Nankai Main Line

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Nankai Main Line
Nankai 1000 series EMU on local service
Overview
Native name南海本線
LocaleOsaka Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture
Termini
Stations43
Service
Operator(s)Nankai Electric Railway Co., Ltd.
History
Opened1885; 139 years ago (1885)
Closed1993; 31 years ago (1993) (Tennoji Branch Line)
Technical
Line length64.2 km (39.9 mi)
Number of tracksQuad (Namba - Suminoe)
Double (Suminoe - Wakayamashi)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Old gaugeNamba—Sakai (Azumabashi): 2 ft 9 in (838 mm)
(1885—1897)
Electrification1,500 V DC, overhead lines
Operating speed110 km/h (68 mph)

The Nankai Main Line (南海本線, Nankai Honsen) is one of the two main railway lines of Japanese private railway company Nankai Electric Railway, together with Kōya Line. The route is from Namba Station in south downtown of Osaka to Wakayamashi Station in Wakayama via Sakai, Izumiōtsu, Kishiwada, Kaizuka, Izumisano, Sennan, Hannan and Misaki municipalities. The proper name is with the company's name, "the Nankai Main Line", not simply "the Main Line" often seen in other Japanese private railways. Lines of the Nankai Main Lane and the connecting lines excluded the Kōya Line and the Airport Line are named generically "the Nankai Line (南海線, Nankai Sen)". The line is shown with a pictogram of waves, or distinguished with blue from conifer or green Kōya Line.

Route data[edit]

  • Line length: 64.2 km (39.9 mi)
  • Track: quadruple from Namba to Suminoe (to Kishinosato-Tamade, eastern two tracks are for Kōya Line exclusively), double from Suminoe to Wakayamashi

Service types[edit]

Nankai and Kintetsu are the only two private railway operators in Kansai that offer charged Limited Express trains.

Limited Express Southern (特急サザン, Tokkyū "Sazan")
Limited express trains named "Southern" are operated between Namba and Wakayamashi or Wakayamakō. They are operated with 8-car formations and 4 cars of 8 are charged for seat reservation. Trains to and from Wakayamakō connect to Nankai Ferry services to and from the Shikoku region.
Airport Limited Express Rapi:t (空港特急ラピート, Kūkō Tokkyū "Rapīto")
Airport limited express trains named "Rapi:t" are operated between Namba and Kansai Airport and exclusively with 50000 series 6-car formations. All cars are charged for seat reservation. Rapi:t α trains stop at only stations marked with S, and Rapi:t β trains at stations marked with S and S*. They have been operated since Kansai International Airport opened in 1994.
Express (急行, Kyūkō)
Express trains are operated between Namba and Wakayamashi or Wakayamakō before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. on weekdays and in morning on Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, and pass Haruki Station. They are operated with 6 or 8-car formations. The fourth car of 8-car trains for Namba is only for women in the morning until arriving at Tengachaya by 8:30 a.m. on weekdays.
Before November 26, 2005, operated all day, two per hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Airport Express (空港急行, Kūkō Kyūkō)
Airport express trains are operated between Namba and Kansai Airport all day and stop at Haruki. 4 trains are operated per direction per hour from 10 a.m. until 4 pm. They are operated with 6 or 8-car formations. The fourth car of 8-car trains for Namba is only for women in the morning until arriving at Tengachaya by 8:30 a.m. on weekdays.
Sub Express (区間急行, Kukan Kyūkō)
Sub express trains are operated between Namba and Hagurazaki, Misakikoen or Wakayamashi in the morning, evening, and night. They stop at airport express stations between Namba and Izumisano, and every station between Izumisano and Wakayamashi. Namba-bound trains are operated every morning and weekday rush hours in the evening.
Semi-Express (準急行, Jun Kyūkō)
Semi-express trains are operated from Hagurazaki or Haruki to Namba only on weekday mornings.
Local (普通, Futsū)
Local trains are operated between Namba and Wakayamashi all day. They also return to Namba at Hagurazaki, Tarui, Misakikōen or Kansai Airport in the rush hours and midnight. Only 1 northbound train is operated from Wakayamashi to Hagurazaki in the midnight. Trains pass Imamiyaebisu and Haginochaya stations due to absence of platforms on the tracks of the Nankai Line. Those stations are served by local trains of the Kōya Line.
In Japanese railway operation, "Futsū" (literally "ordinary, normal") and "Kakueki Teisha" (literally "train that stops at every station", "Kakutei" for short) are used interchangeably for trains that stop at every station. On the Nankai Railway alone, however, the two words are used for different classes of train. The former is for Locals of Nankai Main Line that do not stop at the above two stations, while the latter is for Kōya Line trains that do stop there, true to the meaning of the Japanese name of the service class.

