Nagano Electric Railway

The Nagano Electric Railway (長野電鉄, Nagano Dentetsu) is a private railway based in Nagano, Japan. The company and its line are commonly referred to as Nagaden (長電). It originally operated three lines, but only the Nagano Line between Nagano — Suzaka — Shinshū-Nakano — Yudanaka remains in service.

Nagano Electric Railway
Snow Monkey
Overview
Other name(s)Nagano Dentetsu
Native name長野電鉄
TypeRailway
LocaleNagano, Japan
TerminiNagano
Yudanaka
Operation
Opened1926
Technical
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

Operations

The Nagano Line has frequent local and express services. It is a major route for commuter traffic in Nagano, and also serves as a link for tourists going to the town of Obuse, the hot springs at Yudanaka, and the ski resorts at Shiga Kōgen.

At limited times throughout the year, there are special reserve round-trip trains between Nagano and Obuse several nights a week in which customers are served a local, specially-made bento and drink local alcohol. For example, on select evenings in March and April, local nihonshu.[1] At other seasons, a beer train on the same route is available. In addition, a wine-tasting train from Nagano to Yudanaka or Yudanaka to Nagano is available on select Saturdays throughout the year.

Stations
No.[2] Station name Distance (km) Limited Express Connections Tracks Location
Between stations Total B A
N1 Nagano - 0.0 ● ● Hokuriku Shinkansen
Shin'etsu Main Line
Shinano Railway Kita-Shinano Line		 Two Nagano
N2 Shiyakushomae 0.4 0.4 ● ｜  
N3 Gondō 0.6 1.0 ● ●  
N4 Zenkōjishita 0.6 1.6 ｜ ※  
N5 Hongō 1.1 2.7 ● ｜  
N6 Kirihara 0.9 3.6 ｜ ｜  
N7 Shinano-Yoshida 0.7 4.3 ● ｜ Shinano Railway Kita-Shinano Line (Kita-Nagano)
N8 Asahi 2.0 6.3 ● ｜   ∨
N9 Fuzokuchūgakumae 0.7 7.0 ｜ ｜   ｜
N10 Yanagihara 1.0 8.0 ｜ ｜   ◇
N11 Murayama 2.0 10.0 ｜ ｜   ◇ Suzaka
N12 Hino 1.0 11.0 ｜ ｜   ｜
N13 Suzaka 1.5 12.5 ● ●   ◇
N14 Kitasuzaka 2.5 15.0 ｜ ｜   ◇
N15 Obuse 2.5 17.5 ● ●   ◇ Obuse (Kamitakai)
N16 Tsusumi 1.1 18.6 ｜ ｜   ｜
N17 Sakurasawa 2.7 21.3 ｜ ｜   ◇ Nakano
N18 Entoku 2.0 23.3 ｜ ｜   ◇
N19 Shinshū-Nakano 2.3 25.6 ● ●   ◇
N20 Nakano-Matsukawa 1.4 27.0 ｜ ｜   ｜
N21 Shinano-Takehara 2.3 29.3 ｜ ｜   ◇
N22 Yomase 1.1 30.4 ｜ ｜   ｜ Yamanouchi (Shimotakai)
N23 Kamijō 1.4 31.8 ｜ ｜   ｜
N24 Yudanaka 1.4 33.2 ● ●   ｜

Rolling stock
An 8500 series EMU
  • 1000 series 4-car EMUs (2 sets)
Ex-Odakyū 10000 series HiSE sets for Limited express "A" (Yukemuri) services. Entered service from 9 December 2006.
Ex-JR Narita Express 253 series sets for Snow Monkey limited express services. Entered service from 26 February 2011.
  • 3000 series 3-car EMUs
Ex-Tokyo Metro 03 series sets for local services. Introduced in January 2020. Scheduled to be replaced the existing 3500 & 3600 series for the year 2020.
  • 3500 series 2-car EMUs (14 sets) and 3600 series 3-car EMUs (3 sets)
Ex-TRTA 3000 series sets for local services. Introduced in 1993. Scheduled to be removed from service in the late 2020.
  • 8500 series 3-car EMUs (6 sets)
Ex-Tokyu 8500 series sets for local services. Introduced in 2005.[3]

Former rolling stock
For Limited express "B" services. (1957–August 2011)

History

The original Nagano Electric Railway was built in 1926, connecting Gondō in Nagano with Suzaka, and electrified at 1,500 V DC. Later that year, the company absorbed the operations of Katō Railway, which operated a line on the east bank of the Chikuma River from Yashiro via Suzaka to Kijima, with the Gongo to Yoshida section being double-tracked. The following year, an additional line was constructed from Shinshū-Nakano to Yudanaka, and in 1928, the line was extended to Nagano Station as dual track.

The Yoshida - Asahi section was double-tracked in 1956, and freight services ceased in 1979. CTC signalling was commissioned between Yudanaka and Asahi in 1980, and extended to Nagano in 1984. The section from Nagano to Zenkōjishita was converted to an underground railway in 1981.

Former connecting lines
  • Suzaka Station: The Kato Railway opened a 24 km line to Yashiro on the (now) Shinano Railway Line in 1922, electrified it at 1,500 V DC in January 1926, and merged with the Nagano Electric Railway in September the same year. Due to falling patronage, the line closed on 31 March 2012.[4]
  • Shinshū-Nakano Station: The Kato Railway opened the 13 km line to Kijima in 1925 and electrified it at 1,500 V DC the following year. Freight services ceased in 1979 and CTC signalling was commissioned on the line in 1980, but due to falling patronage, the line closed in 2002.


Nagano Electric Railway
  • Nagaden Beer Train
  • Nagaden Beer Train with bento boxes
  • Nagaden Local Sake (Jizake) Train
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gollark: And humans don't really have one as much as vague fuzzy processes for guessing what they should do at the time.

See also

References

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

  1. "ながでん地酒トレイン".
  2. 長野電鉄各駅情報一覧｜長野電鉄ホームページ. Nagaden (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 1 September 2014.
  3. "東急８５００系と田園都市線のあゆみ" [Tokyu 8500 series and the History of the Denentoshi Line]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō. Japan: Kōtsū Shimbunsha. 38 (301): 12–21. May 2009.
  4. 長野電鉄屋代線が廃止される [Nagano Electric Railway Yashiro Line Closes]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
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