
4.9 T05 Nagitsuji
5.9 T06 Higashino
7.0 T07 Yamashina
Keihan Yamashina ←Keihan Keishin Line↓
Yamashina
←Tokaido Main Line (Biwako Line)→
8.7 T08 Misasagi
10.5 T09 Keage
11.5 T10 Higashiyama
12.1 T11 Sanjō Keihan
12.6 T12 Kyōto Shiyakusho-mae
13.5 T13 Karasuma Oike
14.3 T14 Nijōjō-mae
←Sanin Main Line (Sagano Line)→
Nijō
15.1 T15 Nijō
16.2 T16 Nishiōji Oike
17.5 T17 Uzumasa Tenjingawa
Randen Tenjingawa
↑Keifuku Electric Railroad Arashiyama Main Line↓

The Tozai Line (東西線, Tōzai-sen) is a Kyoto Municipal Subway line which runs from the southeastern area of the city (starting from Rokujizo Station), then east to west (i.e. tōzai in Japanese) through the Kyoto downtown area. The Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau operates the system along with the Karasuma Line and the City Bus. The present terminal stations are Rokujizo Station in Uji and Uzumasa Tenjingawa Station in Ukyō-ku, Kyoto. It handles an average of 241,133 passengers daily (2009 data[2]).

The stations are wheelchair-friendly, with elevators, narrow gaps between platform and train, and no height differences at places like rest rooms. Each station has a color code for easy recognition. All platforms on the line are island platforms, and have platform screen doors separating the platform from the tracks.

The line is 17.5 km long with a track gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in). The entire length is double-track. Trains are electric, operating on 1,500 V DC.[1] Trains travel between Rokujizō and Uzumasa Tenjingawa in 34 minutes.[2]

On October 12, 1997, the section the line from Daigo to Nijō opened. On November 26, 2004, the line from Daigo to Rokujizō opened. An extension westward from Nijō to Uzumasa Tenjingawa began service on January 16, 2008.[3]

Passengers await the departure of a train at Yamashina Station

Stations[]

Station No. Station name Distance (km) Station Color Transfers Location
T01 Rokujizō 0.0 Wasurenagusa-iro
(Forget-me-not) 		JRW kinki-D.svg Nara Line (D06)
Number prefix Keihan lines.png Keihan Uji Line (KH73)[footnote 1] 		Uji
T02 Ishida 1.1 Aijiro
(White indigofera) 		  Fushimi-ku Kyoto
T03 Daigo 2.4 Sakura-iro
(Cherry blossom) 		 
T04 Ono 3.6 Kōbai-iro
(Red ume) 		  Yamashina-ku
T05 Nagitsuji 4.9 Kosumosu-iro
(Cosmos) 		 
T06 Higashino 5.9 Fuji-iro
(Wisteria) 		 
T07 Yamashina 7.0 Fuji Murasaki
(Wisteria purple) 		JRW kinki-A.svg Tōkaidō Main Line (Biwako Line) (A30), JRW kinki-B.svg Kosei Line (B30)
OT Keihan Keishin Line[footnote 2] (OT31 at Keihan Yamashina Station)
T08 Misasagi 8.7 Kikyō-iro
(Chinese bellflower) 		OT Keihan Keishin Line (Through service)
T09 Keage 10.5 Sumire-iro
(Violet) 		  Higashiyama-ku
T10 Higashiyama 11.5 Ayame-iro
(Iris) 		 
T11 Sanjō Keihan 12.1 Botan-iro
(Peony) 		Number prefix Keihan lines.png Keihan Main Line, Number prefix Keihan lines.png Keihan Oto Line (KH40 at Sanjō Station)
T12 Kyōto Shiyakusho-mae
(Kawaramachi Oike) 		12.6 Karakurenai
(Crimson) 		  Nakagyō-ku
T13 Karasuma Oike 13.5 Shu-iro
(Vermilion) 		Subway KyotoKarasuma.png Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line (K08)
T14 Nijōjō-mae 14.3 Kaki-iro
(Persimmon) 		 
T15 Nijō 15.1 Yamabuki-iro
(Globeflower) 		JRW kinki-E.svg Sanin Main Line (Sagano Line) (E04)
T16 Nishiōji Oike 16.2 Himawari-iro
(Sunflower) 		 
T17 Uzumasa Tenjingawa 17.5 Remon-iro
(Lemon) 		A Keifuku Electric Railroad Arashiyama Main Line (A5 at Randen-Tenjingawa Station) Ukyō-ku

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ Some transfers require a brief walk to a nearby station. In the case of Rokujizō in particular, the station on the Keihan Uji Line is located several blocks away from the Subway and JR stations.
  2. ^ Trains of the Keihan Keishin Line operate on the Tōzai Line between Misasagi and Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae stations. One can still transfer to or from the subway at Yamashina, but an extra fee is required, as the stations are physically separate.

