Bantan Line


The Bantan Line is a railway line that connects Himeji and Wadayama station in Asago City, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The line is operated by the West Japan Railway Company and serves as a connector between the Sanyo Main Line and the Sanin Main Line. The name refers to the ancient provinces of Harima and Tajima, which the line connects.
The line is long, with 18 stations.

Service

Local train operation is divided into the electrified section between Himeji and Teramae, and the non-electrified section between Teramae and Wadayama. All local trains makes every stop on the line, and no local train runs the entire length of the line.
The Hamakaze limited express, which connects the Kinki region to the San'in region, uses the Bantan Line to access the Sanin Main Line.

Stations

Rolling stock

The 29.6km section from Himeji north to Teramae was constructed by the private Bantan Railway company and opened in 1894, with the 6.3km section to Hase opening in January the following year, and the 7.7km section to Ikuno three months later. The 8.3km section to Nii opened in 1901. The Bantan Railway was purchased by the Sanyō Railway in 1903, which extended the line 13.8km to Wadayama, opening in April 1906, 8 months before the company was nationalised. Individual section opening dates are given below.
The line was named the Bantan Line in anticipation of the Sanyo Railway company being purchased by the Japanese government under the Railway Nationalisation Act of 1906.
The Bantan Railway Co. also built a ~15.7km line from Himeji east to Shikama-Kou, opened in 1895 and closed in 1986.
CTC signalling was commissioned between Himeji and Wadayama in 1978, and freight services ceased between 1984 and 1986. The Himeji - Teramae section was electrified in 1998.

Bantan Railway (north of Himeji)

  • July 26, 1894: Himeji - Teramae opens.
  • January 15, 1895: Teramae - Hase opens.
  • April 17, 1895: Hase - Ikuno opens.
  • August 19, 1896: Nibuno Station opens.
  • February 20, 1898: Kyoguchi Station opens.
  • March 28, 1898: Mizoguchi Station opens.
  • August 29, 1901: Ikuno - Nii opens.

    Sanyō Railway

  • June 1, 1903: Sanyō Railway purchased Bantan Railway.
  • April 1, 1906: Nii - Wadayama opens.
  • October 12, 1906: Line renamed Bantan Line.

    JNR/JR West

  • December 1, 1906: Sanyō Railway company nationalised.
  • October 15, 1925: Tofu-Machi Station closed.
  • August 10, 1934: Aokura Station opens.
  • November 20, 1935: Tohori Station opens.
  • October 15, 1951: Niino Station opens.
  • April 1, 1987: Japanese National Railways was privatised and regionalised, with the line transferring to the West Japan Railway Company.
  • March 14, 1998: Himeji - Teramae electrified.

    Bantan Railway (east of Himeji)

  • April 17, 1895: Himeji - Shikama Station opened.
  • November 20, 1897: Tenjin Station opened.
  • September 21, 1915: Shikama Station was renamed Shikama-Kou Station, and Tenjin Station was renamed Shikama Station.
  • November 1, 1986: Himeji - Shikama-Kou closed.