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Keifuku Electric Railroad line3 min read

Keifuku Kitano Line

北野線

The Keifuku Kitano Line (北野線, Kitano-sen) is a 3.8-kilometre tramway operated by the Keifuku Electric Railroad in Kyoto, running from Kitano-Hakubaichō Station in Kita-ku to Katabiranotsuji Station in Ukyō-ku, where it meets the company's Arashiyama Main Line. Built to 1,435 mm standard gauge and electrified at 600 V DC overhead, it is legally classed as a tramway and limited to 40 km/h.

It runs entirely on its own reserved right-of-way and is single-track except for the double-track Narutaki–Tokiwa section; it has ten stations and uses the line symbol B. Together with the Arashiyama Main Line it forms the two-route network branded the Arashiyama Line and commonly known as "Randen." The line threads a residential district dotted with celebrated temples (its stations are named for Ryōan-ji, Ninna-ji, Myōshin-ji and others), and between Utano and Narutaki the tracks pass through an avenue of cherry trees, a "cherry-blossom tunnel" that is floodlit at night during the spring bloom.

KyotoNishikyoNakagyoShimogyoKamigyo2 km
Route of the Keifuku Kitano Line · Kyoto · Boundaries: MLIT / GSI / Japan Post

History

The line was built by the Kyoto Electric Light Company (Kyoto Dentō), the same electricity-and-tramway concern that already controlled the Arashiyama tramway. It opened in two stages. On 3 November 1925 Kyoto Dentō opened the first segment from Kitano Station — a terminus then sited on the south side of the Kitano Tenmangū shrine — to Takaoguchi (the present Utano). On 10 March 1926 the line was extended from Takaoguchi to Katabiranotsuji, where it joined the existing Arashiyama Main Line and completed the route.

On 16 April 1929 a head-on collision between Omuro and Myōshinji killed one driver. Around 1930 the Narutaki–Tokiwa section was double-tracked; a plan to double the entire line was begun but ultimately abandoned, and to this day only that stretch carries two tracks. On 2 March 1942 the line was transferred to the newly formed Keifuku Electric Railroad, the operator it has retained ever since.

The Kitano end of the line was reorganised and later cut back. On 1 October 1943 a new Hakubaichō Station opened and the intermediate Komatsubara Station was suspended; Komatsubara was formally abolished on 4 June 1945. The original Kitano terminus itself was the next casualty: owing to the widening of Imadegawa-dōri, the Kitano–Hakubaichō section was suspended in July 1958 and abolished on 16 September 1958, at which point Hakubaichō was renamed Kitano-Hakubaichō and became the line's terminus.

One-man operation began on 9 January 1982. On 1 July 2002 a flat fare of ¥200 for adults (¥100 for children) was introduced together with the Surutto KANSAI card. Trains normally run as single cars shuttling back and forth within the line, every ten minutes in the daytime; in the tourist seasons two-car formations are used. Two early-morning services from Saiin on the Arashiyama Main Line, which also take cars out of Saiin depot, run through to Kitano-Hakubaichō.

From the 2006 financial year Keifuku pursued a "Randen Brush-Up Project". On 19 March 2007 the Arashiyama Main Line and Kitano Line were unified under the "Randen" name; three Kitano Line stations were renamed — Ryūanji-michi became Ryōan-ji, Omuro became Omuro-Ninnaji, and Takaoguchi became Utano — and the station numbering and line colours trialled on the Kitano Line were formally adopted. Departure melodies were introduced at Katabiranotsuji and Kitano-Hakubaichō on 1 April 2008; the PiTaPa card and the company's own "Randen Card" followed on 1 April 2011; and nationwide IC-card interoperability began, jointly with the Arashiyama Main Line, on 23 March 2013. A new intermediate station, Satsueijo-mae, opened between Tokiwa and Katabiranotsuji on 1 April 2016, and on 20 March 2020 Tōjiin Station was renamed Tōjiin–Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Campus.

Many tourist sites, World Heritage sites among them, lie along the Kitano Line and the Arashiyama Main Line.

Stations on this line

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

Timeline
  • 19253 November: the Kyoto Electric Light Company (Kyoto Dentō) opens the first segment, Kitano Station to Takaoguchi (now Utano).
  • 192610 March: the line is extended from Takaoguchi to Katabiranotsuji, joining the Arashiyama Main Line and completing the route.
  • 192916 April: a head-on collision between Omuro and Myōshinji kills one driver.
  • 1930Around this year the Narutaki–Tokiwa section is double-tracked; a plan to double the whole line is begun but later abandoned.
  • 19422 March: the line is transferred to the Keifuku Electric Railroad, its operator ever since.
  • 19431 October: Hakubaichō Station opens and the intermediate Komatsubara Station is suspended.
  • 19454 June: Komatsubara Station, between Hakubaichō and Tōjiin, is abolished.
  • 195816 September: the Kitano–Hakubaichō section (suspended that July) is abolished and Hakubaichō is renamed Kitano-Hakubaichō, becoming the line's terminus.
  • 19829 January: one-man operation begins.
  • 20021 July: a flat fare (adult ¥200, child ¥100) is introduced, together with the Surutto KANSAI card.
  • 200719 March: the Arashiyama Main Line and Kitano Line are unified as "Randen"; Ryūanji-michi, Omuro and Takaoguchi are renamed Ryōan-ji, Omuro-Ninnaji and Utano, and station numbering and line colours are formally introduced.
  • 20081 April: departure melodies are introduced at Katabiranotsuji and Kitano-Hakubaichō.
  • 20111 April: the PiTaPa card and the company's own "Randen Card" are introduced.
  • 201323 March: nationwide IC-card interoperability begins, jointly with the Arashiyama Main Line.
  • 20161 April: Satsueijo-mae Station opens between Tokiwa and Katabiranotsuji.
  • 202020 March: Tōjiin Station is renamed Tōjiin–Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Campus.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

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