JR Tōzai Line

H   JR Tōzai Line
207 series EMU
Overview
Native name	JR東西線
Type	commuter rail
System	Urban Network
Locale	Osaka Amagasaki, Hyogo
Termini	Kyobashi Amagasaki
Stations	9
Operation
Opened	March 8, 1997
Owner	Kansai Rapid Railway Co., Ltd.
Operator(s)	JR West
Rolling stock	207 series EMU 321 series EMU
Technical
Line length
No. of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC, overhead lines
Operating speed

The JR Tōzai Line (JR東西線, Jei-āru Tōzai-sen) is one of several commuter rail lines and services in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line, whose name literally means "east-west", runs underground through central Osaka and connects the Gakkentoshi Line at Kyobashi Station in Osaka and the JR Takarazuka Line and the JR Kobe Line at Amagasaki. All stations on this line are in the city of Osaka, except for the western terminus in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture.

Basic data

• Operators, distances: 12.5 km / 7.8 mi.
  • West Japan Railway Company (Category-2, Services)
  • Kansai Rapid Railway Co., Ltd. (Category-3, Tracks)
• Railway signalling:Automatic
• CTC centers:Ōsaka Operation Control Center
• CTC system:Safety Urban Network Traffic System (SUNTRAS)

Operation

All trains make local stop at every station on the line. Some trains terminate at Amagasaki, but most westbound trains continue on the Kobe Line to Nishi-Akashi and on the Takarazuka Line to Tsukaguchi and Takarazuka. All eastbound trains continue past Kyobashi on the Gakkentoshi Line.

History

The line was initially proposed in 1971 by Japanese National Railways (JNR) as a link between the Katamachi Line, which connected Osaka to its eastern suburbs, and Fukuchiyama Line, which connected the city to its northwestern suburbs. Osaka's municipal government had maintained tight controls over transportation within the city, and most intercity lines terminated outside the city center. The line, provisionally known as Katafuku Line (片福線, Kata- from Katamachi, -fuku from Fukuchiyama), and would give commuters a single-seat ride from the suburbs and an east-west connection through central Osaka.

A permit to lay the track was given 10 years later, but the project stopped because of JNR's financial problems.

In 1988, after JNR privatized and split into Japan Railway companies, West Japan Railway Company formed a private-public entity called Kansai Rapid Railway Co., Ltd. (関西高速鉄道株式会社, Kansai kōsoku tetsudō kabushiki gaisha) with the prefectural governments of Osaka and Hyōgo, and the cities of Osaka and Amagasaki.

The line was completed and opened as JR Tozai Line in 1997.

Stations

Station		Transfers	Location
Through train service to Katamachi Line (Gakkentoshi Line)
Kyobashi	京橋	Osaka Loop Line Keihan Main Line ● Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line (N22)	Joto-ku	Osaka
Ōsakajō-kitazume	大阪城北詰		Miyakojima-ku
Osaka-Temmangu	大阪天満宮	● Sakaisuji Line (T21: Minami-morimachi Station), ● Tanimachi Line (K13: Minami-morimachi Station)	Kita-ku
Kitashinchi	北新地	Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kyoto Line, JR Kobe Line, JR Takarazuka Line), Osaka Loop Line (Osaka Station) ●Yotsubashi Line (Y11: Nishi-Umeda Station), ● Midōsuji Line (M16: Umeda Station), ● Tanimachi Line (T20: Higashi-Umeda Station) Hankyū Kōbe Line, Hankyu Kyoto Line, Hankyu Takarazuka Line (Umeda Station) Hanshin Main Line (Umeda Station) Keihan Nakanoshima Line (Watanabebashi Station)
Shin-Fukushima	新福島	Osaka Loop Line (Fukushima Station) Hanshin Main Line (Fukushima Station) Keihan Nakanoshima Line (Nakanoshima Station)	Fukushima-ku
Ebie	海老江	Hanshin Main Line (Noda Station) ● Sennichimae Line (S11: Nodahanshin Station)
Mitejima	御幣島		Nishiyodogawa-ku
Kashima	加島		Yodogawa-ku
Amagasaki	尼崎	Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line), Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line)	Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture
Through train services to Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line) and Fukuchiyama Line (JR Takarazuka Line)

Rolling stock

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

Former

• 223-6000 series (from March 2008, until March 2011)

External links

• JR Tozai Line