Kabe Line


The Kabe Line is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company within the city of Hiroshima in Japan. It connects Hiroshima Station and Aki-Kameyama Station in Asakita-ku. The actual junction station is Yokogawa. It is one of the commuter lines to Hiroshima.

Route data

Private railway

The section now in operation of the Kabe Line was originally constructed by a private company and later purchased by Japanese Government Railways.
The section was opened by Dainippon Kidō in four phases.
The line was handed over to Kabe Kidō on 11 March 1919.
Kabe Kidō was merged to Hiroshima Denki Kidō on 1 May 1926.
The line was originally built to gauge and not electrified. The line was electrified and re-gauged in the following steps.
The line was handed over to the Kōhin Railway on 1 July 1931.
On 1 December 1935, the line's legal status was changed from light railway to railway.

After nationalization

The line was nationalized on 1 September 1936, and became a part of Japanese Government Railways as the Kabe Line. Simultaneously, some station names were changed as follows:
The line voltage was raised from 750 V to 1,500 V on 23 April 1962.
Since 4 September 1968, the line had been on the government's list of deficit-ridden railways where service was to be discontinued.
After JR West took over the line in 1987, wanman driver-only operation was introduced on the Kabe – Sandankyō section.
Beginning in summer 2007, the ICOCA card can be used in all stations in the Hiroshima City Network, including all stations on the Kabe Line.
On 4 February 2011, it was announced that a section of the abandoned segment, between Kabe Station and the former Kōdo Station, would be electrified and reopened. This will be the first such reopening by a JR Group company since the privatization of Japanese National Railways. Operation was scheduled to resume from fiscal 2015; the two new stations at and finally opened on 4 March 2017.

Discontinued/suspended section

JGR extended the line beyond Kabe Station. The extended sections were not electrified.
The line was intended to be extended to Hamada station on the Sanin Main Line, and construction on that section commenced in 1974, before being abandoned in 1980.
The Kabe – Sandankyō section was closed on 1 December 2003.
Trains can pass at stations marked "||", "◇", "∨", and "∧". Trains cannot pass at stations marked "|".

Rolling stock

New 2- and 3-car 227 series electric trains are scheduled to be introduced on the Kabe Line from around 2015, replacing older 115 series trains.