Kurama Line

The line owes its origin to Kyoto's early electricity industry. It was built by the Kurama Electric Railway, a company established on 1 December 1927 as a joint venture between the Kyoto Dentō (Kyoto Electric Light) company and the Keihan Electric Railway. Kyoto Dentō, an electric-power utility, had already opened the neighbouring Eizan line, and the Kurama project was conceived as a branch reaching up toward the Kurama and Kibune district. On 1 December 1928 the Kurama Electric Railway opened its first section, from Yamabana (now Takaragaike) to a station at Ichihara, and through-running onto the Eizan line was provided from the very first day — a connection that has continued without interruption to the present.

Construction pressed on into the mountains the following year. On 20 October 1929 the line was extended from Ichihara to a temporary Kurama station, and on 20 December 1929 the final stretch to the permanent Kurama station opened, completing the route; the temporary station was abolished. From that point trains ran through over Kyoto Dentō's Eizan line as far as Demachiyanagi. In February 1930 the current-collection method was changed to an overhead single-wire system. The young line suffered an early setback in June 1935 when the Kamogawa flood cut the whole line; service resumed in stages, the Iwakura–Yamabana section reopening on 2 July and the remainder by the end of the month.

The line passed through several corporate hands as Japan's wartime and postwar railway landscape was reorganised. In September 1939 the Nikenchaya–Ichihara section was singled, and on 1 August 1942 the Kurama Electric Railway was absorbed into the Keifuku Electric Railroad — a company formed earlier that year when Kyoto Dentō spun off its rail and tram operations — at which point the route formally became the "Kurama Line." Wartime material shortages bit further: on 10 November 1944 the Yamabana–Nikenchaya section was singled and the recovered track was requisitioned for the war effort.

The postwar decades brought renaming, re-doubling and modernisation. On 10 June 1954 Yamabana station was renamed Takaragaike, and on 9 April 1958 the Takaragaike–Iwakura section was re-doubled. A serious accident struck on 5 January 1964, when a collision between Ninose and Kibuneguchi injured sixty-nine people. Current-collection technology was steadily updated — from trolley wheels to slider shoes in 1973 — and on 19 October 1978 the line retired the last trolley-pole current collection in Japan in favour of pantographs, a small but notable national milestone.

Under Eizan ownership the line was thoroughly modernised. On 1 April 1986 the Kurama Line was transferred from Keifuku to the newly separated Eizan Electric Railway. A train-operation management system (PTC) and train radio had been introduced in December 1983; automatic train stop (ATS) followed on 28 November 1988, and one-man operation began on 25 December 1988. On 21 September 1989 Kyōto-Seikadai-mae station opened, timed ahead of the October 1989 opening of the Keihan Ōtō Line, which restored a direct rail link into central Kyoto. The Iwakura–Nikenchaya section was re-doubled on 28 September 1990, and a major timetable expansion followed in March 1994; by January 2004 essentially all trains ran one-man.

In its mountain reaches the Kurama Line is above all a tourist railway. Between Ichihara and Ninose the track runs through the celebrated "maple tunnel" of overhanging Japanese maples; during the autumn-foliage season the trees are lit up for the Kibune Momiji-Tōrō event, and as trains pass through in the evening (around 17:00 to 21:00) the interior lights are dimmed and the train slows so passengers can take in the view. The line's 900-series "Kirara" panoramic cars, with large windows angled toward the scenery, are closely associated with this experience. Natural disasters have repeatedly tested the line in recent years — Typhoon No. 21 suspended all services in September 2018, and heavy rains in July 2020 cut the Ichihara–Kurama section until it was fully restored in September 2021 — but the route remains a popular gateway to Kurama and Kibune.

• 19271 December: the Kurama Electric Railway is established as a joint venture between Kyoto Dentō (Kyoto Electric Light) and the Keihan Electric Railway.
• 19281 December: the Kurama Electric Railway opens its first section, Yamabana (now Takaragaike)–Ichihara; through-running onto the Eizan line begins from the first day.
• 192920 October: Ichihara–temporary Kurama opens. 20 December: the section to the permanent Kurama station opens, completing the line; through-running over the Eizan line to Demachiyanagi begins.
• 1930February: the current-collection method is changed to an overhead single-wire system.
• 193529 June: the Kamogawa flood closes the whole line; the Iwakura–Yamabana section reopens on 2 July and the remainder by the end of the month.
• 1939September: the Nikenchaya–Ichihara section is singled.
• 19421 August: the Kurama Electric Railway is absorbed into the Keifuku Electric Railroad (formed that year from Kyoto Dentō's spun-off rail division) and the route becomes the 'Kurama Line'.
• 194410 November: the Yamabana–Nikenchaya section is singled and the recovered track is requisitioned for the war effort.
• 195410 June: Yamabana station is renamed Takaragaike.
• 19589 April: the Takaragaike–Iwakura section is re-doubled.
• 19645 January: a collision between Ninose and Kibuneguchi injures sixty-nine people.
• 197819 October: the last trolley-pole current collection in Japan is retired in favour of pantographs.
• 19831 December: a train-operation management system (PTC) is introduced and train radio enters service.
• 19861 April: the Kurama Line is transferred from Keifuku to the newly separated Eizan Electric Railway.
• 198828 November: automatic train stop (ATS) is installed on the line; 25 December: one-man operation begins.
• 198921 September: Kyōto-Seikadai-mae station opens, ahead of the October opening of the Keihan Ōtō Line.
• 199028 September: the Iwakura–Nikenchaya section is re-doubled and turn-back operations are shifted from Iwakura to Nikenchaya.
• 20184 September: Typhoon No. 21 suspends all services; the line is restored in stages, reopening fully on 27 October.
• 20208 July: heavy rains cut the Ichihara–Kurama section.
• 202118 September: the Ichihara–Kurama section reopens, fully restoring the line.