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Nagano Electric Railway line3 min read

Nagano Line

長野線

The Nagano Line (長野線, Nagano-sen) is a 33.1-kilometre railway line operated by the Nagano Electric Railway (Nagano Dentetsu, or "Nagaden") in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

It runs from Nagano Station in the city of Nagano through Suzaka and Shinshu-Nakano to Yudanaka Station in the town of Yamanouchi, the gateway to the Yudanaka hot springs and Shiga Kogen. The line is laid to 1,067 mm narrow gauge, is electrified at 1,500 V DC by overhead line, and serves 24 stations. As Nagaden's only remaining railway line it combines dense commuter and school traffic around Nagano with resort and onsen tourism toward Yudanaka, and the section between Nagano and Zenkoji-shita runs underground.

IizunaTakayama5 km
Route of the Nagano Line · Nagano · Boundaries: MLIT / GSI / Japan Post

History

The line was assembled from sections built by two predecessor companies, extended after their merger. Its oldest part began as a project of the Katō Railway (Katō Tetsudō), which had taken over a licence first granted to the Saku Railway in 1920 for a line between Yashiro and Suzaka, and obtained further licences in 1921 for extensions toward Kijima and from Shinshu-Nakano on to Yudanaka and Shibu-Yasudai. The first section of the present line to carry trains, between Suzaka and Shinshu-Nakano, opened on 26 March 1923, bringing the stations of Toyosu (the present Kita-Suzaka), Obuse, Entoku and Shinshu-Nakano into service. The Katō Railway electrified its whole line on 29 January 1926.

A second company, the Nagano Electric Railway (Nagano Denki Tetsudō), opened the stretch between Gondō and Suzaka on 28 June 1926, adding Gondō, Zenkoji-shita, Hongō, Kirihara, Yoshidamachi (now Shinano-Yoshida), Asahi, Yanagihara, Murayama and Hino; the Gondō–Yoshidamachi portion was built as double track. On 30 September 1926 the Katō Railway absorbed the Nagano Electric Railway and renamed itself Nagano Dentetsu, the company that still runs the line today. At that point the Suzaka–Shinshu-Nakano section formed part of the Katō Line, while the newly opened Gondō–Suzaka section was called the Nagano Line.

The Yudanaka end of the route opened on 28 April 1927, when the Shinshu-Nakano–Yudanaka section was completed as the Hirao Line, serving Nakano-Matsukawa, Takehara (now Shinano-Takehara), Yomase, Kamijō and Yudanaka; this section was renamed the Yamanouchi Line on 27 August 1927. The final link, a double-track section from Nagano Station to Gondō, opened on 24 June 1928, completing the line between Nagano and Yudanaka and opening Nagano (Nagaden), Nishikichō (now Shiyakusho-mae) and Midorichō. The licensed extension beyond Yudanaka toward Shibu-Yasudai was never built and was formally cancelled in 1931.

In the post-war decades the line developed a limited-express service. The 2000 series entered service on 15 March 1957, inaugurating the named limited expresses Shirane, Yokote, Shiga, Kasadake and Iwasuge; these were later consolidated into the single "Okushiga" limited express. In 1966 the line introduced the 0 series "OS Car" commuter trains. Freight traffic — including a dedicated apple-shipping train that ran from Shinshu-Nakano toward Osaka from 1962 — was wound down, with freight on the Nagano Line abolished on 1 September 1970 and across the whole Nagaden network by 1 April 1979.

On 1 March 1981 the Nagano–Zenkoji-shita section was rebuilt as a grade-separated underground line, and Nishikichō Station was renamed Shiyakusho-mae. Centralised traffic control had been commissioned between Yudanaka and Asahi in 1980 and was extended to Nagano in 1984. For decades the route still carried three separate names — Nagano Line, Katō Line and Yamanouchi Line — until 18 September 2002, when the whole Nagano–Yudanaka route, including the Suzaka–Shinshu-Nakano portion of the Katō Line and the Yamanouchi Line, was renamed the Nagano Line to match the way its trains were operated.

The twenty-first century brought new rolling stock and tourism-oriented services. The 1000 series "Yukemuri", made up of former Odakyū 10000 series "HiSE" sets, entered service on 9 December 2006, and the 2100 series "Snow Monkey", made up of former JR 253 series "Narita Express" sets, began running on 26 February 2011, the day the long-serving 2000 series left regular duty. Between Nagano and Shinshu-Nakano, local and limited-express trains together run at high frequency in the morning and evening, and most limited expresses run through to Yudanaka. On 1 December 2025 the line's operating length was adjusted from 33.2 to 33.1 kilometres alongside a fare revision, and transport IC cards such as Suica are scheduled to become usable across the whole line from around spring 2027.

Stations on this line

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

Timeline
  • 19203 May: a licence for a Yashiro–Suzaka line is granted to the Saku Railway; it is transferred to the Katō Railway on 6 September.
  • 192126 May: the Katō Railway is licensed for the Suzaka–Kijima and Shinshu-Nakano–Yudanaka–Shibu-Yasudai sections.
  • 192326 March: the Katō Railway opens Suzaka–Shinshu-Nakano (with Toyosu — now Kita-Suzaka — Obuse, Entoku and Shinshu-Nakano).
  • 192629 January: the Katō Railway electrifies its whole line. 28 June: the Nagano Electric Railway opens Gondō–Suzaka (Gondō–Yoshidamachi double-track). 30 September: the Katō Railway absorbs the Nagano Electric Railway and is renamed Nagano Dentetsu; the Gondō–Suzaka section becomes the Nagano Line.
  • 192728 April: the Shinshu-Nakano–Yudanaka section opens as the Hirao Line (with Nakano-Matsukawa, Takehara — now Shinano-Takehara — Yomase, Kamijō and Yudanaka); it is renamed the Yamanouchi Line on 27 August.
  • 192824 June: the double-track Nagano–Gondō section opens, completing the Nagano–Yudanaka route (with Nagano (Nagaden), Nishikichō — now Shiyakusho-mae — and Midorichō).
  • 193110 July: the licence for the unbuilt Yudanaka–Shibu-Yasudai extension is cancelled.
  • 195715 March: the 2000 series enters service; the limited expresses Shirane, Yokote, Shiga, Kasadake and Iwasuge begin operating.
  • 196624 November: the 0 series "OS Car" commuter trains enter service.
  • 19701 September: freight operations on the Nagano Line are fully abolished (freight across the whole Nagaden network ends on 1 April 1979).
  • 19811 March: the Nagano–Zenkoji-shita section is grade-separated and put underground; Nishikichō Station is renamed Shiyakusho-mae.
  • 1984CTC signalling, commissioned between Yudanaka and Asahi in 1980, is extended to Nagano.
  • 200218 September: the whole Nagano–Yudanaka route, including the Suzaka–Shinshu-Nakano part of the Katō Line and the Yamanouchi Line, is renamed the Nagano Line.
  • 20069 December: the 1000 series "Yukemuri", made up of former Odakyū 10000 series "HiSE" sets, enters service.
  • 201126 February: the 2100 series "Snow Monkey", made up of former JR 253 series "Narita Express" sets, enters service; the 2000 series leaves regular service.
  • 20251 December: the line's operating length is adjusted from 33.2 km to 33.1 km in conjunction with a fare revision.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

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