The , known colloquially as the , , or simply , is a major Japanese private railway operator in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, and Shiga Prefectures. The transit network includes seven lines; four main lines with heavy rolling stock, two

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

lines, and a

funicular railway A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends ...

. It is a subsidiary of Keihan Holdings, Ltd. ().

History

Keihan started its operation between Osaka and Kyoto in 1910. It was the first electric railway to connect these two cities, and the first line on the left bank of Yodo River. Keihan later purchased the lines in the

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

area (Ōtsu Lines). In the 1920s, Keihan built another Osaka-Kyoto line through its subsidiary , which merged into Keihan in 1930. This line is now known as the Hankyu Kyoto Line. In 1943, with the power given by the (Act No. 71 of 1938), the wartime government of Japan forced Keihan to merge with Hanshin Kyūkō Railway to form . In 1949, the pre-war Keihan operations, except for Shinkeihan lines, were restored to independence under the original corporate name. Keihanshin Kyūkō Railway later changed their name to the present Hankyu Railway.

Lines

The lines operated by Keihan are grouped into Keihan Lines and Ōtsu Lines. The Keihan Lines consist of the Keihan Main Line and four branch lines that operate between

and

; these use long formations of heavy rolling stock. The two Ōtsu Lines are interurbans, featuring

street running A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as ru ...

sections and

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

-like rolling stock; these operate between Kyoto and

and are otherwise disconnected from the Keihan lines. The entire network is built in

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

. Additionally, Keihan Electric Railway operates a

in Yawata which provides access to Iwashimizu Shrine.

Current lines

Keihan Lines

* Keihan Main Line/ Ōtō Line: Yodoyabashi - Demachiyanagi * Nakanoshima Line: Nakanoshima - Temmabashi * Katano Line: Hirakatashi - Kisaichi * Uji Line: Chushojima - Uji

Ōtsu Lines

* Keishin Line: Misasagi - Biwako-hamaotsu * Ishiyama Sakamoto Line: Ishiyamadera - Sakamoto-hieizanguchi

Other lines

* Cable Line (鋼索線), also called Iwashimizu-Hachimangū Cable (石清水八幡宮参道ケーブル)

Closed lines

* Keishin Line: Keishin-Sanjo (Sanjo) - Misasagi

Unbuilt line

*Umeda Line

Rolling stock

, Keihan owns a fleet of 693 vehicles (including two funicular cars), as follows.

Keihan Lines

* 1000 series 7-car EMUs x 6 (introduced 1977) * 2200 series 7-car EMUs x 7 (introduced 1964) * 2400 series 7-car EMUs x 6 (introduced 1969) * 2600 series 7-car EMUs x 7 (introduced 1978) * 3000 series 8-car EMUs x 6 (introduced 2008) * 5000 series 7-car EMUs x 7 (introduced 1970) * 6000 series 7/8-car EMUs x 14 (introduced 1983) * 7000 series 7-car EMUs x 4 (introduced 1989) * 7200 series 7/8-car EMUs x 3 (introduced 1995) * 8000 series 8-car EMUs x 10 (introduced 1989) * 9000 series 7/8-car EMUs x 5 (introduced 1997) * 10000 series 4/7-car EMUs x 6 (introduced 2002) * 13000 series 4/7-car EMUs x 8 (introduced 2012) File:Keihan Electric Railway - Series 2630 - 01.JPG, Keihan 2600 series File:Keihan 3000 rapid limited express RAKURAKU owada.jpg, Keihan 3000 series File:Keihan8000 Premium car connection.jpg, Keihan 8000 series File:Keihan8551.jpg, Keihan 8000 series Premium car File:Keihan 10000 series 10051 Katanoshi Station.jpg, Keihan 10000 series File:Keihan 13001 Uji Line 20120414.jpg, Keihan 13000 series

Ōtsu Lines

* 600 series 2-car EMUs x 10 * 700 series 2-car EMUs x 5 * 800 series 4-car EMUs x 8 (introduced 1997) File:Keihan800-hot-ksm.jpg, Keihan 800 series

Former rolling stock

* 1900 series 5-car EMUs (introduced 1963) * 8030 series 8-car EMU (introduced 1971)

Fares

Keihanbus yamashina-office introduction photo

Train fare varies based on travel distance. As of January 1, 2009, IC cards ( PiTaPa and ICOCA) are accepted on the Keihan Lines and the Otsu Lines, but not on the Cable Line. The fare rate was changed on April 1, 2014 to reflect the change in the rate of consumption tax from 5% to 8%.

Keihan Lines (Keihan Main Line, Oto Line, Nakanoshima Line, Katano Line, Uji Line)

*Additional fare when taking or passing the following lines :Oto Line: 60 yen :Nakanoshima Line (Nakanoshima - Oebashi): 60 yen *When using commutation tickets, Naniwabashi Station is treated as the same station as Kitahama Station, and Oebashi Station as that as Yodoyabashi Station.

Otsu Lines (Keishin Line, Ishiyama Sakamoto Line)

Cable line

:200 yen

Etymology

The name ''Keihan'', which is also used for the Kyoto-Osaka region, is derived from the words

and

in Japanese, and is a

clipped compound In linguistics, a clipped compound is a word produced from a compound word by reducing its parts while retaining the meaning of the original compound.Elisa Mattiello, "An Introduction to English Slang: A Description of Its Morphology, Semantics and ...

of the names, with the reading of the characters changed: and are combined to , replacing the

go-on are Japanese kanji readings based on the classical pronunciations of Chinese characters of the historically prestigious eastern Jiankang (now Nanjing) dialect. ''Go-on'' are the earliest form of , preceding the readings. Both ''go-on'' and ...

reading and

kun'yomi is the way of reading kanji characters using the native Japanese word that matches the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced. This pronunciation is contrasted with ''on'yomi'', which is the reading based on the original Chi ...

with the kan-on readings and . This is commonly done in names for regions or train lines, with kan-on readings (the most common readings in

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

compounds) being used for the compounds, while place names use other readings. The larger region, including , is similarly called , the go-on reading replacing the kun'yomi , and the corresponding Kyoto-Kobe line is the line.

Other businesses

Keihan also operates (through its subsidiaries) other businesses such as bus, taxi,

water bus A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or on de ...

, hotel, department store and amusement park, mainly in the area along its railway system. * Keihan Cable Line * Keihan Bus

References

External links

Keihan Electric Railway

Keihan Electric Railway
{{Authority control Companies listed on the Osaka Exchange Railway companies of Japan Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Rail transport in Shiga Prefecture Rail transport in Kyoto Prefecture Rail transport in Osaka Prefecture 600 V DC railway electrification 1500 V DC railway electrification