Sakaisuji Line

Stations10Color on map     (#814721)ServiceTypeRapid transitSystem Osaka MetroDepot(s)Higashi-Suita (located on Hankyu Senri Line)Rolling stockHistoryOpened6 December 1969; 54 years ago (1969-12-06)Last extension4 March 1993; 31 years ago (1993-03-04)TechnicalLine length8.1 km (5.0 mi)Track length8.5 km (5.3 mi)Number of tracksDouble-trackTrack gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gaugeElectrification1,500 V DC (overhead line)Operating speed70 km/h (45 mph)SignallingAutomatic closing blockTrain protection systemWS-ATC

Route map

v t e Sakaisuji Line
Legend
Kawaramachi Takatsuki-shi Ibaraki-shi Higashi-Suita depot Hankyu Kyoto Line Kita-Senri Hankyu Senri Line Awaji Hankyū Kyoto Main Line to Umeda Yodo River Tenjimbashi Hankyū Senri Line Tanimachi Line 0.0 Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme Temma Osaka Loop Line 0.7 Ōgimachi 1.3 Minami-morimachi Tanimachi Line Osaka-Temmangu JR Tōzai Line Dōjima River Keihan Nakanoshima Line Tosabori River Keihan Main Line 2.1 Kitahama 3.0 Sakaisuji-Hommachi Chūō Line Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line 4.0 Nagahoribashi 4.9 Nippombashi Sennichimae Line Kintetsu Nippombashi Kintetsu Namba Line 5.9 Ebisuchō Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line) Osaka Loop Line Midōsuji Line 6.6 Dōbutsuen-mae Nankai Tennoji Branch 8.1 Tengachaya Nankai Main Line Nankai Koya Line

The Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line (堺筋線, Sakaisuji-sen) is an underground rapid transit line in Osaka, Japan, operated by Osaka Metro. Its official name is Rapid Electric Tramway Line No. 6 (高速電気軌道第6号線), and in MLIT publications, it is written as Line No. 6 (Sakaisuji Line) (6号線（堺筋線）).

The Sakaisuji Line is unique in the Osaka Metro system in that despite being regulated as a tramway under the Railway Business Act like the other lines, the line was constructed as an extension of a line governed as a railway, specifically the Hankyu Senri Line, to which the Sakaisuji Line connects to at its northern end at Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme Station. Through services using both Osaka Municipal Subway and Hankyu rolling stock operates to and from the Senri Line and Arashiyama Line via the Kyoto Main Line.^[1][2]

History

The Sakaisuji Line was first envisioned in the Urban Transportation Council Report No. 3 (1958) as an underground line running from Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme to Tenma via Sakaisuji and Dobutsuen-mae, and it was to be operated by Hankyu Railway instead of the Osaka prefectural government. In 1963, the Urban Transportation Council Report No. 7 (1963) recommended that the southern terminus of the Sakaisuji Line be at Tengachaya instead of Tenma.

Later unrealised plans for the Sakaisuji Line included two separate extensions to Nakamozu and Sugimotochō, and at one point it was envisioned that through-services between the standard-gauge Hankyu Railway and the narrow-gauge Nankai Railway would be realised by connecting them together with the Sakaisuji Line through the use of dual gauge tracks, however that plan was abandoned due to the different electrification systems used by Hankyu and Nankai.^{[3][page needed]}

The Sakaisuji Line opened on December 6, 1969 between Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme and Dōbutsuen-mae,^[4] at which point the previous ground-level southern terminal of the Hankyu Senri Line at Tenjinbashi was closed.^{[citation needed]} The line was extended from Dōbutsuen-mae to Tengachaya on 4 March 1993, as a metro-based replacement of the former Nankai Tennoji Branch Line which closed at the same time.^{[citation needed]}

Stations

Station numbers on the Sakaisuji Line (excluding Hankyu-operated stations) are indicated by the letter "K".

The seasonal Limited Express service known as "Hozu" (operated by Hankyu between Tengachaya and Arashiyama) stops at the stations with a "●", while other trains (local trains, Sakaisuji Semi-Express trains, and trains to Kawaramachi) stop at every station.^{[citation needed]}

All stations are in Osaka.

No.	Station name[5]	Japanese	Distance (km)	Seasonal Limited Express Hozu [citation needed]	Transfers	Location
Hankyu through services:			From Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme: to Kita-Senri on the Senri Line to Kawaramachi on the Hankyu Kyoto Main Line via Awaji to Arashiyama on the Arashiyama Line via Awaji and Katsura (seasonal; Hozu services only)
K 11	Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme	天神橋筋六丁目	0.0	●	Tanimachi Line (T18) Hankyu Senri Line (Through service)	Kita-ku
K 12	Ōgimachi	扇町	0.7	|	O Osaka Loop Line (Temma, JR-O10)
K 13	Minami-morimachi	南森町	1.3	|	Tanimachi Line (T21) H JR Tōzai Line (Osakatemmangu, JR-H43)
K 14	Kitahama	北浜	2.1	●	Keihan Main Line (KH02) Keihan Nakanoshima Line (Naniwabashi, KH51)	Chūō-ku
K 15	Sakaisuji-Hommachi (Semba-higashi)	堺筋本町 （船場東）	3.0	|	Chūō Line (C17)
K 16	Nagahoribashi	長堀橋	4.0	|	Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line (N16)
K 17	Nippombashi	日本橋	4.9	●	Sennichimae Line (S17) A Kintetsu Namba Line (A02)
K 18	Ebisuchō (Nippombashi-suji)	恵美須町 （日本橋筋）	5.9	|	Hankai Line (HN51)	Naniwa-ku
K 19	Dobutsuen-mae (Shinsekai)	動物園前 （新世界）	6.6	●	Midōsuji Line (M22) O Osaka Loop Line (Shin-Imamiya) (JR-O19) Q Yamatoji Line (Kansai Line) (Shin-Imamiya) (JR-Q19) Hankai Line (Shin-Imamiya-eki-mae, HN52)	Nishinari-ku
K 20	Tengachaya	天下茶屋	8.1	●	Nankai Main Line (NK05) Nankai Koya Line (NK05)

Rolling stock

The Sakaisuji Line is the first Osaka subway line to use overhead lines instead of third rail for power collection. All trains are based at Higashi-Suita Depot located on the Hankyu Senri Line.

Current

• Osaka Municipal Subway 66 series (since 1993)
• Hankyu 1300 series (since 2014)
• Hankyu 3300 series (since 1969)
• Hankyu 5300 series (since 1979)
• Hankyu 7300 series (since 1989)
• Hankyu 8300 series (since 1989)

Former

• Osaka Municipal Subway 60 series (1969–2003)

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

References