Fukui Railway Fukubu Line

Fukui Railway Fukubu Line
Fukui Railway Fukubu Line
	Fukutetsu Series 200 (left) and Series 770 trains near Daimyōmachi intersection
Overview
Owner	Fukui Railway
Locale	Fukui Prefecture
Termini	Takefu-shin; Fukui-Ekimae / Tawaramachi;
Stations	23
Service
Type	Heavy rail; Light rail; Interurban; Tram-train
History
Opened	1924
Technical
Line length	21.4 km (13.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	600 V DC, overhead catenary
Operating speed	65 km/h (40 mph); 40 km/h (25 mph) on street-running sections;
Route map
Route map
	Legend

The Fukui Railway Fukubu Line (福井鉄道福武線, Fukui Tetsudō Fukubu-sen) is a 21.4-kilometre (13.3 mi) railway line operated by Fukui Railway in Fukui Prefecture. The line runs from Takefu-shin Station in Echizen to Tawaramachi and Fukui-Ekimae stations in Fukui. Although it has its own right-of-way for most of the route, the Fukubu Line runs with traffic as a tram line past Sekijūjimae Station.

History

The Fukubu Electric Railway (福武電気鉄道, Fukubu Denki Tetsudō) opened the Fukubu Line on 23 February 1924 for the purposes of transporting soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army Sabae 36th Regiment between Takefu-shin and Heiei (兵営) (now Shinmei) stations.

23 February 1924: Fukubu Electric Railway opens the Fukubu Line between Takefu-Shin and Heiei (now Shinmei).
26 July 1925: Heiei – Fukui-Shin (now Sekijūjimae) section opens.
5 June 1927: Sanjūhassha Station opens.
5 October 1927: Mizuochi Station opens; former transfer station for the Seiho Electric Railway.
13 August 1929: Kami-Sabae (now Sundome Nishi), Shimo-Sabae (now Nishiyama-Kōen) stations open.
15 October 1933: Fukui-Shin – Fukui-Ekimae section opens.
1 October 1935: Tobanaka Station opens; Nishi-Tobanaka Station (between Heiei and Tobanaka) closes.
April 1939: Heiei Station is renamed Chūō Station.
1 April 1941: Express service begins.
1 August 1945: Fukubu Electric Railway merges with Seiho Electric Railway to form Fukui Railway.
June 1946: Chūō Station renamed Shinmei Station.
12 July 1950: Hanandō – Fukui-Shin section double-tracked.
27 November 1950: Honmachi-dōri — Fukui-Shin section opens. Daimyōmachi Station is renamed Honmachi-dōri Station.
1 April 1962: Keyamachi Station moved and renamed Kōenguchi Station. Fujishima-Jinja-mae Station (between Kidayotsutsuji and Kōenguchi) closes.
11 December 1964: Matsumoto-dōri Station (between Saibanshomae and Tawaramachi) closes. Saibanshomae Station moved towards Tawaramachi.
1 September 1969: Service between Hanandō, Fukui-Ekimae, and Tawaramachi abolished; all trains run through to Takefu-Shin Station.
2 October 1979: Freight services discontinued.
10 April 1980: Centralized traffic control (CTC) introduced.
1 August 1985: Driver-only operation introduced on morning and evening services.
10 April 1987: Shimo-Sabae Station renamed Nishiyama-Kōen Station.
1 October 1989: Hanandō-Minami Station opens.
20 January 1993: All trains equipped with ATS.
15 April 1993: Hanandō-Minami Station renamed Bell-mae Station.
20 September 1997: Harmony Hall Station opens.
30 November 1998: Daytime service interval changed to 20 minutes.
15 July 2002: Honmachi-dōri Station (between Kōenguchi and Shiyakushomae) closed.
1 December 2003: Part of Shiyakushomae — Fukui-Ekimae section single-tracked due to construction around Fukui Station.
30 September 2004: Semi-express service abolished.
January–March 2006: All station platforms modified to serve low-floor vehicles.
1 April 2006: Low-floor trains enter service. Last departure time brought forward 30 minutes.
16 December 2007: Daytime shuttle trains begin service between Fukui-Ekimae and Tawaramachi.

On March 25, 2010, Sports-Kōen Station was established between the Nishi-Takefu and Iehisa stations. At the same time, five stations were renamed: Takefu-Shin to Echizen-Takefu; Nishi-Takefu to Kitago; Kami-Sabae to Sundome-Nishi; Fukui-Shin to Sekijūjimae; and Saibanshomae to Jin'ai-Joshikōkō.

