Chizu Line

The corridor has a long gestation. It was first written into the revised Railway Construction Act of 1922 as a projected line, and was taken up as a survey line in 1961 and as a works line in 1962. In 1964 the Minister of Transport set the basic construction plan and directed the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation to carry it out, and after the works plan was approved in 1966, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on 29 May 1966 and construction of the Chizu Line began on 21 June 1966. Built to a generous standard for what was then a Japanese National Railways (JNR) project, the route was driven through difficult terrain with long tunnels, including the 5,592-metre Shitōzaka Tunnel.

Work was halted before completion. With the enactment of the Japanese National Railway Reconstruction Act, construction was frozen on 27 December 1980 — by which point, according to the English Wikipedia account, roughly 95% of the route had been acquired and 93% of the earthworks completed. Rather than abandon the nearly finished line, local interests moved to complete it as a third-sector railway. The Tottori Prefectural Government facilitated the establishment of the operating company, which was founded on 31 May 1986 as Chizu Railway (智頭鉄道). In December 1986 the transport minister granted it a local railway licence, and construction resumed on 27 January 1987 under a special provision of the Reconstruction Act.

As the line moved toward completion the plan was upgraded for high-speed running. A revised business plan for speeding up the line was approved in November 1991, and associated upgrades to the connecting JR West Inbi Line section were authorised, with high-speed construction work beginning on 12 March 1992. The works were not without cost: on 2 April 1992, near Hirafuku Station, a six-car works train was struck by another works train, and three workers were crushed to death. Rail-laying across the whole line was completed with a rail-fastening ceremony at Ōhara Station on 23 June 1994. The company itself was renamed Chizu Express (智頭急行) on 17 June 1994, shortly before opening.

The Chizu Line opened on 3 December 1994. From the first day, JR West's new "Super Hakuto" limited express ran over the line — three round trips at opening, plus one seasonal "Hakuto" and seventeen local round trips — slashing journey times between the Kansai cities and Tottori by using the line as a high-speed cut-off. The opening coincided with disruption elsewhere: the Great Hanshin (Kobe) Earthquake of 17 January 1995 suspended all limited expresses; service between Himeji and Tottori resumed on 23 January, and normal running returned on 1 April 1995 once the Tōkaidō and San'yō main lines were repaired.

Through-services then deepened the line's role as a Kansai–San'in artery. From the 16 March 1996 timetable revision the "Super Hakuto" and "Hakuto" began running to and from Kyoto, and from 29 November 1997 all Kyoto–Kobe–Osaka-direction limited expresses became HOT7000-series "Super Hakuto" workings, six round trips a day with Green (first-class) cars throughout. The same revision launched a separate "Inaba" limited express between Okayama and Tottori over the line; from 1 October 2003 it was re-equipped with KiHa 187 cars, renamed "Super Inaba" and increased to five round trips.

Today the Chizu Line remains the backbone of Chizu Express and a vital high-speed link, carrying JR West's "Super Hakuto" between the Kyoto/Osaka area and Tottori and the "Super Inaba" between Okayama and Tottori, alongside the company's own local trains. Severe weather has occasionally cut the line — heavy rain from Typhoon No. 9 in August 2009 closed part of it until normal operation resumed on 29 August 2009 — and IC-card ticketing with ICOCA is planned to be introduced at Kamigōri, Sayō, Ōhara and Chizu stations in spring 2027.

• 1922The line is listed as a projected line under Clause 85 of the revised Railway Construction Act.
• 1962The route is adopted as a works line by the Railway Construction Council (having been adopted as a survey line in 1961).
• 196629 May: a groundbreaking ceremony is held; 21 June: construction of the Chizu Line begins, carried out by the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation as a JNR project.
• 198027 December: with the enactment of the Japanese National Railway Reconstruction Act, construction is frozen (EN: ~95% of route acquired, 93% of earthworks completed).
• 198631 May: the operating company is founded as Chizu Railway (智頭鉄道), facilitated by the Tottori Prefectural Government; 25 December: it receives a local railway licence from the transport minister.
• 198727 January: construction of the Chizu Line resumes under a special provision of the Reconstruction Act.
• 199119 November: a revised business plan for high-speed operation is approved; upgrades to the connecting JR West Inbi Line section are also authorised.
• 199212 March: high-speed-conversion construction begins. 2 April: near Hirafuku Station, a six-car works train is struck by another works train and three workers are crushed to death.
• 199417 June: the company is renamed Chizu Express (智頭急行). 23 June: rail-laying across the whole line is completed at Ōhara Station. 3 December: the Chizu Line opens, with JR West's 'Super Hakuto' limited express running over it from day one (3 round trips), plus 17 local round trips.
• 199517 January: the Great Hanshin Earthquake suspends all limited expresses; service between Himeji and Tottori resumes on 23 January, and normal running returns on 1 April once the Tōkaidō and San'yō main lines are repaired.
• 199616 March: timetable revision — 'Super Hakuto' and 'Hakuto' begin running to and from Kyoto.
• 199729 November: all Kansai-direction limited expresses become HOT7000-series 'Super Hakuto' (six round trips, Green cars throughout); a separate KiHa 181 'Inaba' limited express starts on the line between Okayama and Tottori (later re-equipped with KiHa 187 and renamed 'Super Inaba', five round trips, from 1 October 2003).
• 200910 August: heavy rain from Typhoon No. 9 closes part of the line; normal operation resumes on 29 August.