Uemachi Line

The line began life as a horse tramway. It was first planned to carry passengers between Tennōji and the Tengachaya pleasure grounds, but the purpose was later changed to serving worshippers travelling to the temple Shitennō-ji and the shrine Sumiyoshi Taisha. In 1900 the Osaka Horse Railway (大阪馬車鉄道) opened the first section, from the Chōjagasaki area of Tennōji village — near present-day Matsuzaki-chō in Abeno Ward, by Tennōji-ekimae — to Tengachaya, the later Higashi-Tengachaya, using 1,067 mm gauge track. It was extended to Kamisumiyoshi (now Kaminoki) the same year and on to Shimosumiyoshi (later Sumiyoshijinja-mae, now Sumiyoshi) in 1902.

From the start the horse tramway had to compete with the Nankai Railway's Tennōji Branch Line, which opened barely a month after it, and persistent losses pushed the company to abandon horse traction and electrify. It renamed itself from the Osaka Horse Railway to the Osaka Densha Railway (大阪電車鉄道) and then to the Naniwa Densha Tramway (浪速電車軌道), and in 1907 obtained, under the Tramway Ordinance, a licence for an electric tramway between Tennōji and Sumiyoshi Park. The whole line was closed in February 1908 to be regauged to 1,435 mm and electrified, but the work was only half finished when, in December 1909, the Nankai Railway absorbed the Naniwa Densha Tramway and took the project over.

Nankai completed the conversion and on 1 October 1910 reopened the route, running electric cars between Tennōji (the later Tennōji-nishimon-mae) and Sumiyoshijinja-mae; the line was named the Uemachi Connecting Line (上町連絡線). At the time the city of Osaka pursued a policy of municipal monopoly over inner-city transport, but, lacking the funds to build its own lines, it allowed private operators to run into the city in exchange for financing municipal tram construction. Under a track-sharing agreement inherited by Nankai, through running onto the Osaka City Tram began in 1911, reaching as far as Tenmabashi; when the city changed its fare system the following year the arrangement became untenable and through running was discontinued in 1912, at which point the line was renamed from the Uemachi Connecting Line to the Uemachi Line.

In July 1913 the line was extended from Sumiyoshijinja-mae to Sumiyoshi Park, completing its full length. In 1921 the section from Tennōji to the East Park Gate was transferred to the city of Osaka and folded into the municipal tram network — the Tennōji terminus becoming Tennōji-nishimon-mae and the East Park Gate being merged into Abenobashi — while Nankai's own East Park Gate stop was renamed Tennōji-ekimae, the present northern terminus. Ownership of the line itself then changed several times: in 1944 the Kansai Kyūkō Railway and the Nankai Railway merged to form the Kinki Nippon Railway (today's Kintetsu), and in 1947 the former Nankai lines were split off again to the Nankai Electric Railway, where the Uemachi Line became part of the Osaka tram network alongside the Hankai and Hirano lines.

The modern operator was created in 1980. After the Hirano Line ran for the last time on 27 November that year, the Uemachi Line and the Hankai Line were transferred on 1 December 1980 to the newly separated Hankai Tramway. Decades later the line's southern tip was cut back: on 31 January 2016 the short Sumiyoshi–Sumiyoshi Park section was abandoned, the company citing the several hundred million yen that renewing its worn-out track and points would have cost. Apart from the surviving former Sumiyoshi-kōen station building, the trackbed became a car park, though railway-style catenary poles still stand on it because the section carries the feeder line that supplies power from the Nankai Main Line to the Hankai and Uemachi lines.

Today the Uemachi Line runs the 4.3 kilometres from Tennōji-ekimae to Sumiyoshi. Through running with the Hankai Line, which had lapsed earlier, was restored on 4 July 2009, with cars working through from Tennōji-ekimae via Sumiyoshi and Abikomichi to Hamadera-ekimae; from 2 February 2013 Tennōji-ekimae became the only stop from which trams ran through to Hamadera-ekimae. In 2018 the line's track and rolling stock were recognised, as part of the "Hankai Tramway and Associated Facilities" group, as a Civil Engineering Heritage selection by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, and the Uemachi Line remains a busy link between the Tennōji terminal district and the historic Sumiyoshi quarter.

• 190020 September: the Osaka Horse Railway opens the first section, from the Chōjagasaki area of Tennōji village (near present Tennōji-ekimae) to Tengachaya (later Higashi-Tengachaya), at 1,067 mm gauge; on 29 November it is extended to Kamisumiyoshi (now Kaminoki).
• 190227 December: the line is extended from Kamisumiyoshi to Shimosumiyoshi (later Sumiyoshijinja-mae, now Sumiyoshi).
• 190712 February: an electric-tramway licence for Tennōji–Sumiyoshi Park is granted under the Tramway Ordinance; the company is renamed the Osaka Densha Railway on 29 March and the Naniwa Densha Tramway on 29 October.
• 19081 February: the whole line is closed to be regauged to 1,435 mm and electrified.
• 190924 December: the Nankai Railway absorbs the Naniwa Densha Tramway, taking over the unfinished conversion.
• 19101 October: the line reopens after the gauge conversion and electrification; electric cars run between Tennōji (later Tennōji-nishimon-mae) and Sumiyoshijinja-mae, and the route is named the Uemachi Connecting Line.
• 191129 January: through running onto the Osaka City Tram begins (Tennōji-nishimon-mae to Tanimachi 6-chōme); on 20 August it is extended to Tenmabashi.
• 191212 January: through running onto the Osaka City Tram ends, and the route is renamed from the Uemachi Connecting Line to the Uemachi Line.
• 19132 July: the line is extended from Sumiyoshijinja-mae to Sumiyoshi Park, completing its full length.
• 192121 December: the Tennōji–East Park Gate section is transferred to the city of Osaka and merged into the municipal tram network; Nankai's East Park Gate stop is renamed Tennōji-ekimae, the present northern terminus.
• 19441 June: the Kansai Kyūkō Railway and the Nankai Railway merge to form the Kinki Nippon Railway (today's Kintetsu); the line comes under its Tennōji operating bureau.
• 19471 June: the former Nankai lines are split off to the Nankai Electric Railway, and the Uemachi Line becomes part of its Osaka tram network alongside the Hankai and Hirano lines.
• 19801 December: after the Hirano Line's final run on 27 November, the Uemachi Line and the Hankai Line are transferred to the newly separated Hankai Tramway Co., Ltd.
• 20094 July: through running with the Hankai Line is restored, with cars working from Tennōji-ekimae via Sumiyoshi and Abikomichi to Hamadera-ekimae.
• 20132 February: Tennōji-ekimae becomes the only stop from which trams run through to Hamadera-ekimae.
• 201631 January: the Sumiyoshi–Sumiyoshi Park section is abandoned, the company citing the several hundred million yen needed to renew its worn-out track and points; on 3 December the Tennōji-ekimae–Abeno track is relocated, shortening the line by 0.1 km to its present 4.3 km.
• 2018The line's track and rolling stock are recognised, as part of the 'Hankai Tramway and Associated Facilities' group, as a Civil Engineering Heritage selection by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers.