Hachiōji Line

The line was built by the Mie Tramway (三重軌道, Mie Kidō), which laid it to 762 mm gauge because that gauge was relatively common for such local lines at the time. The first and, for a time, only section opened on 14 August 1912, running from Hinaga to Hachiōji-mura — the station later renamed Ise-Hachiōji, from which the line takes its name. The Hachiōji Line was actually built before the Utsube Line; when the Mie Tramway opened the original Utsube section later in 1912 it became the through route, and the Hachiōji Line was reduced to the status of a branch (in its early years the Utsube route was even called the Suzuka branch).

In 1916 the operation was reorganised. The Mie Railway (三重鉄道, "Santetsu") was established on 19 July 1916, and on 1 December that year it abolished the Mie Tramway's tramway licence and reopened the Hinaga–Hachiōji-mura section as a light railway under the Light Railway Act; Higashi-Hino Station opened on the Hinaga–Nishihino stretch at the same time. Unlike most 762 mm tramways, which were regauged when they became light railways, the Hachiōji Line kept its narrow gauge. Steam locomotives worked the line in its early years until gasoline-powered railcars were introduced in 1928, and by about 1930 Hachiōji-mura had been renamed Ise-Hachiōji.

Wartime consolidation and the postwar decades reshaped the operator. On 11 February 1944 the Mie Railway merged with six other companies to form Mie Transport (三重交通, "Sanco"), and the route was grouped with the Utsube and Yunoyama lines as the "Mie Line." The whole line was electrified on 10 September 1948, and the overhead voltage was later raised from 600 V to 750 V DC in 1959. On 1 February 1964 Sanco split off its railway business as the Mie Electric Railway (三重電気鉄道, "Sanden"); the new company was short-lived, and on 1 April 1965 it was absorbed by the Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu), at which point the route became the Kintetsu Hachiōji Line.

The defining event in the line's history came in 1974. The line as built was longer than it is today, extending past Nishihino through Yokkaichi's Hachiōji district to Ise-Hachiōji, and for more than sixty years trains ran the full length. On 25 July 1974 the Tenpaku River, which runs alongside the line, was flooded by a torrential rainstorm; the track suffered severe water damage and the whole line was suspended. When service resumed on 1 April 1976 it had been restored only as far as Nishihino (whose station was rebuilt on a new site), and the roughly 1.6-kilometre section beyond it to Ise-Hachiōji was permanently abandoned. So many years have passed since that the line is now often called the "Nishihino Line" in everyday speech, a name even some Kintetsu conductors used.

Under Kintetsu the line was modernised — one-man (wanman) operation began on 1 June 1989 — but its small scale kept its future in doubt. In August 2012 Kintetsu announced that it wished to abandon the rails of both the Utsube and Hachiōji lines, which together were losing heavily, and to convert the trackbed to a dedicated bus road. Yokkaichi instead sought to keep the railway, and in September 2013 Kintetsu and the city agreed to preserve the lines under a public-ownership, private-operation scheme.

The Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway was established on 27 March 2014, jointly funded by Kintetsu and the city of Yokkaichi, and from 1 April 2015 it took over operation of the line. Under the new arrangement the city of Yokkaichi owns the track and rolling stock as a Category-3 railway operator, while the Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway runs the trains as a Category-2 operator. On 21 August 2021 ICOCA and other nationwide transport IC cards became usable across the line, ending a period after the handover in which no IC fare cards could be used at all.

• 191128 December: the Mie Tramway (三重軌道) is established to build the line.
• 191214 August: the Mie Tramway opens the line from Hinaga to Hachiōji-mura (later Ise-Hachiōji) as a 762 mm gauge tramway; built before the Utsube Line, it soon becomes a branch.
• 191619 July: the Mie Railway (三重鉄道) is established; 1 December: it abolishes the tramway licence and reopens Hinaga–Hachiōji-mura as a light railway, and Higashi-Hino Station opens.
• 1928Gasoline-powered railcars are introduced, replacing steam haulage.
• 1930By around this year, Hachiōji-mura Station has been renamed Ise-Hachiōji.
• 194411 February: the Mie Railway and six other firms merge to form Mie Transport (Sanco); the route is grouped with the Utsube and Yunoyama lines as the 'Mie Line'.
• 194810 September: the entire line is electrified.
• 1959The overhead voltage is raised from 600 V to 750 V DC.
• 19641 February: Sanco splits off its railway business as the Mie Electric Railway (Sanden).
• 19651 April: the Mie Electric Railway is absorbed by the Kinki Nippon Railway (Kintetsu); the route becomes the Kintetsu Hachiōji Line.
• 197425 July: a torrential rainstorm floods the Tenpaku River and the whole line is suspended by water damage.
• 19761 April: the Hinaga–Nishihino section reopens (Nishihino Station rebuilt on a new site); the roughly 1.6 km Nishihino–Ise-Hachiōji section is permanently abandoned.
• 19891 June: one-man (wanman) operation begins.
• 2012August: Kintetsu announces it wishes to abandon the rails of the Utsube and Hachiōji lines and convert the trackbed to a dedicated bus road.
• 201327 September: Kintetsu and Yokkaichi agree to preserve the lines under a public-ownership, private-operation scheme.
• 201427 March: the Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway is established, jointly funded by Kintetsu and the city of Yokkaichi.
• 20151 April: the Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway takes over operations; the city of Yokkaichi owns the track and stock (Category-3 operator) while the railway runs the trains (Category-2 operator).
• 202121 August: ICOCA and other nationwide transport IC cards become usable across the line.