Tokushima Line

The line began as a private venture. The Tokushima Railway, a joint-stock company established in June 1897 and based in Tokushima, opened the first section between Tokushima and Kamojima on 16 February 1899, with stations at Tokushima, Kō (then Fuchū), Ishii, Ushinoshima and Kamojima. The railway extended west in stages through the same year — to Kawashima (now Awa-Kawashima) on 19 August 1899 and to Yamasaki (now Yamase) on 23 December 1899 — and on to Funato on 7 August 1900. In its early years the line connected, via the Komatsushima light railway and the Komatsushima–Osaka steamship route, to long-distance passenger and freight traffic to the Kansai region.

Under the Railway Nationalization Act the Tokushima Railway was nationalised on 1 September 1907, when the state bought the Tokushima–Funato section. On 12 October 1909 the route was formally named the Tokushima Line in the nationwide line-naming ordinance. It was renamed the Tokushima Main Line (徳島本線) on 20 April 1913.

The present-day extent of the line was completed on 25 March 1914, when the section from Kawata to Awa-Ikeda opened; the new stations included Kawata (second generation), Anabuki, Oshima, Sadamitsu, Awa-Handa, Eguchi, Awa-Kamo, Tsuji and Awa-Ikeda. At the same time the short Kawata–Funato stretch was abandoned and the first-generation Kawata and Funato stations closed, the line being realigned onto a new route. A junction at Tsukuda — opened as Tsukuda Signal Box on 28 April 1929 — gave the line a connection toward the Sanuki area.

The railway then pushed beyond Awa-Ikeda: on 19 September 1931 the Awa-Ikeda–Minawa section opened as a further extension of the Tokushima Main Line. This arrangement lasted only a few years. On 11 November 1935 the Awa-Ikeda–Minawa section was transferred to the newly through-connected Dosan Line and the Tokushima Main Line's western terminus was set back to Awa-Ikeda. (When Tsukuda was upgraded from a signal box to a full station in 1950 and Tokushima Main Line trains began stopping there in 1962, the Tsukuda–Awa-Ikeda portion was likewise reckoned part of the Dosan Line.)

Through the postwar decades the line was modernised and its services evolved. Most trains were converted to diesel railcar operation from 10 September 1956. During the high-growth era it formed part of a Kansai–Kōchi corridor, with semi-express and later express trains such as the "Asa" and "Yoshinogawa" linking the line to Kōchi via the Dosan Line and to ferries at Komatsushima; through running to Kōchi was discontinued in 1980 after the San'yō Shinkansen reached Okayama and traffic shifted away. Freight operations ceased on 1 November 1986. Centralised traffic control over the Sako–Tsukuda section had been introduced on 15 December 1982.

With the privatisation of Japanese National Railways on 1 April 1987, the line passed to JR Shikoku. At that point the Tokushima–Sako section — long a stretch shared with the Kōtoku Main Line — was assigned to the Kōtoku line, so that the Tokushima Main Line was redefined as running only from Sako to Tsukuda. On 1 June 1988 the line was renamed simply the Tokushima Line, and one-man operation began on 10 June 1988. A high-speed upgrade allowing 110 km/h running was completed on 16 March 1996, when the "Tsurugisan" limited express was introduced; the "Yoshino River Blue Line" nickname came into use on 1 July 2000, and a sightseeing trolley train, the "Ai Yoshinogawa Trokko", began running between Tokushima and Awa-Ikeda on 10 October 2020.

• 1897June: the Tokushima Railway, a joint-stock company based in Tokushima, is established to build the line.
• 189916 February: the Tokushima Railway opens the first section, Tokushima–Kamojima, with Tokushima, Fuchū (now Kō), Ishii, Ushinoshima and Kamojima stations.
• 189919 August: extended Kamojima–Kawashima (now Awa-Kawashima); 23 December: extended Kawashima–Yamasaki (now Yamase).
• 19007 August: the line is extended from Yamasaki to Funato.
• 19071 September: under the Railway Nationalization Act the state buys the Tokushima–Funato section, nationalising the Tokushima Railway.
• 190912 October: the route is formally named the Tokushima Line in the nationwide line-naming ordinance.
• 191320 April: the line is renamed the Tokushima Main Line (徳島本線).
• 191425 March: the Kawata–Awa-Ikeda section opens, completing the present extent of the line; Kawata (2nd), Anabuki, Oshima, Sadamitsu, Awa-Handa, Eguchi, Awa-Kamo, Tsuji and Awa-Ikeda open. The Kawata–Funato stretch and the original Kawata and Funato stations close.
• 193119 September: the Awa-Ikeda–Minawa section opens as a further extension of the Tokushima Main Line; Minawa Station opens.
• 193511 November: the Awa-Ikeda–Minawa section is transferred to the newly through-connected Dosan Line and the line's terminus is set back to Awa-Ikeda. (Sako Station opened earlier the same year, on 20 March.)
• 19861 November: freight service on the line is discontinued.
• 19871 April: on the privatisation of Japanese National Railways the line passes to JR Shikoku; the Tokushima–Sako section is reassigned to the Kōtoku Line and the Tokushima Main Line is redefined as Sako–Tsukuda.
• 19881 June: the line is renamed the Tokushima Line; one-man operation begins on 10 June.
• 199616 March: a high-speed upgrade to 110 km/h is completed and the 'Tsurugisan' limited express enters service.
• 20001 July: the official nickname 'Yoshino River Blue Line' comes into use.
• 202010 October: the 'Ai Yoshinogawa Trokko' sightseeing trolley train begins running between Tokushima and Awa-Ikeda.