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Iyotetsu line3 min read

Honmachi Line

本町線

The Honmachi Line (本町線, Honmachi-sen) is a 1.5-kilometre tramway operated by Iyo Railway (Iyotetsu) entirely within the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture. Running from Honmachi 1-chōme (in the Ōtemachi area) to Honmachi 6-chōme with five stops, it is laid to 1,067 mm narrow gauge, single-tracked for its whole length, and electrified at 600 V DC by overhead wire.

Following National Route 196, it acts as a short-cut linking the Jōnan and Hanazono lines with the Jōhoku Line, although at its Honmachi 6-chōme terminus the track is not actually joined to the Jōhoku Line. It belongs to Iyotetsu's Matsuyama city-tram network rather than being a self-contained route, and shares the Komachi car works and the network's rolling stock.

MatsuyamaMatsuyama2 km
Route of the Honmachi Line · Ehime · Boundaries: MLIT / GSI / Japan Post

History

The line traces its roots to the Matsuyama Electric Tramway (松山電気軌道), which opened a route through this part of the city in September 1911 — Nishi-Horibata to Fudanotsuji on 1 September and Fudanotsuji to Honmachi on 19 September. That original alignment, between today's Honmachi 3-chōme (then Fudanotsuji) and Honmachi 4-chōme (then Honmachi), ran along an alley on the eastern side of the present route rather than down the main road. The Matsuyama Electric Tramway was absorbed by Iyo Railway on 1 April 1921, after which its tracks became part of Iyotetsu's Jōnan Line.

The Honmachi Line as a named line is a post-war creation. The Nishi-Horibata–Honmachi–Kayamachi–Komachi portion of the Jōnan Line was authorised for suspension on 19 August 1946, and on 1 July 1948 the Nishi-Horibata–Honmachi 3-chōme (now Honmachi 4-chōme) section reopened as the Honmachi Line. Subsequently, as Honmachi-dōri was widened, the tram tracks were relocated to the centre of the road.

The line reached its present extent in the early 1960s. On 1 February 1962 the section from Honmachi 3-chōme (now Honmachi 4-chōme) to Honmachi 7-chōme (now Honmachi 6-chōme) opened, making this stretch the most recently built tramway in Iyotetsu's system. The route has run essentially unchanged in extent ever since.

In the twenty-first century the Honmachi Line's service has been cut back step by step. A timetable revision on 1 November 2005 stretched the midday headway from one tram every 20 minutes to one every 30 minutes, which became the longest operating interval of any tram in Japan, and a further revision on 1 March 2018 lengthened it to 40 minutes all day. Also on 1 March 2018, the Jōnan Line junction and the Honmachi Line's platform at Nishi-Horibata were separated out as a distinct stop, Honmachi 1-chōme, and the line's Route 6 service had its terminus changed from Dōgo Onsen to Matsuyama-shi Station. Because the line is single-tracked with no passing facilities, only one tram can occupy it at a time, and to provide step-free access that single working is usually a Moha 2100-series car; on 13 March 2025 a Moha 5000-series car worked the line for the first time.

From 11 April 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, weekend and holiday services were suspended for the time being, a cut confirmed in the timetable revision of 23 July 2020. Service was then pared back further to weekday-only operation of 14 round trips on 1 March 2021, and to just 7 round trips on 1 November 2023. ICOCA IC cards were introduced in March 2024. A long-standing proposal to extend the line northward along Route 196 toward the Yamagoe and Kamogawa districts — densely populated areas without rail service — to connect them directly to Matsuyama-shi Station has never been realised, and Iyotetsu has told Ehime Prefecture that it has no current plan for such a northern extension.

Stations on this line

5 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

Timeline
  • 1911September: the Matsuyama Electric Tramway, the line's predecessor, opens through this part of the city — Nishi-Horibata–Fudanotsuji on 1 September and Fudanotsuji–Honmachi on 19 September.
  • 19211 April: Iyo Railway absorbs the Matsuyama Electric Tramway, and the inherited tracks become part of Iyotetsu's Jōnan Line.
  • 1923The tracks inherited from the Matsuyama Electric Tramway are regauged from 1,435 mm to 1,067 mm.
  • 194619 August: the Jōnan Line's Nishi-Horibata–Honmachi–Kayamachi–Komachi section is authorised for suspension.
  • 19481 July: the Nishi-Horibata–Honmachi 3-chōme (now Honmachi 4-chōme) section reopens as the Honmachi Line.
  • 19621 February: the Honmachi 3-chōme (now Honmachi 4-chōme)–Honmachi 7-chōme (now Honmachi 6-chōme) section opens, completing the line and making this the newest tramway in Iyotetsu's system.
  • 20051 November: a timetable revision stretches the midday headway from 20 to 30 minutes, which becomes the longest operating interval of any tram in Japan.
  • 20181 March: the headway is lengthened to 40 minutes all day; the Jōnan Line junction and Honmachi Line platform at Nishi-Horibata are split off as Honmachi 1-chōme stop; and the Route 6 terminus is changed from Dōgo Onsen to Matsuyama-shi Station.
  • 202011 April: weekend and holiday services are suspended for the time being owing to COVID-19; the cut is confirmed in the 23 July timetable revision.
  • 20211 March: service is cut to weekday-only operation of 14 round trips per day.
  • 20231 November: service is cut further to just 7 weekday round trips.
  • 2024March: ICOCA IC cards are introduced.
  • 202513 March: a Moha 5000-series car works the Honmachi Line for the first time.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

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