# Yōrō Railway Yōrō Line

Yōrō Line :
Legend :
This diagram: viewtalkedit :
The Yōrō Line (養老線, Yōrō-sen) is a railway line of a Japanese private railway operator Yōrō Railway (養老鉄道, Yōrō Tetsudō). The line traverses the northeastern side of the Yōrō Mountains and connects Kuwana Station in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture and Ibi Station in Ibigawa, Gifu Prefecture.
The northern portion of the Ōgaki section is locally and unofficially called the Ibi Line (揖斐線, Ibi-sen), as Ōgaki is a reversing station.
Kintetsu Railway, one of largest private railway companies in Japan, owns the tracks and rolling stocks of the line whereon Yōrō Railway (a Class II railway), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kintetsu, operated trains until 2018.

## Descriptions

* Company: Yōrō Railway (Category-2), Kintetsu Railway (Category-3)
* Length: 57.5 km (35.7 mi)
* Gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
* Power: Electric 1500 V DC
* No. of stations: 27 incl. both ends
* Track: single
* Maximum speed: 65 km/h (40 mph)
* Operation: All Local trains

## History

Initially steam powered, the line was constructed as a Class 1 railway by Yōrō Railway and opened in 1913 between Yōrō, Ōgaki, and Ikeno. In 1919, the present line was completed with extensions from Yōrō to Kuwana and Ikeno to Ibi. In 1922, Yōrō Railway merged with Ibi River Electric (揖斐川電気, Ibigawa Denki) and the following year the line was electrified (1500 V DC). In 1928, its railway was transferred to Yōrō Electric Railway (養老電気鉄道, Yōrō Denki Tetsudō). Since then, the operator has changed several times, namely to Ise Electric Railway (伊勢電気鉄道, Ise Denki Tetsudō) in 1929, to Yōrō Dentetsu (養老電鉄) in 1936, to Sangu Kyūkō Railway (参宮急行電鉄, Sangū Kyūkō Dentetsu) in 1940, to Kansai Kyūkō Railway (関西急行鉄道, Kansai Kyūkō Tetsudō) in 1941, finally to Kintetsu, then known as Kinki Nippon railway (近畿日本鉄道, Kinki Nippon Tetsudō), in 1944.
Following typhoon damage in 1959, the Kintetsu Nagoya Line was regauged to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), the Kintetsu standard which enables through trains to Osaka. However, the Yōrō Line remained at 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) partly due to through freight trains to the Japanese National Railways (JNR) lines at Ōgaki and Kuwana, as the line provided a shortcut between these stations.
With accumulating deficit, Kintetsu Corporation decided to split off the operation of the Yōrō Line in 2007. Local governments along the line made an agreement of financial aid to the Yōrō Railway until 2010.

## Stations

All stations are unattended with the exceptions of Ōgaki, Nishi-Ōgaki, Ibi, Yōrō, Komano, Tado, and Kuwana.
| Name | Japanese | Distance (km) | Distance (km) | Transfers | Location | Location |
| Name | Japanese | Between stations | Total | Transfers | Location | Location |
| Kuwana | 桑名 | - | 0.0 | Kansai Main Line (CJ07) Kintetsu Nagoya Line (E13) Sangi Railway Hokusei Line (Nishi-Kuwana) | Kuwana | Mie |
| Harima | 播磨 | 0.9 | 1.6 | | Kuwana | Mie |
| Shimo-Fukaya | 下深谷 | 2.4 | 4.0 | | Kuwana | Mie |
| Shimo-Noshiro | 下野代 | 2.6 | 6.6 | | Kuwana | Mie |
| Tado | 多度 | 2.0 | 8.6 | | Kuwana | Mie |
| Mino-Matsuyama | 美濃松山 | 3.3 | 11.9 | | Kaizu | Gifu |
| Ishizu | 石津 | 2.3 | 14.2 | | Kaizu | Gifu |
| Mino-Yamazaki | 美濃山崎 | 2.0 | 16.2 | | Kaizu | Gifu |
| Komano | 駒野 | 3.6 | 19.8 | | Kaizu | Gifu |
| Mino-Tsuya | 美濃津屋 | 4.7 | 24.5 | | Kaizu | Gifu |
| Yōrō | 養老 | 4.3 | 28.8 | | Yōrō, Yōrō District | Gifu |
| Mino-Takada | 美濃高田 | 3.0 | 31.8 | | Yōrō, Yōrō District | Gifu |
| Karasue | 烏江 | 2.7 | 34.5 | | Yōrō, Yōrō District | Gifu |
| Ōtoba | 大外羽 | 1.5 | 36.0 | | Ōgaki | Gifu |
| Tomoe | 友江 | 1.4 | 37.4 | | Ōgaki | Gifu |
| Mino-Yanagi | 美濃青柳 | 2.0 | 39.4 | | Ōgaki | Gifu |
| Nishi-Ōgaki | 西大垣 | 1.8 | 41.2 | | Ōgaki | Gifu |
| Ōgaki | 大垣 | 1.8 | 43.0 | Tōkaidō Main Line (CA77) ■ Tarumi Railway Tarumi Line (TR01) | Ōgaki | Gifu |
| Muro | 室 | 1.1 | 44.1 | | Ōgaki | Gifu |
| Kita-Ōgaki | 北大垣 | 1.3 | 45.4 | | Ōgaki | Gifu |
| Higashi-Akasaka | 東赤坂 | 2.1 | 47.5 | | Gōdo, Anpachi District | Gifu |
| Hiro-Gōdo | 広神戸 | 2.8 | 50.3 | | Gōdo, Anpachi District | Gifu |
| Kita-Gōdo | 北神戸 | 1.6 | 51.9 | | Gōdo, Anpachi District | Gifu |
| Ikeno | 池野 | 1.6 | 53.5 | | Ikeda, Ibi District | Gifu |
| Kita-Ikeno | 北池野 | 0.9 | 54.4 | | Ikeda, Ibi District | Gifu |
| Mino-Hongō | 美濃本郷 | 0.8 | 55.2 | | Ikeda, Ibi District | Gifu |
| Ibi | 揖斐 | 2.3 | 57.5 | | Ibigawa, Ibi District | Gifu |

## Connections

At Kuwana
* Kintetsu: Nagoya Line
* Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central): Kansai Main Line
At Ōgaki
* JR Central: Tōkaidō Main Line (the main line and the "Mino-Akasaka branch line")
* Tarumi Railway: Tarumi Line