Takahama Line

The line's operator, Iyotetsu, is one of Japan's oldest private railways. The Iyo Railway Company was founded on 14 September 1887, and Japanese sources rank it as the second-oldest privately run railway in the country. Its first line, between Matsuyama and Mitsu, opened on 28 October 1888 as Japan's first light railway and the first railway in the Shikoku and Chūgoku region. The company's founder adopted a narrow 762 mm gauge — on the advice of a British engineer — so that the railway could be built with modest capital; this original Matsuyama–Mitsu line became the nucleus of the present Takahama Line.

The Takahama Line was completed in two stages. The first section, between Mitsu and Matsuyama Station (the present Matsuyama City Station), opened on 28 October 1888. The line was then extended from Takahama to Mitsu on 1 May 1892, completing the route from the port at Takahama through to central Matsuyama. The terminal stations were renamed several times in the early years: Matsuyama Station became Sotogawa in 1889 and reverted to Matsuyama in 1902, before being renamed Matsuyama City in 1927.

The railway's corporate ownership shifted with Iyo Railway's wider business. On 31 December 1916 a merger between the Iyo Railway and Iyo Hydroelectric created a renamed company, Iyo Railway Electric, to which the line passed; it reverted to the Iyo Railway name on 1 April 1942 when the electric-power business was separated off. In the meantime the line was modernised: on 1 May 1931 the whole line was re-gauged from 762 mm to the broader 1,067 mm gauge and electrified, and Baishinji and Minatoyama stations opened; full double-tracking followed on 8 July 1931. New stations had already been added at Edomachi (1927) and Yamanishi and Kinuyama (1927).

The Second World War undid much of this. On 21 February 1945 the entire line was reduced to single track when its second set of rails was requisitioned for metal — the recovered material was used on the national railway's Yosan Line between Yawatahama and Uwajima. After the war the double track was restored section by section: Baishinji–Mitsu in 1952, Kinuyama–Komachi in 1957, Komachi–Matsuyama City in 1963 and Mitsu–Kinuyama in 1964. The short end section between Baishinji and Takahama, however, was never re-doubled and remains single track to this day.

The line's modern shape emerged over the following decades. Edomachi Station was renamed Ōtemachi on 1 July 1953, and Nishi-Kinuyama Station opened on 10 June 1968. A decisive change came on 10 August 1981, when through services began with the Yokogawara Line, allowing trains to run across Matsuyama City between the two suburban lines; today they run at roughly 15-minute intervals. Elevation of the Kinuyama–Komachi section was completed on 18 July 1998.

Today the Takahama Line functions chiefly as an access railway to the coast northwest of Matsuyama. It serves Mitsu, Matsuyama's long-established outer port, and the newer Takahama port that Iyotetsu itself developed; from Takahama Station a connecting bus runs to Matsuyama Tourist Port, the city's gateway for ferries to Hiroshima, Kure and the Kutsuna Islands. Because it crosses the Matsuyama city tram lines on the level — including the only place in Japan where a railway line and a tramway still cross each other at a right angle, near Ōtemachi — the Takahama Line is electrified at 600 V DC to match the trams, switching to 750 V only in the immediate approach to Matsuyama City Station, where it meets the 750 V Yokogawara and Gunchū lines.

• 188714 September: the Iyo Railway Company, the line's operator, is founded — ranked by Japanese sources as Japan's second-oldest private railway.
• 188828 October: the line's first section, Mitsu–Matsuyama (now Matsuyama City), opens — the Iyo Railway's first line, Japan's first light railway and the first railway in Shikoku, at 762 mm gauge.
• 188920 July: Matsuyama Station is renamed Sotogawa (and the first Mitsuguchi Station is renamed Komachi).
• 18921 May: the line is extended from Takahama to Mitsu, completing the route.
• 19021 June: Sotogawa Station is renamed back to Matsuyama.
• 191631 December: a merger of the Iyo Railway and Iyo Hydroelectric renames the company Iyo Railway Electric; the line passes to it.
• 19271 March: Matsuyama Station is renamed Matsuyama City; Edomachi Station opens (3 April) and Yamanishi and Kinuyama stations open (1 November).
• 19311 May: the whole line is re-gauged from 762 mm to 1,067 mm and electrified, and Baishinji and Minatoyama stations open; on 8 July the entire line is double-tracked.
• 19421 April: with the electric-power business separated off, the line reverts to the Iyo Railway.
• 194521 February: the whole line is reduced to single track when its second set of rails is requisitioned for metal — the material is reused on the JNR Yosan Line between Yawatahama and Uwajima.
• 19521 February: the Baishinji–Mitsu section is re-doubled, the first stage of postwar double-track restoration.
• 19531 July: Edomachi Station is renamed Ōtemachi.
• 196416 July: the Mitsu–Kinuyama section is re-doubled, completing double-tracking except for the Baishinji–Takahama end section (which remains single to this day).
• 196810 June: Nishi-Kinuyama Station opens.
• 198110 August: through services with the Yokogawara Line begin, linking the two suburban lines across Matsuyama City; trains run at roughly 15-minute intervals.
• 199818 July: elevation of the Kinuyama–Komachi section is completed.