Ohmi Railway


Ohmi Railway Co., Ltd. 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" by local users because of its noisy sound.

History

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 from 1926 to 1942. In 1944, the company absorbed the Yōkaichi Railway, now the Yokaichi Line.

Lines

Ohmi Railway consists of three lines: the Main Line, and two branch lines, the Yōkaichi Line and the Taga Line.
The Main Line connects with the Tōkaidō Main 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.
LineSectionLength StationsDate opened
Main Line - 47.725June 11, 1898
Yōkaichi Line - 9.36December 29, 1913
Taga Line - 2.53March 8, 1914
Total59.534

At first, the Main Line was planned to connect Hikone and Fukawa and run through to Ujiyamada. The Yōkaichi Line had a 2.8 km branch line from Shin-Yōkaichi to Misono between 1930 and 1964.

Other services

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.