Kōtoku Line

The Kōtoku Line (高徳線, Kōtoku-sen) is a railway line owned and operated by Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). It connects the prefectural capitals of Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture and Tokushima in Tokushima Prefecture. The route approximates the northeastern coast of the island of Shikoku. Its name comes from the characters in the names of the prefectures that the line connects: Takamatsu (高松) and Tokushima (徳島).

Kōtoku Line
A local train traveling over the Kasuga River with Yashima in the background
Overview
TypeHeavy rail
LocaleKagawa, Tokushima prefectures
TerminiTakamatsu
Tokushima
Stations29
Operation
Opened1899
Operator(s) JR Shikoku
Technical
Line length74.5 km (46.3 mi)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
ElectrificationNone
Operating speed130 km/h (80 mph)
Route map

Sanuki, the name of the ancient province that preceded the modern Kagawa Prefecture, appears in the names of some stations on the line.

Services

The Uzushio limited express serves the entire line. Two round-trips per day run through to/from Okayama.

In addition to local trains that run the entire length of the Kōtoku Line, there are trains that run between Takamatsu and Orange Town, Sambommatsu, and Hiketa, as well as between Tokushima and Itano and Tokushima and Hiketa. For a single-tracked line service levels are quite high, except along the prefectural border between Itano and Hiketa. In Tokushima there are through trains to/from the Naruto and Mugi lines, with one train per day running from Takamatsu to Mugi via Anan.

Since the completion of electrification work between Takamatsu and Iyoshi on the Yosan Line, the Kōtoku Line has received some of the newest DMUs on the JR Shikoku network. Local services often use 1000 series, 1200 series and 1500 series DMUs, while limited express services are handled by N2000 series DMUs.

Station list
  • Local trains stop at all stations. For details of the Uzushio limited express service see that article.
  • Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇" and "^" and cannot pass at those marked "｜".
Station No. Station Japanese Distance (km) Transfers   Location
Between
stations		 Total City/town Prefecture
T28 Takamatsu 高松 - 0.0 ■ Yosan Line (Y00) (Seto-Ōhashi Line)
Kotoden Kotohira Line (Takamatsu-Chikkō)		 ∨ Takamatsu Kagawa
T27 Shōwachō 昭和町 1.5 1.5   ｜
T26 Ritsurin-Kōen-Kitaguchi 栗林公園北口 1.7 3.2   ｜
T25 Ritsurin 栗林 1.1 4.3   ◇
T24 Kitachō 木太町 2.4 6.7   ｜
T23 Yashima 屋島 2.8 9.5   ◇
T22 Furutakamatsu-Minami 古高松南 1.3 10.8   ｜
T21 Yakuriguchi 八栗口 1.5 12.3   ◇
T20 Sanuki-Mure 讃岐牟礼 1.1 13.4 Kotoden Shido Line (Yakuri-Shimmichi) ｜
T19 Shido 志度 2.9 16.3 Kotoden Shido Line (Kotoden-Shido) ◇ Sanuki
T18 Orange Town オレンジタウン 2.6 18.9   ◇
T17 Zōda 造田 2.4 21.3   ◇
T16 Kanzaki 神前 2.1 23.4   ｜
T15 Sanuki-Tsuda 讃岐津田 4.3 27.7   ◇
T14 Tsuruwa 鶴羽 2.7 30.4   ◇
T13 Nibu 丹生 4.0 34.4   ◇ Higashikagawa
T12 Sambommatsu 三本松 3.2 37.6   ◇
T11 Sanuki-Shirotori 讃岐白鳥 3.1 40.7   ◇
T10 Hiketa 引田 4.4 45.1   ◇
T09 Sanuki-Aioi 讃岐相生 2.5 47.6   ◇
T08 Awa-Ōmiya 阿波大宮 5.6 53.2   ◇ Itano, Itano District Tokushima
T07 Itano 板野 4.8 58.0   ◇
T06 Awa-Kawabata 阿波川端 1.8 59.8   ｜
T05 Bandō 板東 2.3 62.1   ◇ Naruto
T04 Ikenotani 池谷 2.1 64.2 ■ Naruto Line (N04) (some trains through to Tokushima) ◇
T03 Shōzui 勝瑞 2.7 66.9   ◇ Aizumi, Itano District
T02 Yoshinari 吉成 1.3 68.2   ◇ Tokushima
T01 Sako 佐古 4.9 73.1 ■ Tokushima Line (B01) (All trains through to Tokushima) ◇
T00 Tokushima 徳島 1.4 74.5 ■ Mugi Line (M00) ◇

History

The first part of what is now the Kotoku Line was built by the Tokushima Railway, being the Sako to Tokushima section of its line from Kamojima (now the Tokushima Line) opened on February 16, 1899. That company was nationalised in 1907. In 1916 the Awa Electric Railway opened a line from Nakahara to Naruto, including the Yoshinari to Ikenotani section, which is now part of the Kotoku Line. The Takamatsu to Hikida section was opened between 1925-28 by the (then) Japanese Imperial Railways.

In 1933 the Awa Electric Railway was nationalised, and in 1935 the Hikida to Ikenotani and Yoshinari to Sako sections were opened, completing the line.

In 1977 CTC signalling became operational for the line, and freight operations ceased in 1986.

With the privatization of JNR, the line became part of the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) on April 1, 1987. On June 1, 1988 the line name changed from Kōtoku Main Line to Kōtoku Line.

The elevated Sako Station was commissioned in 1993, and in 1998 track improvement allowing faster speeds was completed, and Orange Town Station opened.

Former connecting lines
  • Itano Station: The Awa Electric Railway opened a 7 km line to Kajiyabara in 1923, it being taken over by the Japanese Imperial Railways when the company was nationalised in 1933. The line closed in 1972.
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See also

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

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