Hiroden Eba Line

The line owes its existence to wartime industry. In 1943 the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Hiroshima Shipyard opened its Eba plant on reclaimed land in what was then Eba-machi (today Eba-okimachi), and at the request of the military a tram line was built to strengthen commuter transport to the factory. The first section, between Dobashi and Funairi-honmachi, opened as a double track on 26 December 1943.

Construction continued into the following year. On 20 June 1944 the line was extended as a single track from Funairi-honmachi to Funairi-minami-machi. The war years brought disruption rather than growth: Kami-funairi stop was suspended on 10 June 1944, and on 1 February 1945 the section between Funairi-nakamachi and Funairi-kawaguchi-cho was suspended, before the whole line was double-tracked on 7 March 1945.

On 6 August 1945 the atomic bombing of Hiroshima halted operations across the entire line. Recovery took more than two years: the line was fully restored on 1 November 1947, when Funairi-minami-machi stop was renamed Ebaguchi, the suspended Funairi-nakamachi and Funairi-kawaguchi-cho stops reopened, and the Kami-funairi stop was abolished.

A series of postwar adjustments gave the line its modern form. In 1952 Funairi-nakamachi was renamed Funairi-machi. On 8 January 1954 the track was extended by 100 metres and the Ebaguchi stop was relocated to the vicinity of the present Eba terminus, the old site being renamed Grand-guchi. Funairi-saiwai-cho stop opened on 1 November 1959, and in 1963 the Ebaguchi stop took its current name, Eba.

The Eba plant that had justified the line was never reached. Eba terminus still stops about 1.3 km short of the Mitsubishi factory, and no concrete plan to bridge that gap has materialised. The line nonetheless became a well-used local artery: schools along it, including Funairi High School and Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial High School, draw many student passengers, and Eba Junior High School is unusually permitted to let pupils living near Funairi-machi commute by tram.

In the 2010s the line gained through-running. After reports that ultra-low-floor cars might enable a through service with the Hakushima Line, Hiroden introduced its new low-floor Type 1000 cars and began through operation between Eba and Hakushima via Dobashi and Hatchobori on 15 February 2013. Today the line is worked mainly by Route 6 (to Hiroshima Station via the Main Line) and Route 8 (to Yokogawa Station via the Yokogawa Line), with Route 9 providing the Hakushima through service. The southern stop Funairi-minami-machi was renamed Funairi-minami on 1 April 2019, and a timetable revision planned for 28 March 2026 is set to reduce daytime services.

• 194326 December: the first section, Dobashi–Funairi-honmachi, opens as a double track; the line is built at military request to serve the Mitsubishi Eba plant.
• 194410 June: the Kami-funairi stop is suspended.
• 194420 June: the line is extended as a single track from Funairi-honmachi to Funairi-minami-machi.
• 19451 February: the Funairi-nakamachi–Funairi-kawaguchi-cho section is suspended.
• 19457 March: the whole line is double-tracked.
• 19456 August: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima halts operations across the entire line.
• 19471 November: the line is fully restored; Funairi-minami-machi is renamed Ebaguchi, Funairi-nakamachi and Funairi-kawaguchi-cho reopen, and Kami-funairi is abolished.
• 1952Funairi-nakamachi stop is renamed Funairi-machi.
• 19548 January: the track is extended by 100 m and the Ebaguchi stop is relocated near the present Eba terminus; the former site is renamed Grand-guchi.
• 19591 November: Funairi-saiwai-cho stop opens.
• 1963The Ebaguchi stop is renamed Eba, its present name.
• 201315 February: low-floor Type 1000 cars enter service and through operation with the Hakushima Line (Eba–Hakushima via Dobashi and Hatchobori) begins.
• 20191 April: Funairi-minami-machi stop is renamed Funairi-minami.
• 202628 March (planned): a timetable revision reduces daytime services on the line.