Gose Line

Shakudo, the line's northern end, is a junction on Kintetsu's Minami-Osaka Line, and through services link the Gose Line with that line's Furuichi and Osaka-Abenobashi terminals. Trains running entirely within the line are mostly one-man operated. At the southern terminus, Kintetsu-Gose, a Nara Kotsu bus connects to the Katsuragi Ropeway, which is also operated by Kintetsu, giving access to Mount Katsuragi — a noted spot for azaleas whose slopes draw sightseers in spring.

The line was not originally built by Kintetsu. It was opened by the Nanwa Electric Railway, an affiliated company of the Osaka Railway ("Daitetsu"), the predecessor of today's Minami-Osaka Line. Nanwa Electric Railway was incorporated on 18 January 1929. The company intended to push its line further south to Gojo and on toward Hashimoto (Kamuro), but that extension was never built; as a result Kintetsu-Gose Station is laid out less like a terminus than like an intermediate station.

Construction proceeded under railway licences granted in 1928 and 1929. On 9 December 1930 the Nanwa Electric Railway opened the line between Shakudo and Nanwa-Gosemachi Station — the present Kintetsu-Gose — electrified from the outset at 1,500 V DC. The intermediate station now called Kintetsu-Shinjo opened with the line as Nanwa-Shinjomachi.

During the wartime consolidation of Japan's private railways, the line passed into the Kintetsu group. On 1 April 1944 the Nanwa Electric Railway was absorbed by Kansai Kyuko Railway ("Kankyu"), a direct predecessor of Kintetsu, and the route was named the Gose Line; Nanwa-Shinjomachi was renamed Kankyu-Shinjo and Nanwa-Gosemachi became Kankyu-Gose. On 1 June 1944 Kansai Kyuko Railway was reorganised into the Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu), and the two stations were renamed again to Kinki-Nippon-Shinjo and Kinki-Nippon-Gose.

The dream of extending south lingered for decades before being abandoned in stages. The licence for the Gojo–Kamuro section lapsed on 6 May 1958, and the remaining licence between Kintetsu-Gose and Gojo lapsed on 15 February 1991. Meanwhile the line was modernised: automatic train stop (ATS) entered use on 26 September 1968, and on 1 March 1970 the two stations took their current names, Kintetsu-Shinjo and Kintetsu-Gose.

In more recent years the Gose Line has settled into its role as a quiet commuter branch. One-man operation began on some local trains on 16 March 1999, and the IC fare cards PiTaPa and ICOCA were introduced at its stations on 1 April 2007. Through-running to the Minami-Osaka Line continues today, supplemented in spring by the seasonal "Katsuragi Kogen" excursion services run between Osaka-Abenobashi and Kintetsu-Gose for visitors to the azalea slopes of Mount Katsuragi.

• 192826 October: a railway licence is granted to the Nanwa Electric Railway for a line from Iwaki village (Kita-Katsuragi District) to Gojo (Uchi District).
• 192918 January: the Nanwa Electric Railway, an affiliate of the Osaka Railway, is incorporated. On 29 June a further licence is granted for a Gojo–Kamuro (Ito District) extension.
• 19309 December: the Nanwa Electric Railway opens the line between Shakudo and Nanwa-Gosemachi (now Kintetsu-Gose), electrified at 1,500 V DC.
• 19441 April: the Nanwa Electric Railway is merged into Kansai Kyuko Railway (Kankyu), a Kintetsu predecessor; the route becomes the Gose Line, and Nanwa-Shinjomachi and Nanwa-Gosemachi are renamed Kankyu-Shinjo and Kankyu-Gose.
• 19441 June: Kansai Kyuko Railway is reorganised into the Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu); the two stations are renamed Kinki-Nippon-Shinjo and Kinki-Nippon-Gose.
• 19586 May: the railway licence for the unbuilt Gojo–Kamuro (Hashimoto) section lapses.
• 196826 September: automatic train stop (ATS) enters service on the line.
• 19701 March: Kinki-Nippon-Shinjo is renamed Kintetsu-Shinjo and Kinki-Nippon-Gose is renamed Kintetsu-Gose, the stations' present names.
• 199115 February: the licence for the remaining Kintetsu-Gose–Gojo section lapses, ending the long-held plan to extend the line southward.
• 199916 March: one-man operation begins on some local trains.
• 20071 April: the IC fare cards PiTaPa and ICOCA come into use at all stations on the line.