Kikuchi Line

The railway's origins lie with the Kikuchi Tramway (菊池軌道), the forerunner of the present company, which was granted its first tramway licence on 3 March 1909. The first section opened on 15 March 1913, when the Kikuchi Tramway began running between Takae and Waifu — the latter being the station later renamed Kikuchi. Later the same year, on 27 August 1913, the route was extended over the section linking Hiromachi, Fujisakigū-mae, Miyoshi and Takae, knitting together the line through the northern Kumamoto plain.

The early line was a lightly built tramway, but it was progressively upgraded into a true railway. On 31 August 1923 the Murozono–Waifu section was re-gauged to 1,067 mm and electrified, and on 1 May 1942 the Fujisakigū-mae–Waifu section was formally reclassified from a tramway (軌道) to a railway (鉄道). The company that operated it took its present name, the Kumamoto Electric Railway, on 1 January 1948.

The network reached its fullest extent around mid-century. On 1 October 1950 the Kami-Kumamoto–Kita-Kumamoto section opened, giving the line its present connection to the national railway at Kami-Kumamoto. A round of station changes followed: on 1 August 1958, for instance, the original Kikuchi Station was renamed Tominohara while Waifu was renamed Kikuchi, fixing the name of the line's northern terminus.

The line's contraction came in the 1980s. On 16 February 1986 the outer section between Miyoshi and Kikuchi was closed, cutting the line back to its modern terminus at Miyoshi; one-man (driver-only) operation began on the same day, and replacement buses run by the company took over the link from Miyoshi up to Kikuchi along the abandoned alignment. That same year nature dealt the shortened line a blow when the Horikawa Bridge was washed away on 30 June 1986; it was rebuilt and reopened on 20 December 1986.

In its modern role the Kikuchi Line is a commuter and local route for the northern suburbs of Kumamoto. Transport-system IC cards became usable on 1 April 2015, and station numbering was introduced on 1 October 2019. The line has long been a home for cascaded second-hand rolling stock: its present 01 series cars are former Tokyo Metro Ginza Line "01 series" trains, which entered service on the Kikuchi Line in 2015. Both two-car sets carry the "Kumamon" character livery, a tie-in with Kumamoto Prefecture's mascot that has made the little line a minor attraction in its own right.

• 19093 March: a tramway licence is granted for the line (the company, Kikuchi Tramway, is established 15 August 1909).
• 191315 March: the Kikuchi Tramway opens its first section, Takae–Waifu (Waifu later renamed Kikuchi).
• 191327 August: the Hiromachi–Fujisakigū-mae–Miyoshi–Takae section opens.
• 192331 August: the Murozono–Waifu section is re-gauged to 1,067 mm and electrified.
• 19421 May: the Fujisakigū-mae–Waifu section is reclassified from a tramway to a railway.
• 19481 January: the operating company takes its present name, the Kumamoto Electric Railway.
• 19501 October: the Kami-Kumamoto–Kita-Kumamoto section opens, giving the line its present link to the national railway at Kami-Kumamoto.
• 19581 August: the original Kikuchi Station is renamed Tominohara and Waifu Station is renamed Kikuchi.
• 198616 February: the outer Miyoshi–Kikuchi section is closed and one-man (driver-only) operation begins; replacement buses link Miyoshi with Kikuchi.
• 198630 June: the Horikawa Bridge is washed away; it is restored and reopened on 20 December 1986.
• 201414 March: 'Kumamon Train' (Kumamon-liveried) services begin running on the company's lines.
• 2015March: former Tokyo Metro Ginza Line '01 series' cars (Kumaden 01 series) enter service on the Kikuchi Line.
• 20151 April: transport-system IC cards become usable on the line.
• 20191 October: station numbering is introduced and Saishunsō-mae Station is renamed Saishun Medical Center-mae.
• 202210 October: Saishun Medical Center-mae and Miyoshi stations are relocated.
• 20253 February: a timetable revision is made owing to a shortage of drivers.