Otemachi Line

Iyo Railway was founded on 14 September 1887 and opened its first line, a 762 mm light railway between Matsuyama and Mitsu, on 28 October 1888; it was the first railway in Shikoku. The company then expanded into suburban lines radiating from Matsuyama-shi Station and a network of street tramways around Matsuyama Castle. The Ōtemachi Line shares its rolling stock, the Komachi depot and workshops, and its operating arrangements with the other Matsuyama City Lines (松山市内線).

The company also grew its network by acquiring other companies. On 1 April 1921 it absorbed the Matsuyama Electric Tramway, and on 30 June 1923 it regauged the former Matsuyama Electric Tramway lines from 1,435 mm standard gauge to 1,067 mm. The Ōtemachi Line did not yet exist at this point.

The line's origins go back to the 1920s. On 3 April 1927 a connecting line between Komachi and Matsuyama opened as a railway under the Local Railway Act. Then on 1 May 1936 the section from Komachi through Kokutetsu-ekimae (the station in front of the national-railway station, today JR Matsuyama Station-mae) to Nishi-Horibata opened as a tramway under the Tramway Act, and the earlier Komachi–Matsuyama connecting line was abolished. The present Ōtemachi Line dates from this 1936 opening.

The Matsuyama air raid of 26 July 1945 destroyed Iyo Railway's head office, major station buildings and car workshops and halted all rail and tram operation; services were restored step by step from the following day. In the 1960s, as motorisation spread and tram systems across Japan closed one after another, Matsuyama's tram network survived, and its lines were extended in 1962. The Matsuyama City Lines began loop operation around Matsuyama Castle on 1 December 1969.

On 12 October 2001 a replica of the "Botchan" train entered service on the city lines. Its locomotive is a diesel recreation of the steam locomotives Iyotetsu used in its light-railway era. Iyotetsu introduced Moha 2100 low-floor trams on the city lines on 19 March 2002 and streamlined Moha 5000 LRT cars on 21 September 2017. On 13 March 2024 the city trams adopted nationwide interoperable IC cards such as ICOCA.

Three numbered tram services (1, 2 and 5) and the Botchan train operate over the line. Services 1 and 2 run the same loop in opposite directions. A plan was adopted to extend the city tram from the JR Matsuyama Station area — where the railway was to be elevated as part of a redevelopment — to the Matsuyama Loop Road junction at Minami-Edo, with a longer-term aspiration of reaching Matsuyama Airport; however, materials from a March 2024 Matsuyama Station planning meeting omitted the tram-extension tracks from the drawings, suggesting that the extension has in effect been shelved.

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

• JR Matsuyama StationJR松山駅前
• Komachi古町
• Miyatacho宮田町
• Nishi-Horibata西堀端
• Otemachi Sta.大手町駅前

• 188714 September: Iyo Railway Co. is founded (network context).
• 188828 October: Iyo Railway opens its first line, Matsuyama–Mitsu (762 mm) — the first railway in Shikoku (network context).
• 19211 April: Iyo Railway absorbs the Matsuyama Electric Tramway (network context).
• 192330 June: the former Matsuyama Electric Tramway lines are regauged from 1,435 mm to 1,067 mm (network context; the Ōtemachi Line did not yet exist).
• 19273 April: a Komachi–Matsuyama connecting line opens as a railway under the Local Railway Act — the Ōtemachi Line's predecessor.
• 19361 May: Komachi–Kokutetsu-ekimae (now JR Matsuyama Station-mae)–Nishi-Horibata opens as a tramway under the Tramway Act; the Komachi–Matsuyama connecting line is abolished. This is the founding of the present Ōtemachi Line.
• 194526 July: the Matsuyama air raid destroys the head office, major station buildings and the car workshops and halts all rail and tram operation; services are restored progressively from the next day (network context).
• 1962The Matsuyama City Lines are extended (network context).
• 19691 December: the Matsuyama City Lines begin loop (circular) operation, the pattern that services 1 and 2 still follow over the Ōtemachi Line (network context).
• 200112 October: a replica of the "Botchan" train enters service on the city trams and runs over the Ōtemachi Line (network context).
• 200219 March: Moha 2100 low-floor trams enter service on the Matsuyama City Lines (network context).
• 201721 September: streamlined Moha 5000 LRT cars enter service on the city trams (network context).
• 202413 March: nationwide interoperable IC cards (e.g. ICOCA) are introduced on the Matsuyama city trams (network context).