Stations[edit]

Main Line[edit]

  • ● : Trains stop.
  • ▲: Rapi:t α trains pass, β trains stop.
  • ▼: At Haruki, Express trains marked with a white line makes a stop
  • ◆: Trains stop in the off-peak hours from January 1 until 3 every year.
  • ｜ ↑: All trains pass (Arrows indicate directions)
  • Wakayamadaigakumae became one of the Southern stations on October 18, 2014.[1]
Number Station Japanese Distance (km) Local Semi-Express Sub-Express Airport Express Express Ltd. Exp. Southern Ltd. Exp. Rapi:t Transfers Location
NK01 Namba 難波 0.0 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Chūō-ku, Osaka Osaka Prefecture
NK02 Imamiyaebisu 今宮戎 0.9 ｜ ↑ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Naniwa-ku, Osaka
NK03 Shin-Imamiya 新今宮 1.5 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Nishinari-ku, Osaka
NK04 Haginochaya 萩ノ茶屋 2.0 ｜ ↑ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK05 Tengachaya 天下茶屋 3.0 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
  • Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line (K20)
NK06 Kishinosato-Tamade 岸里玉出 3.9 ● ↑ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK07 Kohama 粉浜 5.1 ● ↑ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka
NK08 Sumiyoshitaisha 住吉大社 5.7 ● ↑ ◆ ◆ ｜ ｜ ｜
  • Hankai Tramway:
    • Uemachi Line (HN10: Sumiyoshi Station)
    • Hankai Line (HN12: Sumiyoshitriimae Station)
NK09 Suminoe 住ノ江 6.7 ● ↑ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Suminoe-ku, Osaka
NK10 Shichidō 七道 8.2 ● ↑ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Sakai-ku, Sakai
NK11 Sakai 堺 9.8 ● ● ● ● ● ● ▲
NK12 Minato 湊 11.2 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK13 Ishizugawa 石津川 12.7 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Nishi-ku, Sakai
NK14 Suwanomori 諏訪ノ森 13.8 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK15 Hamaderakōen 浜寺公園 14.8 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
  • Hankai Tramway Hankai Line (HN31: Hamadera-Ekimae Station)
NK16 Hagoromo 羽衣 15.5 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Takaishi
NK17 Takaishi 高石 17.4 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK18 Kita-Sukematsu 北助松 18.5 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Izumiōtsu
NK19 Matsunohama 松ノ浜 19.5 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK20 Izumiōtsu 泉大津 20.4 ● ● ● ● ● ｜ ｜
NK21 Tadaoka 忠岡 22.3 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Tadaoka
NK22 Haruki 春木 23.7 ● ● ● ● ▼ ｜ ｜ Kishiwada
NK23 Izumi-Ōmiya 和泉大宮 25.0 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK24 Kishiwada 岸和田 26.0 ● ● ● ● ● ● ▲
NK25 Takojizō 蛸地蔵 26.9 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK26 Kaizuka 貝塚 28.6 ● ● ● ● ● ｜ ｜
Kaizuka
NK27 Nishikinohama 二色浜 30.4 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK28 Tsuruhara 鶴原 31.3 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Izumisano
NK29 Iharanosato 井原里 32.4 ● ● ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜
NK30 Izumisano 泉佐野 34.0 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Through service: From Izumisano: Local / Airport Express / Limited Express Rapi:t to Nankai Airport Line for Kansai Airport
NK33 Hagurazaki 羽倉崎 36.1 ● ● ● ｜ ｜ Izumisano Osaka Prefecture
NK34 Yoshiminosato 吉見ノ里 37.4 ● ● ｜ ｜ Tajiri
NK35 Okadaura 岡田浦 38.8 ● ● ｜ ｜ Sennan
NK36 Tarui 樽井 40.6 ● ● ｜ ｜
NK37 Ozaki 尾崎 43.1 ● ● ● ● Hannan
NK38 Tottorinoshō 鳥取ノ荘 44.6 ● ● ｜ ｜
NK39 Hakotsukuri 箱作 46.6 ● ● ｜ ｜
NK40 Tannowa 淡輪 50.2 ● ● ｜ ｜ Misaki
NK41 Misaki-kōen みさき公園 51.9 ● ● ● ●
NK42 Kyōshi 孝子 56.3 ● ● ｜ ｜
NK43 Wakayamadaigakumae
(Fujitodai) 		和歌山大学前
（ふじと台） 		58.0 ● ● ● ● Wakayama Wakayama Prefecture
NK44 Kinokawa 紀ノ川 61.6 ● ● ｜ ｜
NK45 Wakayamashi 和歌山市 64.2 ● ● ● ●
Through service: From Wakayamashi: Express (weekdays only) / Limited Express Southern to Wakayamako Line for Wakayamako