Station list

All stations are located in Fukui Prefecture.
Express (急行) trains stop at stations marked "●", pass those marked "|", and only a few stop at those marked "○". Most local trains stop at all stations but some pass those marked "○".
Staff:
- ◎ - Present all day
- ○ - Present except early mornings and late nights
- ◇ - Present during peak hours only
- △ - Present during holidays only
- × - Unstaffed
- ※ - Present during events only

Station No.	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Express	Staff	Transfers	Location
Station No.	Station	Japanese	Between Stations	Total	Express	Staff	Transfers	Location
F0	Takefu-shin	たけふ新	-	0.0	●	◎	Hapi-Line Fukui : Hapi-Line Fukui Line (Takefu)	Echizen
F1	Kitago	北府	0.6	0.6	●	×
F2	Sports Kōen	スポーツ公園	1.1	1.7	\|	×
F3	Iehisa	家久	0.7	2.4	●	×
F4	Sundome Nishi	サンドーム西	1.7	4.1	\|	×		Sabae
F5	Nishi-Sabae	西鯖江	1.2	5.3	●	○
F6	Nishiyama-Kōen	西山公園	0.7	6.0	\|	※
F7	Mizuochi	水落	1.3	7.3	●	×
F8	Shinmei	神明	1.2	8.5	●	○
F9	Tobanaka	鳥羽中	1.2	9.7	\|	×
F10	Sanjūhassha	三十八社	1.2	10.9	\|	×		Fukui
F11	Taichō no Sato	泰澄の里	1.3	12.2	\|	×
F12	Asōzu	浅水	0.8	13.0	●	○
F13	Harmony Hall	ハーモニーホール	0.8	13.8	\|	×
F14	Seimei	清明	1.1	14.9	\|	×
F15	Ebata	江端	0.6	15.5	\|	×
F16	Bell-mae	ベル前	0.6	16.1	●	△
F17	Hanandō	花堂	0.8	16.9	\|	×
F18	Sekijūjimae	赤十字前	0.9	17.8	●	○
F19	Shokokaigishomae	商工会議所前	0.6	18.4	○	×
F20	Asuwayamakoenguchi	足羽山公園口	0.5	18.9	○	×
F21	Fukui Castle Ruins-daimyomachi	福井城址大名町	0.7	19.6	●	◇
F22	Fukui-eki	福井駅	0.5	20.1	○	×	JR West: Hokuriku Main Line (Fukui) Echizen Railway: Katsuyama Eiheiji Line (Fukui)
F23	Jin'ai Joshikōkō	仁愛女子高校	0.6*	20.2	●	×
F24	Tawaramachi	田原町	0.7	20.9	●	×	Echizen Railway: Mikuni Awara Line (Some through to Washizuka-Haribara)

Note that distances for Jin'ai Joshikōkō and Tawaramachi Stations are measured from Shiyakushomae Station.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Terada, Hirokazu (July 2002). データブック日本の私鉄 (Databook: Japan's Private Railways). Japan: Neko Publishing. ISBN 4-87366-874-3.
1 2 3 4 今井恵介監修『日本鉄道旅行地図 6号北信越』新潮社、2008年、p.25
↑ 福武線に新駅「スポーツ公園駅」来月25日開業－－今年3月 /福井 Archived 2010-02-21 at the Wayback Machine Fukui Shimbun, February 19, 2010. (in Japanese)
↑ 平成22年3月25日ダイヤ改正！^{[permanent dead link]} Fukui Railway. (in Japanese)

External links

Fukui Railway (in Japanese)

[terada2002-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Terada, Hirokazu (July 2002). データブック日本の私鉄 (Databook: Japan's Private Railways). Japan: Neko Publishing. ISBN 4-87366-874-3.

[imai-2] 1 2 3 4 今井恵介監修『日本鉄道旅行地図 6号北信越』新潮社、2008年、p.25

[3] 福武線に新駅「スポーツ公園駅」来月25日開業－－今年3月 /福井 Archived 2010-02-21 at the Wayback Machine Fukui Shimbun, February 19, 2010. (in Japanese)

[4] 平成22年3月25日ダイヤ改正！^{[permanent dead link]} Fukui Railway. (in Japanese)