Rolling Stock[]

Kyoto Municipal Subway[]

Keihan Electric Railway[]

The Kyoto Municipal Subway train are based at Daigo Depot, while the Keihan Electric Railway train are based at Nishigōri Depot located on the Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line.

  • 50 series and Keihan 800 series

History[]

Events leading up to construction[]

After World War II, the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau discussed the possibility of creating a new municipal streetcar system, connecting Rokujizō, Daigo, and Keage, before cutting along the center of Oike-dōri (an elevated line was also considered). Before long, the proposal was at an impasse in the face of ever-increasing automobile use in the city. However, the plan was eventually reworked as a subway line.

The population along the east-west route showed a considerable trend of growth, but road development in the vicinity could not overcome traffic congestion, so a plan for transportation facilities connecting the eastern part of the city (Yamashina-ku and the eastern portion of Fushimi-ku) with the city center was developed starting in 1965, and it was officially approved by the city government in 1969. The construction of the segment from Daigo to Nijō was set to start in 1975.

At that time, however, the Keihan Keishin Line ran above-ground between Misasagi and Sanjo Keihan along the planned route, and the issue of competition arose. As a result of negotiations, Kyoto City and Keihan Electric Railway agreed to establish a Third Sector (public-private partnership) company to obtain a Type-3 railroad business permit and control the tracks, while the City of Kyoto would obtain a Type-2 railroad business permit and operate the trains on that section. Thus the Kyoto Rapid Railway Corporation was born. Founded in 1986, then-mayor Masahiko Imagawa assumed duties as its president. Kyoto Rapid Railway constructed the subway through the Japan Railway Construction Group, and along with the Keihan Keishin Line's incorporation, the above-ground section was set to be eliminated.

Over the course of construction work underneath Kyoto, the project faced frequent, unavoidable interruptions due to discoveries of remains and ruins, and experienced difficult work in tunneling underneath the Kamo River and Tōkaidō Shinkansen. The section from Daigo to Nijō opened in 1997, and the Keihan Keishin Line was integrated from Misasagi to Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae.

The reason that the Keishin Line does not terminate at Sanjo Keihan as it originally did when above-ground, is that the necessary amount of space for a returning track could not be provided (not only is there a sharp curve directly to the west of that station, but the extra dead-end track would be directly underneath the Kamo River, so it was not feasible). The reason it did not originally continue to the (then-)terminus at Nijō was for the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau to keep the calculated costs of running the trains balanced. However, since the opening of the extension in 2008, this is no longer the case and trains of the Keishin line now continue all the way to the present terminus at Uzumasa Tenjingawa.

When the above-ground Keishin Line portion was demolished, Kujōyama Station and Hinooka Station (which have no subway counterparts) were demolished as well. City residents who lived near Kujōyama Station demanded that there be a Kujōyama subway station, but due to anticipated difficulties in construction (local topography would have either made a station on the subway line as it stands extremely deep, or required steep grades on either side), as well as an insufficient estimated number of riders, this request went unfulfilled.

Extension west[]

A plan exists to extend the Tōzai Line as far west as Rakusai in Nishikyō-ku, but for the time being, extension will be stopped at Uzumasa Tenjingawa; prospects beyond that are as-yet still unclear. There are several issues to be considered:

  • The population of Rakusai New Town is holding steady or decreasing;
  • Rakusaiguchi Station on the Hankyū Kyoto Main Line and Katsuragawa Station on the JR Kyoto Line are already in service, so the inconvenience of transportation in that area has already been resolved to a degree;
  • The subway's high construction costs;
  • and the population of the Umezu and Kamikatsura districts leading into Rakusai New Town along the route are not very large.

Timeline[]

  • October 12, 1997: Opening of the section from Daigo to Nijō. The Keihan Keishin Line is incorporated into the subway.
  • November 26, 2004: Opening of the section from Rokujizō to Daigo.
  • January 16, 2008: Opening of the section from Nijō to Uzumasa Tenjingawa.

Sights of note along the line[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Terada, Hirokazu (July 2002). データブック日本の私鉄 (Databook: Japan's Private Railways). Japan: Neko Publishing. ISBN 4-87366-874-3.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "京都市交通局：地下鉄のあゆみと概要". www.city.kyoto.lg.jp. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
  3. ^ Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau (October 17, 2007). 地下鉄東西線二条～太秦天神川間が1月16日に延伸開業 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2007.
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