Tennoji Branch Line[edit]

Listed counterclockwise: All stations are in the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Station Japanese Closed Location
Tengachaya 天下茶屋 18 November 1984 Nishinari-ku, Osaka
Hikifune 曳舟 1949
Imaikecho 今池町 1 April 1993
Omondori 大門通 1949
Tobitahondori 飛田本通 1 April 1993
Tennoji 天王寺 Tennōji-ku, Osaka

Rolling stock[edit]

50000 series EMU on a rapi:t limited express service
12000 series EMU on a Southern limited express service bound for Wakayamakō

History[edit]

One of the oldest private railway lines still existing, the 2 ft 9 in (838 mm) gauge Namba - Yamatogawa (since closed) section was opened in 1885 by Hankai Railway (阪堺鉄道, Hankai Tetsudō) (separate from the present-day Hankai Tramway).[2] The line was extended to Sakai in 1888, and the Namba - Sumiyoshitaisha section was duplicated in 1892.

In 1897 the then separate Nankai Railway opened the Sakai - Sano (present-day Izumisano) section as 1067mm gauge, with the Namba - Sano section regauged to match, and the Sumiyoshitaisha - Sano section duplicated the same year. The following year the Hankai Co. merged with Nankai Railway, and the line was extended to Wakayama. The present line to Wakayamashi was completed in 1903, and in 1906 the first dining car on a private railway in Japan was introduced on the Wakayama express.

The duplication of the line extended to Hamaderakoen in 1907, Kaizuka in 1911, Takako in 1915 and to Wakayama in 1922.

Electrification at 600 VDC began in 1907 on the section from Namba to Hamaderakōen, and was completed in 1911. The voltage was increased to 1500 VDC in 1973.

Former connecting lines[edit]

  • Tengachaya station - A 2 km line to Tennoji opened in 1900. In 1933 the line was electrified at 1500 VDC, the line closing in 1984.
  • Sakai station - A 2 km 1435mm gauge line from Shukuin to Ohama, electrified at 600 VDC, opened by the BanSakai Electric Railway Co. in 1912 (and acquired by Nankai in 1914) connected at this station until closed in 1949.
  • Wakayama station - A 3 km line to Higashi-Matsue on the Nankai Kada Line opened in 1912. The line was electrified at 600 VDC in 1930, and closed in 1955.

References[edit]

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

  1. ^ 平成26年10月18日、南海本線・空港線のダイヤを変更します。 [Diagram revision of the Nankai Main Line and the Airport Line on October 18, 2014] (PDF) (in Japanese). Nankai Electric Railway Co., Ltd. September 2, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  2. ^ The Industrial Railway Record - February 1970 - A Japanese Private Railway
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