Nishitetsu Kaizuka Line

The line began as a project of the Hakata Bay Railway and Steamship Company (博多湾鉄道汽船), which on 23 May 1924 opened the first section between Shin-Hakata — the station later renamed Chidoribashi — and Wajiro. The 1,067 mm gauge adopted on today's Kaizuka Line dates from this original Hakata Bay Railway construction. The following year, on 1 July 1925, the railway was extended from Wajiro to Miyajidake.

On 16 August 1929 the whole line was electrified at 1,500 volts, putting it on the same electrical standard it still uses today. On 19 September 1942 the Hakata Bay Railway and Steamship Company was merged into the Kyushu Electric Railway (九州電気軌道), and just three days later, on 22 September 1942, that enlarged enterprise was renamed Nishi-Nippon Railroad, with the route becoming the company's Miyajidake Line.

Under Nishitetsu the line was extended once more. On 1 July 1951 a section from Miyajidake on to Tsuyazaki opened. On 8 July 1953 a head-on collision between Shingū and Mitoma killed four people. The route at this stage ran from Nishitetsu-Hakata to Tsuyazaki.

On 5 March 1954 the section between Nishitetsu-Hakata and Nishitetsu-Tatara was re-gauged to 1,435 mm standard gauge, had its voltage cut to 600 V, and was folded into the Fukuoka city tram network; that tramway section, including the stretch on to Kaizuka, was later closed in 1979. The Kaizuka–Tsuyazaki portion, meanwhile, remained 1,067 mm gauge and continued as the Miyajidake Line.

On 12 November 1986 the Fukuoka City Subway's Hakozaki Line was extended to Kaizuka, which became an interchange between the Miyajidake Line and the subway. From this point passengers bound for central Fukuoka changed at Kaizuka onto the subway.

With ridership in long-term decline, Nishitetsu closed the 9.9-kilometre section between Nishitetsu-Shingū and Tsuyazaki on 1 April 2007 and renamed the truncated remainder the Kaizuka Line. Since then the line has run only between Kaizuka and Nishitetsu-Shingū; it is now a short two-car commuter operation feeding the Fukuoka City Subway at Kaizuka and the last surviving fragment of the old Miyajidake Line.

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

• Kaizuka (Fukuoka)貝塚
• Kashii Kaenmae香椎花園前
• Kashii-Miyamae香椎宮前
• Mitoma三苫
• Najima名島
• Nishitetsu Chihaya西鉄千早
• Nishitetsu Kashii西鉄香椎
• Nishitetsu Shingu西鉄新宮
• Tonoharu唐の原
• Wajiro和白

• 192423 May: the Hakata Bay Railway and Steamship Company opens the first section, Shin-Hakata (later Chidoribashi)–Wajiro.
• 19251 July: the line is extended from Wajiro to Miyajidake.
• 192916 August: the whole line is electrified at 1,500 V.
• 194219 September: the company is merged into the Kyushu Electric Railway; on 22 September the enlarged firm is renamed Nishi-Nippon Railroad and the route becomes its Miyajidake Line.
• 19511 July: the Miyajidake–Tsuyazaki section opens.
• 19538 July: a head-on collision between Shingū and Mitoma kills four people.
• 19545 March: the Nishitetsu-Hakata–Nishitetsu-Tatara section is re-gauged to 1,435 mm standard gauge, reduced to 600 V, and incorporated into the Fukuoka city tram network.
• 19621 November: Keirinjō-mae Station is renamed Kaizuka.
• 197911 February: the Chidoribashi–Kaizuka section is closed together with the Fukuoka city tram network.
• 19801 September: one-man (driver-only) operation begins on the line.
• 198612 November: the Fukuoka City Subway Hakozaki Line is extended to Kaizuka, which becomes an interchange between the Miyajidake Line and the subway.
• 20071 April: with ridership declining, the 9.9 km Nishitetsu-Shingū–Tsuyazaki section is closed and the remaining line is renamed the Kaizuka Line.
• 201013 March: the IC card 'nimoca' is introduced on the line.