Ikoma Line

The line did not begin as a Kintetsu route. It was opened by the Shigi-Ikoma Electric Railway (信貴生駒電気鉄道), a private company whose original purpose was to carry pilgrims toward Mount Shigi. On 16 May 1922 the company opened its first section, between Ōji and Yamashita (the present Shigisan-shita), together with a cable car running up from Yamashita to Shigisan, giving access to the temples on the mountain. (The line's infobox dates the opening to 26 May 1922; the history section and the line's centenary observance both place the first opening on 16 May.)

The railway then extended north toward Ikoma in stages. The Yamashita–Motoyamaguchi section opened on 21 October 1926, the Motoyamaguchi–temporary Shin-Ikoma section on 28 December 1926, and on 1 April 1927 the final stretch from the temporary station through to Ikoma was completed, joining the new line to the Nara Line terminus and opening Nabatake station. Within five years of its first train, the route had reached its present extent between Ōji and Ikoma.

The corporate identity behind the line changed early. On 6 November 1925, while construction was still under way, the whole network of the Shigi-Ikoma Electric Railway was transferred to a successor company, the Shigi-Ikoma Railway (信貴生駒電鉄). For the next four decades the line and its associated Higashi-Shigi cable car were operated under that name, through the wave of wartime and post-war railway consolidation that reshaped private railways across the Kansai region.

The line passed into Kintetsu on 1 October 1964, when Kinki Nippon Railway merged the Shigi-Ikoma Railway. From that point the route was operated as the Kintetsu Ikoma Line, with the cable car becoming the Higashi-Shigi Cable Line. Kintetsu modernised the line over the following years: the catenary voltage was raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC on 21 September 1969, and automatic train stop (ATS) was introduced in November of the same year, bringing the line up to the standard of Kintetsu's wider network.

Through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s the line was progressively upgraded and partially double-tracked. The Nabatake–Minami-Ikoma section was doubled in 1977 and Hagiodai station opened in 1980. The little-used Higashi-Shigi Cable Line, the survivor of the company's original pilgrimage business, was discontinued on 1 September 1983. In the early 1990s a stretch around Nabatake was elevated, the Motoyamaguchi–Hagiodai section was realigned in January 1993 (shortening the line by 0.2 km and relocating Higashiyama station), and further double-track was added on the Higashiyama–Hagiodai and Nabatake–Ikoma sections in 1993 and 1994.

In its modern role the Ikoma Line is a self-contained commuter line rather than a through route. One-man (driver-only) operation began on 18 March 2004, and IC fare cards followed in the 2000s. In October 2017 the line was knocked out by a landslide between Tatsutagawa and Seya-Kitaguchi during Typhoon Lan, and reopened in stages over the following days. On 17 May 2022 Kintetsu marked the centenary of the Ikoma Line and the former Higashi-Shigi cable line with a ceremony at Ōji and a special limited express run through to Ōsaka-Uehommachi, underscoring the line's century of service to the towns at the foot of Mount Ikoma.

• 192216 May: the Shigi-Ikoma Electric Railway opens its first section, Ōji–Yamashita (now Shigisan-shita), together with the cable car from Yamashita up to Shigisan.
• 19256 November: the entire network of the Shigi-Ikoma Electric Railway is transferred to the successor company, the Shigi-Ikoma Railway.
• 192621 October: the Yamashita–Motoyamaguchi section opens; the Motoyamaguchi–temporary Shin-Ikoma section follows on 28 December.
• 19271 April: the temporary Shin-Ikoma–Ikoma section opens, completing the route through to the Nara Line at Ikoma; the temporary station closes and Nabatake station opens.
• 195110 September: Yamashita station is renamed Shigisan-guchi and Takeyama becomes a permanent station renamed Higashiyama; Seya-Kitaguchi station opens on 20 November.
• 19641 October: Kinki Nippon Railway merges the Shigi-Ikoma Railway; the route becomes the Kintetsu Ikoma Line and the cable car the Higashi-Shigi Cable Line.
• 196921 September: the catenary voltage is raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC; automatic train stop (ATS) enters service on 7 November.
• 197731 July: the Nabatake–Minami-Ikoma section is double-tracked.
• 198023 April: Hagiodai station opens.
• 19831 September: the Higashi-Shigi Cable Line (Shigisan-shita–Shigisan), the survivor of the original pilgrimage business, is discontinued.
• 199329 January: the Motoyamaguchi–Hagiodai section is realigned, shortening the line by 0.2 km and relocating Higashiyama station; the Higashiyama–Hagiodai section is double-tracked on 17 March.
• 199410 February: the Nabatake–Ikoma section is double-tracked.
• 200418 March: one-man (driver-only) operation begins on the line.
• 201722 October: a landslide between Tatsutagawa and Seya-Kitaguchi during Typhoon Lan suspends the whole line; service is restored in stages on 23 and 25 October.
• 202217 May: a ceremony at Ōji marks the centenary of the Ikoma Line and former Higashi-Shigi cable line; a special express runs between Ōji and Ōsaka-Uehommachi.