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Manyosen line2 min read

Shinminato-ko Line

新湊港線

The Shinminato-kō Line (新湊港線, Shinminatokō-sen) is a 4.9-kilometre section of the Manyosen tram network in Toyama Prefecture, operated by the third-sector company Manyosen Co., Ltd. It runs from Rokudōji Station in Imizu, where it meets the 8.0-kilometre Takaoka Kidō Line, out to the terminus at Koshinogata Station.

Like the rest of the network it is laid to 1,067 mm gauge and electrified at 600 V DC with overhead catenary, with a maximum speed of 40 km/h, and the two lines are operated as a single through service. Unlike the Takaoka Kidō Line, a tramway under the Tramways Act, it is a railway under the Railway Business Act, though small tram-type cars are used throughout. It is distinct from the JR freight Shinminato Line near Takaoka.

2 km
Route of the Shinminato-ko Line · Toyama · Boundaries: MLIT / GSI / Japan Post

History

The section that is now the Shinminato-kō Line was not built by the company that built the Takaoka end. It was constructed by Etchū Railway, which opened the first stretch — Nishi-Koshinogata (no longer extant) to Shinminato-Higashiguchi (today's Higashi-Shinminato) — on 12 October 1930, followed by the short Koshinogata–Nishi-Koshinogata segment on 23 December 1930. The line was extended in stages: to Shōgawaguchi in November 1932 and on to Shin-Fushikiguchi (today's Rokudōji) in December 1933.

In 1943 Etchū Railway was absorbed by Toyama Chihō Railway, and the route became that company's Imizu Line. A major change came on 1 April 1951, when, with the end of passenger service on the national-railway Shinminato Line, a 3.6-kilometre segment from Yonejimaguchi to Shinminato (today's Rokudōji) opened and through running began across the Imizu Line linking the Takaoka tramway with the Toyama city tram network. The Yonejimaguchi–Shinminato segment was transferred to Kaetsunō Railway in 1959.

The construction of Toyama Shinkō (the new port) gave the line its present form. In 1966 the harbour works severed the Imizu Line, cutting off the through route to Toyama; the surviving Shinminato-to-Koshinogata stub was transferred from Toyama Chihō Railway to Kaetsunō Railway on 5 April 1966 and renamed the Shinminato-kō Line. With the Toyama connection gone and motorisation rising, ridership began to decline, and the line converted to one-man operation in November 1971, leaving its stations unstaffed.

The line came close to disappearing in the 1970s. On 11 September 1976 a typhoon washed away the Shōgawa river bridge, cutting the Shinminato–Koshinogata section; the segment was on the verge of abandonment, but a residents' preservation campaign saved it, and service was restored on 1 October 1977. In December 1980 the combined Takaoka Kidō and Shinminato-kō lines were given the public nickname "Manyosen", the name by which the system has been known ever since.

The operator, Kaetsunō Railway, later wished to abandon both the Takaoka Kidō and Shinminato-kō lines. To keep them running, the city of Takaoka and the former city of Shinminato led the creation of a third-sector company, Manyosen Co., Ltd., established on 5 April 2001; the transfer was approved on 14 February 2002, and operations began under the new company on 1 April 2002. Earlier, several stations had been renamed: Shinminato became Rokudōji in 1985, and the Koshinogata-end Kaiōmaru station took its present name in 1990. IC fare cards (ICOCA) became usable on the line from 28 September 2024.

Stations on this line

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

Timeline
  • 193012 October: Etchū Railway opens the first segment of what is now the Shinminato-kō Line, Nishi-Koshinogata (no longer extant)–Shinminato-Higashiguchi (now Higashi-Shinminato), 1.2 km; the Koshinogata–Nishi-Koshinogata segment (0.2 km) follows on 23 December.
  • 19329 November: the line is extended from Shinminato-Higashiguchi to Shōgawaguchi (2.7 km).
  • 193325 December: the line is extended from Shōgawaguchi to Shin-Fushikiguchi (today's Rokudōji), 0.6 km.
  • 19431 January: Etchū Railway is absorbed by Toyama Chihō Railway; the route becomes that company's Imizu Line.
  • 19511 April: with the end of passenger service on the national-railway Shinminato Line, the Yonejimaguchi–Shinminato (now Rokudōji) segment, 3.6 km, opens, and through running begins across the Imizu Line to the Toyama city tram network.
  • 19591 April: the Yonejimaguchi–Shinminato segment is transferred from Toyama Chihō Railway to Kaetsunō Railway.
  • 19665 April: with the Imizu Line severed by the construction of Toyama Shinkō, the surviving Shinminato–Koshinogata segment is transferred from Toyama Chihō Railway to Kaetsunō Railway and named the Shinminato-kō Line.
  • 197115 November: the line converts to one-man operation, and every station on the Shinminato-kō Line is fully destaffed.
  • 197611 September: a typhoon washes out the Shōgawa river bridge, suspending the Shinminato–Koshinogata section; it is nearly abandoned but saved by a residents' preservation campaign.
  • 19771 October: the Shinminato–Koshinogata section is restored to service.
  • 19806 December: the combined Takaoka Kidō and Shinminato-kō lines are given the public nickname "Manyosen".
  • 1985March: Shinminato Station is renamed Rokudōji Station (and Nishi-Shinminato, 1st, becomes Shinminato City Hall-mae).
  • 20021 April: after Kaetsunō Railway sought to abandon the line, operations begin under the new third-sector Manyosen Co., Ltd. (established 5 April 2001; transfer approved 14 February 2002).
  • 202428 September: IC fare cards (ICOCA) become usable on the line.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

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