JR Kyōto Line


The JR Kyōto Line is a commuter rail line in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company. The name applies to the section of the Tōkaidō Main Line between Kyōto Station and Ōsaka Station.
The Kyōto Line operates in combination with the Biwako Line and the JR Kobe Line, and offers through service trains to the Kosei Line and the JR Takarazuka Line.

Basic data

Services

Commuter trains are classified in three types:
  • Special Rapid Service
  • *Continuing service from the Biwako Line and the Kosei Line. Trains stop at Kyōto, Takatsuki, Shin-Ōsaka, and Ōsaka. Trains continue from Ōsaka on the JR Kōbe Line to Himeji and beyond. 223 series and 225 series EMUs are used. Daytime trains depart every 15 minutes and take 28 minutes from Kyōto to Ōsaka and vice versa.
  • Rapid Service
  • *Continuing service from the Biwako Line and the Kosei Line. Trains stop at Kyōto, Nagaokakyō, Takatsuki, Ibaraki, Shin-Ōsaka, and Ōsaka. After the morning, trains also stop at all other stations between Kyōto and Takatsuki and occasionally called local trains on this section. Trains continue from Osaka on the JR Kōbe Line to Himeji and beyond. 225 series, 223 series, 221 series EMUs are used.
  • Local
  • *Service from Kyōto to Nishi-Akashi on the JR Kōbe Line, and from Takatsuki to Shin-Sanda on the JR Takarazuka Line. Trains stop at all stations. 321 series EMUs and 207 series EMUs are used.
In addition to the three types of commuter trains, long-distance limited express trains connecting the Kyoto-Osaka region with Kansai International Airport, Hokuriku region and other areas also frequently operate on the line. Freight trains also operate on the line except for the section near Osaka Station where freight trains use separate freight lines.

Stations

Legend:
  • ● : All trains stop
  • | : All trains pass
  • ▲ : Trains only after morning rush stop
Local trains stop at all stations. Rapid trains in the morning skip some stops between Kyoto and Takatsuki.

Closed station

From September 5, 1876 to the opening of Kyoto Station on February 6, 1877, Ōmiyadōri Temporary Station was the station for the city of Kyoto. The temporary station was located at 40 chains west of Kyoto Station construction site, or 3 miles and 47 chains away from Mukōmachi Station.

Rolling stock

Local

Special Rapid and Rapid

Limited express

Former

History

The line now called the JR Kyoto Line opened in 1876, only four years after the opening of the first railway in Japan. On 26 July 1876, the Japanese Government Railways opened the section between Ōsaka and Mukōmachi with an intermediate station at Takatsuki. On 9 August 1876, Yamazaki Station, Ibaraki Station and Suita Station opened. Kyoto Station opened on 6 February 1877.
On 1 June 1949, operation of the line was taken over by Japanese National Railways.
  • 1 October 1964 – Shin-Ōsaka Station opens with a Tōkaidō Shinkansen connection
  • 1 October 1970 – Operation of Special Rapid Service starts
  • 1 April 1987 – JR West becomes the operator of the line following privatization of JNR
  • 13 March 1988 – JR West starts the use of the line name JR Kyōto Line