Sanbashi Line

The line was built by the first Tosa Electric Railway company, which opened the first section on 2 May 1904 under the name "Ushioe Line" (潮江線), running between Ume-no-tsuji and Sanbashi — the latter stop being the present-day Sanbashi-shako-mae. The following year, on 7 April 1905, the line was extended about 100 metres further south, opening a new Sanbashi stop (today's Sanbashi-dōri-gochōme); at the same time the original Sanbashi stop was renamed Ganpeki-dōri.

On 6 April 1906 the section between Horizume and Ume-no-tsuji opened, and the line as a whole was renamed the Sanbashi Line. (Until the 1994 edition of the official Tetsudō Yōran railway register, the name was written with the old-form character as 棧橋線.) As with the company's other Kōchi tram lines, ownership then changed hands repeatedly: through a merger with Tosa Suiryoku Denki and a change of name, the line passed to Tosa Denki on 1 August 1922.

The present northern alignment dates from 1928. On 10 August that year a new section opened between Harimayabashi and Ushioe-bashi-kitazume, and the older stretch from Horizume to Ushioe-bashi-kitazume was abolished, shifting the line's city end onto its modern Harimayabashi approach. The operating company continued to change: the line became part of Tosa Kōtsū on 12 July 1941 following a merger with Kōchi Railway and Tosa Bus, and on 3 June 1948, after a merger with Nankai Tan'atsuki, it passed to the second Tosa Electric Railway company. A short 0.2 km freight loop had been removed in 1947.

Various stop changes followed in the post-war decades. On 20 June 1955 a new Sanbashi-dōri-sanchōme stop was built, prompting a cascade of renumbering — the old Sanbashi-dōri-sanchōme became Sanbashi-dōri-nichōme, the old Sanbashi-dōri-itchōme was closed, and Obita stop was renamed Sanbashi-dōri-itchōme. The Ushioe-bashi-kitazume stop was abolished on 1 November 1967, and on 31 March 1997 centre-pole conversion work between Harimayabashi and Ume-no-tsuji was completed.

In the 2000s the line's definition and facilities were tidied up. From the 2006 edition of the Tetsudō Yōran, the Kōchi-ekimae–Harimayabashi section was separated from the Sanbashi Line and listed independently under the name Ekimae Line; in everyday use, however, the older sense of "Sanbashi Line" covering the whole Kōchi-ekimae to Sanbashi-dōri-gochōme run is still sometimes heard. On 10 January 2007 the Ganpeki-dōri stop was renamed Sanbashi-shako-mae, and in 2009 improvement works saw Sanbashi-shako-mae moved about 50 metres toward Harimayabashi (22 January) and the refurbishment of the Sanbashi-dōri-gochōme terminus completed (23 March).

The modern operator dates from 2014. On 1 October that year the second Tosa Electric Railway was succeeded by Tosaden Kōtsū, formed through the management integration of the railway with Kōchi-ken Kōtsū and Tosaden Dream Service. Today most Sanbashi Line services run through onto the Ekimae Line, roughly eight trams an hour, with some depot-working trips operating through to the Ino and Gomen lines, and the line continues to carry passengers between the centre of Kōchi and the harbour district to the south.

• 19042 May: the first Tosa Electric Railway opens the first section as the 'Ushioe Line', from Ume-no-tsuji to Sanbashi (now Sanbashi-shako-mae).
• 19057 April: the line is extended about 100 m further south; a new Sanbashi stop (now Sanbashi-dōri-gochōme) opens and the original Sanbashi stop is renamed Ganpeki-dōri.
• 19066 April: the Horizume–Ume-no-tsuji section opens and the line is renamed the Sanbashi Line (written 棧橋線 with the old-form character until the 1994 Tetsudō Yōran).
• 19221 August: through a merger with Tosa Suiryoku Denki and a name change, the line becomes part of Tosa Denki.
• 192810 August: the Harimayabashi–Ushioe-bashi-kitazume section opens and the Horizume–Ushioe-bashi-kitazume section is abolished, shifting the line's city end onto its modern Harimayabashi approach.
• 194112 July: following a merger with Kōchi Railway and Tosa Bus, the line becomes part of Tosa Kōtsū.
• 1947A 0.2 km freight loop is removed.
• 19483 June: after a merger with Nankai Tan'atsuki, the line passes to the second Tosa Electric Railway company.
• 195520 June: a new Sanbashi-dōri-sanchōme stop is built; the old Sanbashi-dōri-sanchōme is renamed Sanbashi-dōri-nichōme, the old Sanbashi-dōri-itchōme is closed, and Obita stop is renamed Sanbashi-dōri-itchōme.
• 19671 November: the Ushioe-bashi-kitazume stop is abolished.
• 199731 March: centre-pole conversion work between Harimayabashi and Ume-no-tsuji is completed.
• 20061 April: from this year's Tetsudō Yōran, the Kōchi-ekimae–Harimayabashi section is separated from the Sanbashi Line and listed independently as the Ekimae Line.
• 200710 January: the Ganpeki-dōri stop is renamed Sanbashi-shako-mae.
• 200922 January: Sanbashi-shako-mae is moved about 50 m toward Harimayabashi; 23 March: refurbishment of the Sanbashi-dōri-gochōme terminus is completed.
• 20141 October: the second Tosa Electric Railway is succeeded by Tosaden Kōtsū, formed by the management integration of the railway with Kōchi-ken Kōtsū and Tosaden Dream Service.