Kabe Line
The Kabe Line is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company within the city of Hiroshima in Japan. It connects Hiroshima Station and Aki-Kameyama Station in Asakita-ku. The actual junction station is Yokogawa. It is one of the commuter lines to Hiroshima.
History
The Kabe Line was originally constructed by Dai-Nippon Light Railway. The line fully opened to Kabe station in 1911. The line was electrified at the start of Showa era. The line was nationalized on 1 September 1936, and became a part of Japanese Government Railways as the Kabe Line.The line, as a part of a plan to connect Hamada, Shimane with Hiroshima, was slowly extended north from Kabe station.
The line voltage was raised from 750 V to 1,500 V on 23 April 1962.
Since 4 September 1968, the line had been listed s one of the Deficit 83 Lines, a government's list of deficit-ridden railways where service was to be discontinued.
After JR West took over the line in 1987, one-man operation was introduced on the Kabe – Sandankyō section.
Beginning in summer 2007, the ICOCA card can be used in all stations in the Hiroshima City Network, including all stations on the Kabe Line.
On 4 February 2011, it was announced that a section of the abandoned segment, between Kabe Station and the former Kōdo Station, would be electrified and reopened. This will be the first such reopening by a JR Group company since the privatization of Japanese National Railways. Operation was scheduled to resume from fiscal 2015; the two new stations at and finally opened on 4 March 2017.
Discontinued/suspended section
JGR extended the line beyond Kabe Station. The extended sections were not electrified.- 13 October 1936: Extension to Aki-Imuro Station completed
- 30 March 1954: Extension to Kake Station completed
- 27 July 1969: Extension to Sandankyō Station, from Yokogawa, completed
The Kabe – Sandankyō section was closed on 1 December 2003.