Kosei Line
 |
| Kosei Line | |
|---|---|
 Special Rapid Service train (right) and Thunderbird limited express (left) at Hira Station | |
| Overview | |
| Owner | JR West |
| Locale | Kyoto Prefecture and Shiga Prefecture |
| Termini |
|
| Stations | 21 |
| Service | |
| Type | Heavy rail |
| System | Urban Network (Yamashina - Nagahara) |
| Operator(s) | JR West JR Freight |
| History | |
| Opened | 1974 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 74.1 km (46.0 mi) |
| Track gauge | 1067 |
| Operating speed | 130 km/h (80 mph)* |
The Kosei Line (湖西線, Kosei-sen) is a commuter rail line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was completed in 1974 by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) to provide faster access from the Kansai region to the Hokuriku region. It originates at Yamashina Station in Yamashina-ku, Kyoto and ends at Ōmi-Shiotsu Station in Nagahama, Shiga.
Its name means "the line to the west of the lake," indicating that it skirts Lake Biwa along its western shore. Trains continue from Yamashina to Kyoto Station on the Tōkaidō Main Line for convenient transfer to lines serving the Kansai as well as the Tōkaidō Shinkansen.
In addition to local, Rapid and Special Rapid services, limited express trains such as Raichō, Thunderbird and Nihonkai as well as freight trains are frequently operated on the line. Some of limited express trains stop at Ōtsukyō or Katata and others skip all stations on the line. The section from Nagahara to Ōmi-Shiotsu, originally electrified with 20 kV AC, was re-electrified to 1,500 V DC on September 24, 2006 enabling DC-only EMUs used in Osaka-Kyoto region to operate, and the Special Rapid through train service from JR Kyoto Line (Tokaido Main Line) was extended beyond Ōmi-Shiotsu to Tsuruga on the Hokuriku Main Line.
Stations
- S: trains stop
- s: Only extra trains stop
| Line name | Name | Japanese | Distance (km) | Local | Rapid | Special Rapid |
Transfers | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| between stations |
from Yamashina | |||||||||
| Tōkaidō Main Line | Kyoto | 京都 | 5.5 | 5.5 | S | S | S | Tōkaidō Shinkansen Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kyoto Line), San'in Main Line (Sagano Line), Nara Line Kintetsu Kyoto Line Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line |
Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto |
Kyoto |
| Yamashina | 山科 | - | 0.0 | S | S | S | Tōkaidō Main Line (Biwako Line) Kyoto Municipal Subway Tōzai Line Keihan Keishin Line (Keihan Yamashina) |
Yamashina-ku, Kyoto | ||
| Kosei Line | ||||||||||
| Ōtsukyō | 大津京 | 5.4 | 5.4 | S | S | S | Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line (Ojiyama) | Ōtsu | Shiga | |
| Karasaki | 唐崎 | 3.1 | 8.5 | S | | | | | ||||
| Hieizan Sakamoto | 比叡山坂本 | 2.6 | 11.1 | S | S | S | ||||
| Ogoto-onsen | おごと温泉 | 3.4 | 14.5 | S | S | | | ||||
| Katata | 堅田 | 3.2 | 17.7 | S | S | S | ||||
| Ono | 小野 | 2.1 | 19.8 | S | | | | | ||||
| Wani | 和邇 | 2.7 | 22.5 | S | | | | | ||||
| Hōrai | 蓬莱 | 2.4 | 24.9 | S | | | | | ||||
| Shiga | 志賀 | 2.4 | 27.3 | S | | | s | ||||
| Hira | 比良 | 2.7 | 30.0 | S | | | | | ||||
| Ōmi-Maiko | 近江舞子 | 2.2 | 32.2 | S | S | S | ||||
| Kita Komatsu | 北小松 | 2.3 | 34.5 | S | S | S | ||||
| Ōmi-Takashima | 近江高島 | 6.4 | 40.9 | S | S | S | Takashima | |||
| Adogawa | 安曇川 | 4.1 | 45.0 | S | S | S | ||||
| Shin-Asahi | 新旭 | 3.3 | 48.3 | S | S | S | ||||
| Ōmi-Imazu | 近江今津 | 4.9 | 53.2 | S | S | S | ||||
| Ōmi-Nakashō | 近江中庄 | 4.8 | 58.0 | S | S | S | ||||
| Makino | マキノ | 3.2 | 61.2 | S | S | S | ||||
| Nagahara | 永原 | 7.1 | 68.3 | S | S | S | Nagahama | |||
| Ōmi-Shiotsu | 近江塩津 | 5.8 | 74.1 | S | S | S | Hokuriku Main Line | |||
Rolling stock
Current
Passenger
Local
Special Rapid and Local
Limited Express
- 681 series (Thunderbird services)
- 683 series (Thunderbird services)
Freight
Former
EMU
- 125 series (until March 2009)
- 201 series
- 419 series (until October 2006)
- 475 series (until October 2006)
- 485 series (Raichō services, until March 2011)
DMU
- KiHa 20 series (until 1991)
- KiHa 26 series (until 1991)
- KiHa 48 (until 1991)
