Yokogawara Line

Iyotetsu, the line's operator, 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. On the advice of a British engineer the company's founder adopted a narrow 762 mm gauge so that the line could be built with modest capital — a gauge that would shape the early Yokogawara Line as well.

The Yokogawara Line opened in two stages. The first section, from Sotogawa Station (the present Matsuyama City Station) to Hiraikawara Station (the present Hirai Station), opened on 7 May 1893. The line was then extended from Hiraikawara to Yokogawara on 4 October 1899, completing the route to its eastern terminus. In 1902 two of its stations were renamed, Sotogawa becoming Matsuyama and Hiraikawara becoming Hirai.

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, and the Yokogawara Line passed to it; the railway reverted to the Iyo Railway name on 1 April 1942 when the electric-power business was separated off. In the meantime, on 6 October 1931, the whole line was re-gauged from 762 mm to the broader 1,067 mm gauge it still uses, and new stations were added at Umemoto in 1935 and Minara in 1938.

A crisis came in the mid-1960s. The line was still steam-worked until it was dieselised, along with the branching Morimatsu Line, on 1 February 1954. In 1965, with the connected Morimatsu Line closed for lack of passengers, Iyotetsu decided to abolish the Hirai–Yokogawara section and replace it with buses. The municipalities along the route strongly opposed the plan and pressed instead for electrification to attract riders, helped by the fact that the parallel National Route 11 suffered heavy congestion near Matsuyama. A vigorous preservation campaign led to the decision being withdrawn.

Having chosen to keep the line, Iyotetsu electrified it. The Matsuyama City–Hirai section was energised on 10 June 1967 and the Hirai–Yokogawara section on 1 October 1967, completing electrification of the whole line; service then ran every 30 minutes, 32 round trips a day. Further stations opened during this period — Kita-Kume and the second Takubo in 1967 and Fukuonji in 1968 — and from 1971 the basic interval was tightened from 30 to 20 minutes.

The modern pattern took shape in 1981. On 10 August 1981 through services began with the Takahama Line, allowing trains to run across Matsuyama City between the two suburban lines, and the basic interval was shortened to 15 minutes; Aidai Igakubu Minamiguchi Station, serving the south entrance of Ehime University's medical faculty, opened the same day. Today the Yokogawara Line functions as a frequent commuter and university route on the eastern side of greater Matsuyama, through-running to Takahama on the far side of the city.

• 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 Iyo Railway opens its first line, Matsuyama–Mitsu, as Japan's first light railway and the first railway in Shikoku, at 762 mm gauge.
• 18937 May: the Yokogawara Line opens its first section, Sotogawa (now Matsuyama City) to Hiraikawara (now Hirai).
• 18994 October: the line is extended from Hiraikawara to Yokogawara, completing the route.
• 19021 June: Sotogawa Station is renamed Matsuyama and Hiraikawara Station is renamed Hirai.
• 191631 December: a merger of the Iyo Railway and Iyo Hydroelectric renames the company Iyo Railway Electric; the line passes to it.
• 19316 October: the whole line is re-gauged from 762 mm to 1,067 mm.
• 19421 April: with the electric-power business separated off, the line reverts to the Iyo Railway.
• 19541 February: the Yokogawara and Morimatsu lines are dieselised (steam operation ends).
• 1965Iyotetsu decides to abolish the Hirai–Yokogawara section and convert it to buses; a preservation campaign by lineside municipalities leads to the decision being withdrawn.
• 1967Electrification is completed: Matsuyama City–Hirai on 10 June and Hirai–Yokogawara on 1 October; service becomes 32 round trips a day at 30-minute intervals.
• 1971Service is increased from 30-minute to 20-minute intervals.
• 198110 August: through services with the Takahama Line begin and the interval is shortened to 15 minutes; Aidai Igakubu Minamiguchi Station opens the same day.