Type Heavy rail Stations 19 | System Urban Network Termini KizuKyoto Opened 1879 | |
 | ||
The Nara Line (奈良線, Nara-sen) is a commuter rail line in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Its official termini are Kizu Station in Kizugawa and Kyōto Station in Kyoto, within Kyoto Prefecture; however, all trains continue past Kizu on the Yamatoji Line (Kansai Main Line) to Nara Station in Nara, Nara Prefecture.
Contents
Overview
The Nara Line is a part of the JR West "Urban Network" in the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area. Its primary role is that of an intercity-suburban commuter line, ferrying people to and from work and school in Kyoto and Nara; it is also well-used by tourists holding the Japan Rail Pass, as visiting the historical landmarks of Uji and Nara makes an easy day-trip from Kyoto. At Kyoto, the line connects to the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, the Tōkaidō Main Line (Biwako Line / JR Kyoto Line), and the San'in Main Line (Sagano Line), while at Kizu, it connects to the Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line) for Kamo, and the Katamachi Line (Gakkentoshi Line) for Kyōbashi Station in Osaka. At Nara, travelers can change trains to continue westward to Hōryūji and JR Namba.
As Kintetsu operates a "Nara Line" of its own, the line is often referred to as the "JR Nara Line" ("JNR Nara Line" prior to 1988). Strictly speaking, the Kintetsu Nara Line links Osaka and Nara (a counterpart to the Yamatoji Line), rather than Kyoto and Nara (connected primarily by the Kintetsu Kyoto Line). However, there are many through trains to the Kintetsu Nara Line from Kyōto Station, so "JR" is often appended for clarity. This was aided by the 1988 introduction of the official nicknames "JR Kyoto Line", "JR Kobe Line" (for parts of the Tōkaidō Main Line and San'yō Main Line) and "JR Takarazuka Line" (southern half of the Fukuchiyama Line) within the Urban Network, making the "JR Nara Line" construction a natural parallel, if unofficial, usage.
Since the formation of JR West in 1988, the line has been under the jurisdiction of the Tennoji Railway Operations Office in Osaka, and its trains use the Osaka Branch's rail yards in Nara. On the other hand, the stations themselves (apart from Kizu) are administered by the Kyoto Branch of JR West.
The official line color used on JR West route maps and station guides is brown.
The entirety of the line is part of the Greater Osaka Metropolitan Area. As such, all stations are outfitted with card readers for ICOCA and compatible smart fare-cards; however, Nagaike – Kamikoma are unmanned, and have only simplified automatic ticket gates. Apart from a few stations, the J-Through Card (a prepaid, single-charge fare card) can be used in lieu of cash to buy passenger tickets.
While Kizu is properly the "up" (上り, nobori) end of the line, the Kansai Main Line's historically greater importance with respect to the Nara Line means that it is treated as "down" (下り, kudari). Thus, trains bound for Nara are "down" trains, and those bound for Kyoto are "up", according to the direction they travel on the Yamatoji Line between Kizu and Nara. Except where noted, this article adheres to the same convention.
Line name
The Nara Line proper runs from Kyōto Station to Kizu Station, and lies entirely within Kyoto Prefecture; it has no trackage whatsoever in Nara Prefecture. However, the line was originally built by Nara Railway between Kyoto Station and Nara Station; it was only later, after merging with Kansai Railway, that the section between Kizu and Nara became a part of the Osaka – Nagoya route and was officially made a separate line.
Nara Line services run between Nara and Kyōto stations, and are treated as such by passenger announcements and route maps. Thus, even while operating on the Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line), trains to and from Kyoto are considered as being on the "Nara Line".
Station list
（trains can pass each other at all stations in single-track sections）
Abandoned sections
Numbers in parentheses are the distance from Kyoto Station. The portion between Kyoto and Fushimi is now part of the Kintetsu Kyoto Line.
Kyoto (0.00 km) – Hachijō Temporary Station (0.80 km) – Tōji Temporary Station (1.13 km) – Fushimi (5.31 km) – Momoyama (7.08 km)
Rolling stock
All trains are based at Nara Depot.
History
The Nara Line was originally constructed from Kyoto to Nara by Nara Railway, but at the time of its completion, the Kyoto – Momoyama section ran via the route now used by the Kintetsu Kyoto Line. In 1921, on the day that the Tōkaidō Main Line was re-routed from its original path to the new Baba (Zeze) – Kyoto alignment via the Higashiyama Tunnel, the Kyoto – Inari portion of the old route became part of the Nara Line, and new track was laid between Inari and Momoyama. At the same time, the original Kyoto – Fushimi alignment was abandoned, and the Fushimi – Momoyama section became freight-only. Later on, the old right-of-way from Kyoto to Fushimi was sold off to the Kintetsu Kyoto Line's predecessor, Nara Electric Railway.
After the Nara Electric Railway line opened in 1928, its frequency of service and drastically reduced transit time took away much of the demand for through-service between the Tokaido Main Line and the Nara Line. In the 1950s, the Nara Line was among the earliest of the JNR lines to be converted from steam locomotives to diesel multiple unit trainsets, and new stations were opened; after that, however, not much capital was spent on the line, and was not until 1984 that it was finally electrified. In short, it was treated entirely as a local line, rather than as an intercity commuter corridor. The turning point for the Nara Line was only after Japanese National Railways was privatized, and it became part of the JR West network. An article in the Asahi Shimbun from 1991, the same year as JR announced it would be pumping capital into the Nara Line, described the perceived cause for this sudden interest as follows: "During [the previous year's] string of visits by the new Emperor and Empress, their Majesties arrived in Kyoto via JR Central's Tōkaidō Shinkansen, then immediately boarded the Kintetsu line for Nara, ignoring the local JR West trains entirely."
Timeline
Double-tracking
Report No. 8 from the 2004 Kinki Transportation Commission, "Projects contributing to the improvement of services through strengthening transport capacity, etc." (輸送力の強化等によるサービス向上に資する事業, Yusōryoku no kyōka nado ni yoru sābisu kōjō ni shi-suru jigyō), included double-tracking on the JR Fujinomori – Uji and Shinden – Kizu sections of the Nara Line. Following the completion of double-tracking work on the Sanin Main Line (Sagano Line) between Kyoto and Sonobe in March 2010, JR West and Kyoto Prefecture began conferring with regards to double-tracking of the Nara Line.
However, due to the financial constraints of these local governments, as well as JR West's own fiscal condition, it was ultimately announced that the line would only be fully double-tracked as far as Jōyō, with an additional double-track section between Yamashiro-Taga and Tamamizu. Pre-construction work began in 2013, and the overall duplication is expected to last approximately 10 years, with completion in 2022-23. The remaining single-track sections will be between Jōyō and Yamashiro-Taga, and between Tamamizu and Kizu.