History
Today's Ōtsu Station is the third to bear the name. The first opened on 15 July 1880 at the present Biwako Hamaotsu site as a terminus for Lake Biwa ferry transfers to Nagahama, Japan's earliest rail-and-ferry service. After the Kōtō Line completed in 1889, ferry traffic ended and the original station became a freight branch. The second Ōtsu was renamed from Baba in 1913, then reverted to Baba when the present (third) Ōtsu opened on 1 August 1921 on a shortened route through the new Shin-Osakayama Tunnel. The current fourth-generation building dates from 1975, and station numbering JR-A29 was introduced in March 2018.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-06-09.
Notes
Although Ōtsu serves the Shiga prefectural capital, in fiscal 2024 it averaged only 33,978 daily passengers — fewer than Moriyama or even nearby Seta, where the JR Special Rapid does not stop.