Keihan Katano Line

The line did not originate with Keihan. Its roots lie in a railway scheme licensed on 27 September 1920 under the Local Railway Act for a route from Hirakata-Higashiguchi Station (the present Hirakatashi Station) to Ikoma, promoted under the name Ikoma-Hirakata Electric Railway and backed by Keihan and by Osaka Electric Tramway, a forerunner of Kintetsu. With funding hard to raise, the plan stalled; the Shigi-Ikoma Electric Railway, which had separately planned a Oji–Ikoma line, absorbed the company on 6 July 1924 and took over its concession, judging that a continuous north–south route would benefit both undertakings.

Shigi-Ikoma Electric Railway opened the line as its Hirakata Line on 10 July 1929, between Hirakata-Higashiguchi and Kisaichi. Because it was authorised under the Local Railway Act rather than the older Tramway Ordinance that governed the Keihan Main Line and Uji Line, it did not need any street-running track, and the section between Miyanosaka and Katano-shi was laid almost dead straight. At first the whole line was single track, with passing loops only at Murano and Katano; the smaller intermediate stops were single-platform unstaffed halts. The operator had no substation of its own and drew its power from Keihan, with which its ties were close from the outset.

On 1 March 1939 an explosion at the army's Kinya powder magazine near Hirakata cut the power-supply equipment and overhead wires and suspended services on the line, which depended on Keihan for electricity. Later that year, on 1 May 1939, the route was separated off as the Katano Electric Railway and took the name Katano Line. In the closing months of the Second World War, on 1 May 1945, the company was merged into Keihanshin Express Electric Railway, today's Hankyu. When Keihan Electric Railway was re-established as a separate company on 1 December 1949, the line passed to it and became the Keihan Katano Line; the unbuilt Kisaichi–Ikoma extension had already had its licence revoked on 13 January 1942.

Through the post-war decades the line was steadily upgraded for heavier commuter traffic. Three-car operation began in 1959 and four-car operation in 1968, while signalling and safety equipment were modernised with centralised traffic control and automatic train stop. Double-tracking was carried out piecemeal from 1971 onward as land was secured and sections were placed on viaduct, and the line was fully double-tracked on 28 November 1992. A major change to the power system came on 4 December 1983, when the overhead voltage was raised from 600 V to 1,500 V, bringing the Katano Line into line with the rest of the Keihan network.

The early 2000s brought direct services to central Osaka. From 8 September 2003 the line gained its first regular through trains to the Keihan Main Line, a morning K-Limited Express named "Orihime" running from Kisaichi and an evening service named "Hikoboshi"; the names allude to the Tanabata (Star Festival) legend associated with places along the line. After the Keihan Nakanoshima Line opened, a timetable revision on 19 October 2008 extended these trains through to Nakanoshima Station and reclassified them as Commuter Rapid Express and Rapid Express. Other modernisations followed: PiTaPa IC-card ticketing was introduced on 1 August 2004 and one-man operation began on 22 September 2007.

The pattern of service settled into its present form in the 2010s. New 13000 series four-car trains entered service on the line from 9 June 2012. In a timetable change on 16 March 2013 the through "Orihime" and "Hikoboshi" services to the Keihan Main Line and Nakanoshima Line were withdrawn, so that all regular trains became four-car local services shuttling within the line. On 25 August 2018 the K-ATS train-protection system was brought into use between Hirakatashi and Kisaichi. Today the Katano Line is worked entirely by local trains calling at every station, timed at Hirakatashi to connect with limited expresses on the Keihan Main Line.

• 192027 September: a railway from Hirakata-Higashiguchi to Ikoma is licensed under the Local Railway Act (the Ikoma-Hirakata Electric Railway scheme, backed by Keihan and Osaka Electric Tramway).
• 19246 July: the Shigi-Ikoma Electric Railway merges the company and takes over the Hirakata–Ikoma concession.
• 192910 July: Shigi-Ikoma Electric Railway opens the line as its Hirakata Line, from Hirakata-Higashiguchi (now Hirakatashi) to Kisaichi, initially single-track throughout.
• 19352 December: Shigi-Den Iwafune Station opens as the interchange with Kawachi-Iwafune Station on the Katamachi Line, which opens the same day.
• 19391 March: an explosion at the army's Kinya powder magazine cuts the power supply and suspends services. On 1 May the route is separated as the Katano Electric Railway and becomes the Katano Line.
• 194213 January: the licence for the unbuilt Kisaichi–Ikoma extension is revoked.
• 19451 May: Katano Electric Railway is merged into Keihanshin Express Electric Railway (today's Hankyu).
• 19491 October: Hirakata-Higashiguchi Station is renamed Hirakatashi Station. 1 December: Keihan Electric Railway is re-established as a separate company and the line becomes the Keihan Katano Line.
• 195930 December: three-car operation begins.
• 196816 July: automatic train stop (ATS) enters use. 1 December: four-car operation begins.
• 19834 December: the overhead voltage is raised from 600 V to 1,500 V.
• 199212 September: the Mori Signal Box–Kisaichi section is double-tracked. 28 November: full double-tracking of the line is completed.
• 19968 January: five-car operation begins.
• 20038 September: the line's first regular through trains to the Keihan Main Line begin — the K-Limited Express "Orihime" and the Sub-Express "Hikoboshi".
• 20041 August: the PiTaPa IC card is introduced.
• 200722 September: one-man operation begins.
• 200819 October: with the opening of the Nakanoshima Line, "Orihime" and "Hikoboshi" are extended through to Nakanoshima Station and reclassified as Commuter Rapid Express and Rapid Express.
• 20129 June: new 13000 series four-car EMUs enter service on the line.
• 201316 March: the through "Orihime" and "Hikoboshi" services are withdrawn and all regular trains become four-car local services running within the line.
• 201825 August: the K-ATS train-protection system enters use between Hirakatashi and Kisaichi.