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| San'yō Main Line | |
|---|---|
      | |
 JNR 115-3000 in Setouchi yellow livery running near the Seto Inland Sea. | |
| Overview | |
| Other name | JR Kobe Line (Kobe – Himeji) |
| Native name | 山陽本線 |
| Owner | |
| Locale | Kansai,Chugoku,Kyushu regions |
| Termini | |
| Stations | 124 |
| Service | |
| Type | Heavy rail, commuter rail |
| System |
|
| Operator(s) |
|
| History | |
| Opened | 1872 |
| Technical | |
| Line length |
|
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Electrification |
|
| Operating speed |
|
TheSan'yō Main Line (山陽本線,San'yō-honsen) is a major railway line owned byJR Group companies in western Japan, connectingKōbe Station andMoji Station, largely paralleling the coast of theSeto Inland Sea, in other words, the southern coast of westernHonshu. TheSan'yō Shinkansen line largely parallels its route. The name Sanyō derived from the ancient region and highwaySan'yōdō, the road on the sunny (south) side of the mountains.
The Sanyō Main Line is operated by two JR companies:
TheWadamisaki Line, a short section of line in the length of 2.7 km (1.7 mi) betweenHyōgo andWadamisaki stations inKobe is a branch of the Sanyō Main Line. A short section connecting Kitakyushu Freight Terminal also forms part of the Sanyō Main Line.
●: Trains stop at all times
｜: Trains pass at all times
▲: Eastbound trains pass in the morning
○: Weekday mornings only
| Official line name | No. | Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Stop | Transfers | Location | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between stations | from Osaka | Local | Rapid | Special Rapid | Ward, City | Prefecture | |||||
| Through service to/from theJR Kyoto Line | |||||||||||
| Tokaido Main Line | A63 | Kobe | 神戸 | 1.7 | 33.1 | ● | ● | ● | Chuo-ku, Kobe | Hyōgo | |
| San'yō Main Line | |||||||||||
| A64 | Hyōgo | 兵庫 | 1.8 | 34.9 | ● | ● | | | Wadamisaki Line (San'yō Main Line) | Hyogo-ku, Kobe | ||
| A65 | Shin-Nagata | 新長田 | 2.3 | 37.2 | ● | | | | |
| Nagata-ku, Kobe | ||
| A66 | Takatori | 鷹取 | 1.0 | 38.2 | ● | | | | | Suma-ku, Kobe | |||
| A67 | Suma-Kaihinkōen | 須磨海浜公園 | 0.9 | 39.1 | ● | | | | | ||||
| A68 | Suma | 須磨 | 1.3 | 40.4 | ● | ▲ | | |  Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 06:Sanyo Suma Station) | |||
| A69 | Shioya | 塩屋 | 2.0 | 43.3 | ● | | | | | Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 08:Sanyo Shioya Station) | Tarumi-ku, Kobe | ||
| A70 | Tarumi | 垂水 | 2.9 | 46.2 | ● | ▲ | | | Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 11:Sanyo Tarumi Station) | |||
| A71 | Maiko | 舞子 | 2.0 | 48.2 | ● | ▲ | | | Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 13:Maiko-koen Station) | |||
| A72 | Asagiri | 朝霧 | 1.9 | 50.1 | ● | | | | | Akashi | |||
| A73 | Akashi | 明石 | 2.4 | 52.5 | ● | ● | ● | Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 17:Sanyo Akashi Station) | |||
| A74 | Nishi-Akashi | 西明石 | 3.4 | 55.9 | ● | ● | ● |  San'yō Shinkansen | |||
| A75 | Okubo | 大久保 | 2.8 | 58.7 | ○ | ● | | | ||||
| A76 | Uozumi | 魚住 | 3.5 | 62.2 | ○ | ● | | | ||||
| A77 | Tsuchiyama | 土山 | 3.1 | 65.3 | ○ | ● | | | Harima | |||
| A78 | Higashi-Kakogawa | 東加古川 | 3.3 | 68.6 | ○ | ● | | | Kakogawa | |||
| A79 | Kakogawa | 加古川 | 3.6 | 72.2 | ○ | ● | ● | IKakogawa Line | |||
| A80 | Hoden | 宝殿 | 3.3 | 75.5 | ● | | | Takasago | ||||
| A81 | Sone | 曽根 | 4.0 | 79.5 | ● | | | |||||
| A82 | Himeji Bessho | ひめじ別所 | 2.0 | 81.5 | ● | | | Himeji | ||||
| A83 | Gochaku | 御着 | 2.1 | 83.6 | ● | | | |||||
| A84 | Higashi-Himeji | 東姫路 | 2.4 | 86.0 | ● | | | |||||
| A85 | Himeji | 姫路 | 1.9 | 87.9 | ● | ● |
| ||||
| Through service to/from the San'yō Main Line (below) | |||||||||||
●: All trains stop
｜: Trains pass at all times
○: All trains stop, limited service
| Station name | Japanese | Total distance (km) | Transfers | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JR West | |||||
| Tokuyama | 徳山 | 414.9 | San'yō Shinkansen | Shūnan | Yamaguchi |
| Shinnan-yō | 新南陽 | 421.9 | |||
| Fukugawa | 福川 | 425.7 | |||
| Heta | 戸田 | 425.7 | |||
| Tonomi | 富海 | 434.2 | Hōfu | ||
| Hōfu Freight Terminal | 防府(貨) | 437.2 | |||
| Hōfu | 防府 | 441.4 | |||
| Daidō | 大道 | 449.2 | |||
| Yotsutsuji | 四辻 | 454.0 | Yamaguchi | ||
| Shin-Yamaguchi | 新山口 | 459.2 |
| ||
| Kagawa | 嘉川 | 463.2 | |||
| Hon-Yura | 本由良 | 467.7 | |||
| Kotō | 厚東 | 478.0 | Ube | ||
| Ube | 宇部 | 484.5 | Ube Line | ||
| Onoda | 小野田 | 488.0 | Onoda Line | Sanyōonoda | |
| Asa | 厚狭 | 494.3 | San'yō Shinkansen Mine Line | ||
| Habu | 埴生 | 502.6 | |||
| Ozuki | 小月 | 508.8 | Shimonoseki | ||
| Chōfu | 長府 | 515.0 | |||
| Shin-Shimonoseki | 新下関 | 520.9 | San'yō Shinkansen | ||
| Hatabu | 幡生 | 524.6 | San'in Main Line | ||
