Ise Line

Ise Line
An Ise Railway type III DMU on the Ise Line
Overview
Native name	伊勢線
Status	In operation
Owner	Ise Railway
Locale	Mie Prefecture
Termini	Kawarada Tsu
Stations	10
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Services	3
Operator(s)	Ise Railway, JR Central
Depot(s)	Tamagaki
Rolling stock	Ise Railway type III DMU, KiHa 75 series DMU, HC85 series DEMU
History
Opened	1 September 1973
Technical
Line length	22.3 km (13.9 mi)
Number of tracks	Single (Tsu - Nakaseko) Double (Nakaseko - Kawarada)
Character	Mainly urban with some rural areas
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	110 km/h (68 mph)

The Ise Line (伊勢線, Ise-sen) is a Japanese railway line in Mie Prefecture which runs between Kawarada Station, Yokkaichi, and Tsu Station. It is the only railway line of the third-sector operator Ise Railway (伊勢鉄道, Ise Tetsudō), commonly abbreviated to Isetetsu (伊勢鉄). The company took over the former Japanese National Railways line in 1987.

The line was originally built as a shorter route between Nagoya and south Kii Peninsula (Kisei Main Line). As such, the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) limited express train Nanki and rapid train Mie still use the line, providing the primary revenue stream for the company. The line also transports spectators when Formula One World Championship Japanese Grand Prix is held at Suzuka Circuit (1987–2006, 2009 onward).

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The line was opened by JNR in 1973 as a shortcut between the Kansai Main Line and the Kisei Line. The entire line was built with future double-tracking and electrification in mind, as such there is necessary equipment installed along the entire line. However, usage was sluggish and the line operated with a deficit due to the initial single track limiting the number of services to 7 round trips for local plus 3 round trips for Limited Express Services daily. On the other hand, the Kintetsu Nagoya Line which ran parallel to the Ise line operated with 44 round trips Limited Express, 34 round trips Express, 9 round trips Semi-express, and 62 round trips local services daily.

After the dissolution of JNR, the Ise Line was scheduled to be abolished, and since the line ran outside urban areas there was no opposition from the local residents or government. In 1986, it was decided to convert the line over to a third sector railway. In 1987 the line was transferred to the Ise Railway Co. At the time of conversion, the only train exchange facility was at Tamagaki Station therefore it was decided that the section between Kawarada and Nakaseko was to be double-tracked to increase transport capacity. In 1993, the track between Kawarada and Nakaseko was doubled which increased the transport capacity to 55 round trips per day. The cost of construction for double-tracking between Kawarada-Nakaseko (12.8 km (8.0 mi)) was 2.05 billion yen, of which Ise Railways paid 430 million yen while the rest was paid by the national government, Mie Prefecture, and the local government along the line. Most passengers are those that pass through on the "Mie" Rapid and "Nanki" Limited Express services, but there are increasing commuter passengers due to the opening of the Suzuka University near Nakaseko Station. In 1996, the line turned a profit for the first time.

Freight services started operations in 2008, but ceased in 2013.

All stations are in Mie Prefecture.

Key:

L: Local (普通, Futsū)

R: Rapid "Mie" (快速「みえ」, Kaisoku Mie)

E: Limited Express "Nanki" (特急「南紀」, Tokkyū Nanki)

Smaller keys show that some trains stop on the days of racing events at Suzuka Circuit.

• List of railway companies in Japan
• List of railway lines in Japan

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

• Ise Railway official website (in Japanese)