Toba Line

The line was conceived to close a gap in Kintetsu's network. By the 1960s Kintetsu already ran trains from both Osaka and Nagoya as far as Ise (then called Ujiyamada), over what are now the Osaka Line and the Yamada Line; the Yamada Line had been completed to Ujiyamada in 1931 by Sangū Kyūkō Dentetsu as part of a pilgrimage railway toward Ise Grand Shrine. Separately, the present Shima Line had opened in 1929, built by the Shima Electric Railway as a narrow-gauge (1,067 mm) extension of the Sangū Line that gathered tourists for the inner reaches of Shima; it later passed to Sanco (Mie Kŏtsū) and finally to Kintetsu in 1965. There was, however, no Kintetsu rail link between Ise and Toba, so passengers bound for Shima had to change from train to bus (or to a JNR train) at Ise and back to a Kintetsu train at Toba.

Kintetsu's first answer, in the early 1960s, was to build a bus ramp right up to platform 1 of Ujiyamada Station and run limited-express-timed buses to Kashikojima operated by Mie Kyūkō, jointly funded with Sanco, so that arriving passengers could transfer without leaving the station. The ideal solution, though, was a direct rail connection. With the 1970 World's Fair in Osaka (Expo '70) approaching and expected to draw large crowds that Kintetsu hoped to channel into its Ise-Shima tourism businesses, the company decided the moment was right: it would build a new Toba Line to join the Yamada and Shima lines and regauge the Shima Line from 1,067 mm to 1,435 mm standard gauge, allowing limited expresses to run straight through to Kashikojima. The favourable timing of the fair helped Kintetsu obtain the railway construction licence quickly.

Kintetsu announced the plan to extend service to Kashikojima in July 1967. Two route options were initially considered: building a new Ujiyamada–Toba line and upgrading the Shima Line, or driving a new line directly over the mountains from Ujiyamada to Kashikojima. In August 1967 the company chose the Toba route, reasoning that Toba was already a tourism hub and that reusing the Shima Line would save on construction costs, and it set out a plan for a standard-gauge, ideally double-track line. A licence application for the Iwabuchi (Ise) to Toba section was filed in September 1967 and approved that December, and construction began on 20 May 1968.

The first section, between Ujiyamada and Isuzugawa, opened on 15 December 1969. The remaining stretch from Isuzugawa to Toba opened on 1 March 1970, just before Expo '70 began, completing the line and inaugurating through services to the Shima Line. Because of the construction schedule and demand at the time, the line opened as a single track, although the land had been secured for double track and some tunnels and bridges were already built to double-track width. Trains passed one another at the Shigō Signal Station, located in the Shigō Tunnel between Asama and Ikenoura near the line's midpoint.

Direct rail access from Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya to Kashikojima dealt a heavy blow to the parallel JNR (now JR Central) Sangū Line, which until then had still carried through express trains from Kyoto and seen reasonable traffic; it was reduced thereafter to a purely local railway. Kintetsu progressively double-tracked the Toba Line: the Ujiyamada–Isuzugawa section in December 1971, then Isuzugawa–Asama and Asama–Toba in 1975, with full double-tracking achieved on 20 December 1975, at which point the Shigō Signal Station was closed. Built relatively recently and to a high standard, the line has no level crossings and is fully grade-separated from roads.

Today the Toba Line carries a dense mix of limited expresses bound for Ise-Shima from Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya — including the premium sightseeing 'Shimakaze' — alongside expresses, the occasional rapid express, and local trains, most of which continue beyond the line's ends onto the Yamada and Shima lines. Isuzugawa Station serves as the nearest stop to the Inner Shrine (Naikū) of Ise Grand Shrine. Stored-value IC cards came to the line on 1 April 2007 with the introduction of PiTaPa and mutual use of ICOCA, and a Nagoya-area train management system, KRONOS, was extended over the whole line in 2010. Because the Toba, Yamada and Shima lines were built and absorbed at different times, a construction-cost surcharge applies to journeys that cross between them.

• 1929The present Shima Line opens, built by the Shima Electric Railway as a 1,067 mm narrow-gauge extension of the Sangū Line to draw tourists toward Shima.
• 1931The Yamada Line (built by Sangū Kyūkō Dentetsu as a pilgrimage railway toward Ise Grand Shrine) is completed through to Ujiyamada Station.
• 1965The Shima Line passes to Kintetsu, becoming the company's Shima Line; Kintetsu now reaches Ise from Osaka and Nagoya and separately owns the detached Toba–Kashikojima line.
• 1967July 12: Kintetsu announces a plan to extend service to Kashikojima. August: the Ujiyamada–Toba route is chosen over a direct mountain route. September 11: a construction licence for the Iwabuchi (Ise)–Toba section is applied for; it is approved on December 23.
• 1968May 20: construction of the Toba Line begins.
• 1969December 15: the first section, Ujiyamada–Isuzugawa, opens (initially single track).
• 1970March 1: the Isuzugawa–Toba section opens, completing the line just before Expo '70; through service with the Shima Line (regauged to 1,435 mm) begins, linking Osaka and Nagoya directly to Kashikojima.
• 1971December 25: the Ujiyamada–Isuzugawa section is double-tracked.
• 1975April 11: Isuzugawa–Asama is double-tracked. December 20: Asama–Toba is double-tracked, completing full double-tracking; the Shigō Signal Station is closed and bi-directional running begins throughout.
• 2001May 30: one-person ('wanman') driver-only operation begins on the line.
• 2007April 1: the IC cards PiTaPa and ICOCA come into use on the line.
• 2010April 1: the Nagoya-area train management system 'KRONOS' begins operation across the whole Ujiyamada–Toba line.