| Shimonoseki | 下関 | 528.1 | |||
| JR Kyushu | |||||
| Shimonoseki | 下関 | Shimonoseki | Yamaguchi | ||
| Moji | 門司 | 534.4 | JAKagoshima Main Line | Moji-ku, Kitakyushu | Fukuoka |
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The entire line between Kobe Station and Shimonoseki Station was originally opened by the privateSanyō Railway company. The section betweenHyōgo Station (inKobe) and Akashi Station (inAkashi, Hyōgo) opened first in 1888. In 1889 the line was extended to the east to Kobe Station (as a dual track section) and Tatsuno Station (inTatsuno,Hyōgo Prefecture) to the west. The Sanyō Railway was progressively extended to the west, reaching Okayama and then Fukuyama in 1891, Hiroshima in 1894 and in 1901 it reached Bakan (now Shimonoseki) Station. Under theRailway Nationalization Act of 1906 it was purchased by the Japanese government and renamed Sanyō Main Line.
The Hyogo – Himeji section was duplicated in 1899, and the Hiroshima – Kaitaichi section in 1903. After the line was nationalised, further duplications occurred between Kamigori – Yoshinaga in 1910/11, Hatabu – Shimonoseki in 1915 and Himeji – Agaho in 1917. Work to duplicate the remainder of the line commenced in 1921, and opened in stages until completed in 1930, with the exception of the section between Iwakuni and Kushigahama, where construction of a new direct line had commenced. This direct line, which bypassed the coastal section via Yanai involved significant tunnelling, and unexpected geological instability delayed completion of the line until 1934, and then as a single track. Although the new line became the Sanyo Main Line at that time, in 1944 the original coastal alignment was duplicated and returned to the formal Sanyo Main Line, with the former bypass line becoming theGantoku Line.
The Kobe – Akashi section was electrified in 1934, extended to Himeji in 1958, Hiroshima in 1962 and (except for the Wadamisaki Line, which was electrified in 2001) the entire line was electrified in 1964, to coincide with the opening of theTōkaidō Shinkansen betweenTokyo andShin-Osaka the same year.
The Sanyō Main Line approximately parallels the Inland Sea but some sections could be shortened by tunnels. In 1934, theGantoku Line betweenIwakuni andTokuyama was opened and replaced the former line which traversesYanai adjacent to the Inland Sea. In 1944, this new alignment was replaced again by the previous coastal alignment because the coastal line was upgraded to dual tracks.
The Sanyō Main Line was connected toKyushu by ferry fromShimonoseki and Shimonosekiko Station (Port Shimonoseki). In 1942, theKanmon Tunnel under theKanmon Straits was completed and the Sanyō Main Line was extended toMoji Station. A second tunnel duplicating the section opened in 1944.
Prior to the opening of theSan'yō Shinkansen, many expresses operated on the Sanyō Main Line as it served as a major transport corridor through Western Honshu and connecting toKyushu. The Shinkansen was extended as the San'yō Shinkansen line, first toOkayama Station in 1972, and then toHakata Station in 1975. On both occasions, many express services on the Sanyo Main Line were withdrawn, and since 1972, the line has been mainly used by local and freight services.CTC signalling was commissioned between Mihara and Shimonoseki in 1984.
The section between Kobe and Nishi Akashi was severely damaged by the 1995Great Hanshin earthquake, and took ten weeks to repair.
The2018 Japan floods resulted in the Okayama – Shimonoseki section closing on 6 July 2018.[2] The majority of services were restored between 8 July – 18 July of that year, but the Yanai – Tokuyama section remained out of service until 9 September of that year.[3]
The Tatsuno Electric Railway Co. opened a 17 km (11 mi)1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge line electrified at 600 VDC from Shingu-Cho to Aboshiko between 1909 and 1915 which connected at this station. The line closed in 1934.
A 6 km line to Hamadako operated between 1943 and 1989.
The Kirin Brewery operated a 2 km (1.2 mi) line to its complex between 1937 and 1986.
| Shinkansen | |
|---|---|
 JR West | |
 Osaka Metro | |
 Kobe Municipal Subway | |
 Kyoto Municipal Subway | |
 Hankyu | |
 Hanshin | |
 Keihan | |
 Nankai | |
 Kintetsu | |
 Shintetsu | |
| Other heavy rail lines | |
| Light metros and monorails | |
| Tram and light rails |
|
| Hinterland | |
| Funiculars andaerial lifts | |
| Public ferries |
|
| Major terminals | |
| Miscellaneous | |
 JR Kyushu lines | ||
|---|---|---|
| Shinkansen | .svg){kind=logo} | |
| Main | ||
| Local | ||
| Others | ||
| Past | ||
Authority control databases: National |
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