JR Kyoto Line


The JR Kyoto Line is a commuter rail line in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company. The name applies to the section of the Tōkaidō Main Line between Kyōto Station and Ōsaka Station.
The Kyoto Line operates in combination with the Biwako Line and the JR Kobe Line, and offers through service trains to the Kosei Line and the JR Takarazuka Line.

Basic data

Commuter trains are classified in three types:
In addition to the three types of commuter trains, long-distance limited express trains connecting the Kyoto-Osaka region with Kansai International Airport, Hokuriku region and other areas also frequently operate on the line. Freight trains also operate on the line except for the section near Osaka Station where freight trains use separate freight lines.

Stations

Legend:
Local trains stop at all stations. Rapid trains in the morning skip some stops between Kyoto and Takatsuki.

Closed station

From September 5, 1876 to the opening of Kyoto Station on February 6, 1877, Ōmiyadōri Temporary Station was the station for the city of Kyoto. The temporary station was located at 40 chains west of Kyoto Station construction site, or 3 miles and 47 chains away from Mukōmachi Station.

Rolling stock

Local

The line now called the JR Kyoto Line opened in 1876, only four years after the opening of the first railway in Japan. On July 26, 1876, the Japanese Government Railways opened the section between Ōsaka and Mukōmachi with an intermediate station at Takatsuki. On August 9, 1876, Yamazaki Station, Ibaraki Station and Suita Station opened. Kyoto Station opened on February 6, 1877.
On June 1, 1949, operation of the line was taken over by Japanese National Railways.