Nankai Main Line


The Nankai Main Line is one of the two main railway lines of Japanese private railway company Nankai Electric Railway, together with Kōya Line. The route is from Namba Station in south downtown of Osaka to Wakayamashi Station in Wakayama via Sakai, Izumiōtsu, Kishiwada, Kaizuka, Izumisano, Sennan, Hannan and Misaki municipalities. The proper name is with the company's name, "the Nankai Main Line", not simply "the Main Line" often seen in other Japanese private railways. Lines of the Nankai Main Lane and the connecting lines excluded the Kōya Line and the Airport Line are named generically "the Nankai Line". The line is shown with a pictogram of waves, or distinguished with blue from conifer or green Kōya Line.

Route data

  • Line length:
  • Track: quadruple from Namba to Suminoe, double from Suminoe to Wakayamashi

Service types

Nankai and Kintetsu are the only two private railway operators in Kansai that offer charged Limited Express trains.
;Limited Express Southern
;Airport Limited Express rapi:t
;Express
;Airport Express
;Sub Express
;Semi-Express
;Local

Stations

Main Line

  • ● : Trains stop.
  • ▲: Rapi:t α trains pass, β trains stop.
  • ▼: At Haruki, Express trains marked with a white line makes a stop
  • ◆: Trains stop in the off-peak hours from January 1 until 3 every year.
  • ｜ ↑: All trains pass
  • Wakayamadaigakumae became one of the Southern stations on October 18, 2014.

Tennoji Branch Line

Listed counterclockwise: All stations are in the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture.
StationJapaneseClosedLocation
天下茶屋18 November 1984Nishinari-ku, Osaka
曳舟1949Nishinari-ku, Osaka
今池町1 April 1993Nishinari-ku, Osaka
大門通1949Nishinari-ku, Osaka
飛田本通1 April 1993Nishinari-ku, Osaka
天王寺1 April 1993Tennōji-ku, Osaka

Rolling stock

History

One of the oldest private railway lines still existing, the gauge Namba - Yamatogawa section was opened in 1885 by Hankai Railway. The line was extended to Sakai in 1888, and the Namba - Sumiyoshitaisha section was duplicated in 1892.
In 1897 the then separate Nankai Railway opened the Sakai - Sano section as 1067mm gauge, with the Namba - Sano section regauged to match, and the Sumiyoshitaisha - Sano section duplicated the same year. The following year the Hankai Co. merged with Nankai Railway, and the line was extended to Wakayama. The present line to Wakayamashi was completed in 1903, and in 1906 the first dining car on a private railway in Japan was introduced on the Wakayama express.
The duplication of the line extended to Hamaderakōen in 1907, Kaizuka in 1911, Takako in 1915 and was completed to Wakayama in 1922.
Electrification at 600 VDC began in 1907 on the section from Namba to Hamaderakōen, and was completed in 1911. The voltage was increased to 1500 VDC in 1973.
Works to elevate long sections of the line began with the short downtown section including Imamiyaebisu station in the 1930s and continued from the 1970s until the 2020s. The first 18 km until past Takaishi station will be completely elevated by 2028, and three shorter isolated sections further down the line have also been elevated. Completion of the various stages:
  • 1938: Imamiyaebisu
  • 1980: Namba, Kohama - Sumiyoshitaisha - Suminoe
  • 1985: Shichidō - Sakai - Minato - Ishizugawa
  • 1993: Tengachaya - Kishinosato-Tamade
  • 1994: Kishiwada
  • 2008: Matsunohama, Izumisano
  • 2012: Izumiōtsu
  • 2021: Hagoromo - Takaishi
  • 2024: Tennoji Branch Line
  • ''2028: Suwanomori - Hamaderakōen''

Former connecting lines

  • Tengachaya station - A 2 km line to Tennoji opened in 1900. In 1933 the line was electrified at 1500 VDC, the line closing in 1984.
  • Sakai station - A 2 km 1435mm gauge line from Shukuin to Ohama, electrified at 600 VDC, opened by the BanSakai Electric Railway Co. in 1912 connected at this station until closed in 1949.
  • Wakayama station - A 3 km line to Higashi-Matsue on the Nankai Kada Line opened in 1912. The line was electrified at 600 VDC in 1930, and closed in 1955.