is a

railroad company A rail transport company is a company active within the rail industry. It can be: * a manufacturing company, * a railway undertaking providing services through operating rolling stock, * a railway infrastructure manager. In some jurisdictions ...

based in

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

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 ...

(but with offices in

Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...

) in operation since March 2, 1942. It is a parent company of Keifuku Bus and Kyoto Bus, and an affiliated company of

Keihan Electric Railway The , known colloquially as the , , or simply , is a major Japanese private railway operator in Osaka, Kyoto, and Shiga Prefectures. The transit network includes seven lines; four main lines with heavy rolling stock, two interurban lines, and a ...

, which owns 42.89% of the company stock. The company's stock is traded on the second section of the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...

Lines

This railway started service in 1910, operated at that time by . It was transferred to the Kyoto-based electric power generation company . Later it built the Kitano Line. Formerly the company operated several railway lines in

. Some of them are now operated by

Echizen Railway is a third-sector railway operating company located in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. It owns and operates the Katsuyama Eiheiji Line between Fukui and Katsuyama and the Mikuni Awara Line between Fukui and Sakai. History In 1992, Keifuku ...

. The

Eizan Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway company whose two lines run entirely in Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, Sakyō-ku in the city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture. The name of this small railway network is abbreviated as , and is derived from the name of its predece ...

also belonged to Keifuku until 1985.

Randen

The is a small network of

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

lines classified legally as

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 ...

ways in

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 ...

Arashiyama Line

The connects Kyoto's city center (Shijo-Omiya terminal) and scenic

Arashiyama is a district on the western outskirts of Kyoto, Japan. It also refers to the mountain across the Katsura River, Ōi River, which forms a backdrop to the district. Arashiyama is a Cultural Properties of Japan, nationally designated Monument ...

area in the western suburb.

Kitano Line

The is from Kitano Hakubaicho Station near

Kitano Tenmangū is a Shinto shrine in Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. History The shrine was first built in 947 to appease the angry spirit of bureaucrat, scholar and poet Sugawara no Michizane, who had been exiled as a result of political maneuvers of his enemi ...

to Katabiranotsuji Station in the midst of Arashiyama (Main) Line.

Eizan Cable

The , officially the , is a

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

line in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto.

Eizan Ropeway

The ( Ja) is an

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto. The line length is . The cable and ropeway lines are for visitors to

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

on the northeastern edge of the city, together with

's Eizan Main Line.

History

Arashiyama Line

The Arashiyama Tram opened the line in 1910, with gauge and electrified at 600 V DC. The Kyoto Electric Light Company acquired the line in 1918, and double-tracked the track between 1925 and 1928. Keifuku acquired the line in 1942.

Kitano Line

The Kyoto Electric Light Company opened the line between 1925 and 1926, and double-tracked the Tokiwa to Narutaki section in 1930. Plans to double-track the rest of the line were abandoned as a result of the economic depression. Keifuku acquired the line in 1942.

Former connecting lines

* Arashiyama Station: A line electrified at 600 V DC and dual track except for the Kiyotaki tunnel operated to Kiyotaki between 1929 and 1944. It connected to a funicular which climbed to Atago Jinja on

Mount Atago is a 924m mountain in the northwestern part of Ukyo-ku, in the city of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, 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 borde ...

, Kosaku line which operated for the same period. Closed due to war time austerity measures, efforts to re-establish the incline in the 1950s were unsuccessful. ()

Etymology

"Keifuku" is composed of two characters "京" and "福", the former denoting Kyoto and the latter Fukui. As the Kyoto Dento lines used to be in Fukui, the hydraulic source, and in Kyoto, the company took the name "Keifuku".

References

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

External links

Randen

Keifuku Electric Railroad
{{Authority control Railway companies established in 1942 Rail transport in Kyoto Prefecture Railway companies of Japan Companies based in Kyoto Railway lines opened in 1910 Tram transport in Japan Standard-gauge railways in Japan Gondola lifts in Japan Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Japanese companies established in 1942 600 V DC railway electrification

Lines

Randen

Arashiyama Line

Kitano Line

Eizan Cable

Eizan Ropeway

History

Arashiyama Line

Kitano Line

Former connecting lines

Etymology

See also

References

External links