The is a railway line in western

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

operated by

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

(JR West). It connects Tsuge on the

Kansai Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, which connects Nagoya Station with JR Namba Station in Osaka. It is jointly run by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), with the boundary between both compan ...

with Kusatsu on the

Biwako Line The is the nickname used by the operator of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) to refer to the portion of the Tōkaidō Main Line (between Maibara Station and Kyoto Station) and the Hokuriku Main Line (between Maibara Station and Nagaham ...

(

Tōkaidō Main Line The Tōkaidō Main Line () is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo Station, Tokyo and Kōbe St ...

Overview

Kusatsu line mainly runs through area around Kōka City, on the mostly flat terrain along Somagawa and Yasu Rivers. Due to the long distance between consecutive stations, the scheduled speed is fast for a single-track train, with a top speed of 95 km/h. The symbol of the route is C.

History

The Kansai Railway Co. opened the entire line in 1889/90, and was nationalised in 1907. The section of railway between Kusatsu Station and Tsuge Station received the name "Kusatsu Line" on October 12, 1909. CTC signalling was commissioned in 1979, the line was electrified in 1980 and freight services ceased in 1987. Construction of a new station, "Minami-Biwako", began in May 2006 and was planned to be completed in 2012. The station was proposed to allow passengers to transfer between the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the San'yō Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opening in 19 ...

and Kusatsu lines. However, in September 2006, the Otsu district court concluded that Ritto City issuing bonds to fund the station's construction was illegal under local finance law and the project was halted; the project was officially abandoned in October 2007.

Stations

Train stops at all stations and operates as a local train within the line.

References

Lines of West Japan Railway Company Transport in Shiga Prefecture Transport in Mie Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1889 {{japan-rail-line-stub

Overview

History

Stations

See also

References