Ohmi Railway Co., Ltd. ( 近江鉄道株式会社 , Ōmi Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha ) is a Japanese private railway company which operates in Shiga Prefecture , and a member of the Seibu group since 1943. The company is named after the Ōmi Province , the former name of the present-day Shiga. The railway is nicknamed "Gachakon train" ( ガチャコン電車 , Gachakon densha ) by local users because of its noisy sound.
8-568: Ohmi Railway is the longest private railway company in Shiga. The company was founded in 1896 and started train services from Hikone to Echigawa in 1898. The company was a subsidiary of Ujigawa Electric ( 宇治川電気 , Ujigawa Denki ) from 1926 to 1942. In 1944, the company absorbed the Yōkaichi Railway ( 八日市鉄道 , Yōkaichi Tetsudō ) , now the Yokaichi Line. Ohmi Railway consists of three lines:
16-408: A 2.8 km branch line from Shin-Yōkaichi to Misono between 1930 and 1964. The company also operates bus lines, taxis, Hachimanyama Ropeway , Shizugatake Lift, ships of Lake Biwa , a tour operator, an onsen hotel, two expressway service areas, a campsite, a driving school and parks in Shiga. Biwako Line The Biwako Line ( 琵琶湖線 , Biwako-sen ) is the nickname used by
24-498: Is used by the operator JR West for passenger announcements, the official status of Tōkaidō Main Line has not been changed or discussed. The counterpart for the line, Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) uses its official name "Tōkaidō Main Line" for the section of JR West, at the connections of Kyoto and Maibara. The "Biwako Line" nickname appears in some local newspapers and real estate advertisements. Frequent passengers understand that
32-585: The Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area . The line is named after Lake Biwa ( 琵琶湖 , Biwa-ko ) , which the route runs along. Line nicknames were introduced when the newly privatized JR West intended to use "familiar" names over official line names, such as Tōkaidō Main Line and Fukuchiyama Line . Biwako Line did not appear on the first list, and instead The JR Kyoto Line was to be called up to Maibara. A move in Shiga Prefecture opposed
40-537: The Biwako, JR Kyoto, JR Kobe lines are in fact one line, however, public recognition of the name is still in question, especially among non-users along the line. Stations are listed from east to west. The distance of Tokyo – Maibara is 445.9 km (277.1 mi), and that of Tokyo – Kyoto is 513.6 km (319.1 mi). Historically, the Tōkaidō Main Line continued from Tokyo to Kyoto and beyond, through Maibara. In
48-960: The Main Line, and two branch lines, the Yōkaichi Line and the Taga Line. The Main Line connects with the Tōkaidō Main Line ( Biwako Line ), the Hokuriku Main Line and the Tōkaidō Shinkansen at Maibara, the Biwako Line at Hikone, and the Kusatsu Line and the Shigaraki Kōgen Railway at Kibukawa. The Yōkaichi Line connects with the Biwako Line at Ōmi-Hachiman. At first, the Main Line was planned to connect Hikone and Fukawa (now Kōnan ) and run through to Ujiyamada . The Yōkaichi Line had
56-408: The name, claiming that the name of Kyoto Line in Shiga sounds like an auxiliary, requiring its own name in the prefecture. Biwako Line was thus made to refer to the section between Maibara and Kyoto. The section of the name was extended to Nagahama, on the alteration of electric supply from 20 kV AC to 1,500 V DC, which enabled through operation to Kyoto and Osaka. Although the "Biwako Line" nickname
64-468: 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 Nagahama Station ). The section, along with JR Kyoto Line and JR Kobe Line , forms a contiguous service that is the main trunk of JR West's "Urban Network" commuter rail network in
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