Type Heavy rail Opened 1890 Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | Stations 39 Line length 88.4 km | |
 | ||
Electrification 1,500 V DC overhead line Owner Central Japan Railway Company Terminis Fuji Station, Kōfu Station | ||
Mt fuji seen from the train minobu line
The Minobu Line (身延線, Minobu-sen) is a railway line in the Tōkai region of Japan operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It connects Fuji Station in Fuji, Shizuoka to Kōfu Station in Kōfu, Yamanashi, and the Tōkaidō Main Line with the Chūō Main Line trunk railroads.
Contents
japan railways minobu line ide station general view 21 mar 2015
History
The Fuji Horse Tramway (富士馬車鉄道, Fuji Basha Tetsudō) opened a line from Suzukawa (present Yoshiwara) on the Tōkaidō Main Line to Ōmiya (present Fujinomiya) (the southern end of the current route) in 1890.
The Fuji Minobu Railway (富士身延鉄道, Fuji Minobu Tetsudō) purchased the tramway in 1912, and converted it to a steam railway the following year, gradually extending the line to Minobu, a distance of 26.9 miles (43.3 km) by 1920. In 1927, the line was electrified, and in 1928 extended to Kōfu on the Chūō Main Line completing the line with a distance of 54.7 miles (88.0 km).
In 1938 the Minobu line was leased by the government, and nationalized in 1941. The alignment at Fuji was changed in 1968 to allow through trains to operate from Tokyo without requiring a reversal of direction, and the Fuji - Fujinomiya section was duplicated between 1969 and 1974.
CTC signalling was commissioned in 1982, and freight services ceased in 1987, the year that Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) took over operations of the Minobu Line following privatization of the Japanese National Railways.
Former connecting lines
Operation
The Fujikawa limited express service operates between Kōfu and Shizuoka via Fuji using JR Central 373 series EMU trains. Other trains are all-stations "Local" services, with higher frequencies on the Fuji - Nishi-Fujinomiya and Kajikazawaguchi - Kōfu sections compared to the section in between. 313 series and 211 series EMUs are used on local services.