The Enshū Railway Line, officially the , is a Japanese

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

line in

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the north ...

, running north from Shin Hamamatsu, Naka Ward through Nishi Kajima,

Tenryū Ward is one of the seven wards of the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is bordered by Kita-ku and Hamakita-ku in Hamamatsu, the cities of Shimada and Iwata and towns of Mori and Kawanehon in Shizuoka, Shishiro, Tōei and Toyo ...

, all within

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview ...

. This is the only railway line Enshū Railway (Entetsu) operates. The line has a nickname , while locals often call it ''Akaden'' (あかでん, "The Red Train"), referring to the color of the EMUs. The line accepts NicePass, a

smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

ticketing system, as well as ET Card, a magnetic card ticketing system.

Railway signalling Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enor ...

on this line is automatic.

History

The line opened as 762mm gauge in 1909, and was converted to 1067mm gauge and electrified at 600 VDC in 1923. The voltage was increased to 750 VDC in 1961, and CTC signalling was commissioned between Nishi Kajima and Hachiman in 1967, and extended to Shin Hamamatsu in 1974. Freight services ceased in 1976.

Former connecting lines

* Hamakita station - The Far West Railway Co. opened a 4 km 762mm gauge line to Miyaguchi in 1924, and merged with the Enshu Railway Co. in 1928. The line closed in 1937.

Stations

All stations are within

, Shizuoka.

In Popular Culture

Enshū Railway Line is the setting of the Japanese Urban Legend "

Kisaragi Station is a Japanese urban legend about a fictitious railway station. The station first came into the news in 2004, when the story was posted on the internet forum 2channel. Plot A woman, who later revealed her name was "Hasumi" made a post inside a ...

References

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

External links