Osaka Loop Line


The Osaka Loop Line is a railway loop line in Japan operated by the West Japan Railway Company. It encircles central Osaka.
Part of a second, proposed outer second loop line, the Osaka Higashi Line, from Hanaten to Kyuhoji was opened on March 15, 2008, and the line from Shigino to Shin-Ōsaka opened in March 2019. This entry covers the original central loop line.

Outline

This loop line consists of two tracks around the heart of metropolitan Osaka. All trains consist of 8 carriages, with distinctive orange colour with white JR graphics on the front, rear and sides. The train schedule varies, but on average, two trains leave Tennōji Station and Ōsaka Station every seven minutes, in opposite directions.

Operation

On this line, JR West operates several types of trains. The line serves as a link between Ōsaka Station in northern Osaka, and Tennōji in southern central Osaka. Some Limited Express trains linking north and south of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area use the line as a bypass between the Tōkaidō Main Line in the north and the Hanwa Line in the south. Traffic is heavier in the eastern half, Osaka - Kyōbashi - Tennōji, than in the western half via Nishi-Kujō.

Direction

The completely loop shaped Osaka Loop Line is unable to use the 'up' and 'down' train direction convention commonly applied in Japanese railways, e.g. trains traveling to Tokyo are usually 'up' trains and vice versa. Instead, the words "outer circle" and the "inner circle" are used to refer to the direction. The outer is clockwise, the inner counterclockwise.
If rules, such as the registration of the line at Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport apply, the inner loop is down.

Local

Local trains are operated all day. Some operate over the complete loop, while some serve the eastern half between Osaka and Tennōji via Kyōbashi.
Eight-car EMUs of 323 series are used.

Sakurajima Line trains

Trains of the Sakurajima Line are now operated through to the loop line to/from Kyōbashi and Tennoji.
Eight-car 201 series and 323 series EMUs are used.

Rapids of Kansai Main Line

Through trains to the Kansai Main Line began operated in 1973. "Yamatoji Rapid" and "Regional Rapid" trains originate at Tennōji on the loop, passing the loop as "inner" via Osaka, and after stopping at Tennōji after a complete circuit, exit the loop onto the Kansai Main Line and terminate at, or. In the loop, Yamatoji Rapids pass some stations while Regional Rapids stop all.
For "Yamatoji Rapid" and "Regional Rapid", 8-car 221 series EMUs are used.

Rapids of Hanwa Line

Trains to the Hanwa Line, "Kansai Airport Rapid" for and Kishūji Rapid for originate at either Tennoji or Kyobashi, and together with other types of rapid trains, operate on the inner loop via Osaka, pausing at Tennoji and then exiting from the loop. This pattern commenced in 1989, but increased significantly in 1994 on the opening of Kansai Airport.
8-car 223 series and 225 series EMUs in 4+4 formations are used for Kansai Airport and Kishūji rapids. 113 series 4-car units were used for rapids of Shin-Ōsaka - in early morning and late night. They were withdrawn in 2010.

Limited express

Charged Limited Expresses such as Haruka for Kansai International Airport, and south bound Kuroshio on the Hanwa Line and Kisei Main Line heading for the scenic southern Wakayama Prefecture utilise the Osaka Loop Line to bypass the Tōkaidō Main Line and reach the Hanwa Line. On the loop, aside from Tennōji, limited numbers of trains stop only at Nishi-Kujō.
Between the Tōkaidō Main Line and the Osaka Loop Line, trains utilise the "Umeda freight line" which crosses immediately west of Ōsaka Station, not stopping at Osaka because no passenger facilities are installed on the freight line, until it merges the main line at Shin-Ōsaka. This route was introduced in 1989 on the completion of a bypass track from the Hanwa Line to platforms of the Kansai Main Line at Tennōji. Until then no through operations were possible from the Hanwa Line.
281 series EMUs are used for Haruka, 283 series EMUs, 287 series EMUs and 289 series EMUs for Kuroshio.

Freight trains

After the abandonment of the Naniwa freight terminal, freight trains on the line operate only between Fukushima and Nishikujō, from the "Umeda Freight Line" to on the Sakurajima Line.

Stations

Listed counterclockwise: All stations are in the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Stopping patterns

;Stations

Local

The first of a fleet of 21 new 323 series eight-car EMU trains were introduced from 24 December 2016, scheduled to entirely replace the fleet of 23 103 and 201 series trains by 2018. As of April 2019, few of the remaining 103 series and 201 series continue to be used on the Loop Line.

Yamatoji Rapid, Regional Rapid

Locomotives seen hauling freight trains include the M250 series, EF65, EF66, EF81, EF210 and DE10.

Former

Passenger

A special discount rate is applied for travels within the Osaka Loop Line, the Sakurajima Line and the segment between JR Namba Station and Tennōji Station of the Kansai Main Line.
The following table is the rate for adult single-ride tickets.
KilometreYen
1 – 3120
4 – 6160
7 – 10170
11 – 15190
16 – 20260

For travel between a station within the zone and a station out of the zone or between two stations out of the zone, fares are calculated in accordance with a universal fare table and the discount rate as above is not applicable.
For the calculation of the fare for travel between two stations out of the zone that includes the segment between Ōsaka Station and Tennōji Station of the Osaka Loop Line, where two routes are practical, the shorter route is always used irrespective of the actual travel route.

History

The Osaka Loop Line consists of four segments, namely:
;Jōtō Line
;Nishinari Line
;Kansai Main Line freight line
;Purpose built section

Jōtō Line

The Osaka to Tennōji via Kyōbashi section was opened by the Osaka Railway to link it to the Japanese Government Railway network in 1895. The line was opened in 2 stages: Tennōji - Tamatsukuri on 28 May; and Tamatsukuri - Umeda on 17 October.
Earlier, in 1889, the company opened its main line from - Tennōji - Minatomachi which includes a short section of the Osaka Loop Line, being Tennōji - ; Imamiya station itself, located between Tennōji and Minatomachi, was opened in 1890.
The Osaka Railway merged with the Kansai Railway in 1900, creating a single entity for the line from Tennōji Station to JGR Ōsaka Station. The Kansai Railway was acquired by the national government in 1907 under the 1906 Railway Nationalization Act. In 1909 the line was named the "Jōtō Line".
In 1930, distrances were changed to metric, thus the distance changed from 6.6 miles. to 10.7 km. Electrification of the Jōtō Line was commissioned in 1933.

Nishinari Line

The Osaka to Nishi-Kujō section was built by the Nishinari Railway to provide rail access to the Osaka Port. In 1898, the company opened the Osaka - line, which was leased to JGR in 1904. In 1906 the company was nationalized under the act of the same year. In 1909, the line was named the "Nishinari Line" which included the present-day Sakurajima Line.
The Nishinari Line was electrified in 1941.

Kansai Main Line Freight Line

The Tennōji to Sakaigawa Signal Box section was constructed for freight traffic by the JGR to the port area in 1928, connecting to a freight branch line of the Kansai Main Line, Imamiya - Naniwa - Osaka-minato with a distance of 5.2 mi.. In 1930 with the change to metric measurement, it became 8.2 km. The former Osaka-Minato and Osaka-Tōkō stations were closed in 1984.

Purpose-built loop line section

To complete the Loop Line, new tracks were constructed between Nishi-Kujō and Sakaigawa Signal Box by the then Japanese National Railways. In 1961, this section opened and the new Osaka Loop Line was named for the entirety of the then Jōtō Line, Osaka - Nishi-Kujō section of the Nishinari Line and the new Nishi-Kujō - Taishō - Tennōji section.
In 1964, operation as a complete Loop Line commenced with the opening of elevated double tracks around Nishi-Kujō. Until then the operation had been undertaken in the shape of a mirrored "6", Sakurajima - Nishi-Kujō - Osaka - Kyōbashi - Tennōji - Nishi-Kujō. The Tennōji - Shin-Imamiya section was quadrupled in 1968, to separate operations from the Kansai Main Line.