Takahama Line

The line's operator, Iyotetsu, is one of Japan's oldest private railways: the Iyo Railway Company was founded on 14 September 1887 and, by its own account, is the second-oldest privately run railway in Japan. Its founder adopted the narrow 762 mm gauge on the advice of a British engineer, so that the railway could be built with modest capital. The Matsuyama–Mitsu section was the Iyo Railway's first line. It opened as the first railway in the Shikoku and Chūgoku region and as a light railway, the first in Japan to adopt the 762 mm gauge; this section became the nucleus of the present Takahama Line.

The Takahama Line was completed in two stages. The first section, between Mitsu and Matsuyama Station (the present Matsuyama City Station), opened on 28 October 1888. The line was then extended from Mitsu to Takahama on 1 May 1892, completing the route from the port at Takahama through to central Matsuyama. The Matsuyama terminus was renamed several times: Matsuyama Station became Sotogawa in 1889 and reverted to Matsuyama in 1902, before being renamed Matsuyama City in 1927.

The railway's corporate ownership shifted with the Iyo Railway's wider business. On 31 December 1916 a merger between the Iyo Railway and Iyo Hydroelectric created a renamed company, Iyo Railway Electric, to which the line passed; it reverted to the Iyo Railway name on 1 April 1942 when the electric-power business was separated off. In the meantime the line was modernised: on 1 May 1931 the whole line was re-gauged from 762 mm to the broader 1,067 mm gauge and electrified, and Baishinji and Minatoyama stations opened; full double-tracking followed on 8 July 1931. Edomachi, Yamanishi and Kinuyama stations had already opened in 1927.

The Second World War undid much of this. On 21 February 1945 the entire line was reduced to single track when its second set of rails was requisitioned for metal — the recovered material was used on the national railway's Yosan Line between Yawatahama and Uwajima. After the war the double track was restored section by section: Baishinji–Mitsu in 1952, Kinuyama–Komachi in 1957, Komachi–Matsuyama City in 1963 and Mitsu–Kinuyama in 1964. The short end section between Baishinji and Takahama, however, was never re-doubled and remains single track to this day.

The line's modern shape emerged over the following decades. Edomachi Station was renamed Ōtemachi on 1 July 1953, and Nishi-Kinuyama Station opened on 10 June 1968. On 10 August 1981 through services began with the Yokogawara Line, allowing trains to run between the two suburban lines via Matsuyama City Station; today they run at roughly 15-minute intervals. Elevation of the Kinuyama–Komachi section was completed on 18 July 1998.

The Takahama Line functions as an access railway to the coast northwest of Matsuyama. It serves Mitsu, Matsuyama's long-established outer port, and the newer Takahama port that Iyotetsu itself developed; from Takahama Station a connecting bus runs to Matsuyama Tourist Port, the city's gateway for ferries to Hiroshima and Kure. Because it crosses the Matsuyama city tram lines on the level — including the only place in Japan where a railway line and a tramway still cross each other at a right angle, near Ōtemachi — the Takahama Line is electrified at 600 V DC to match the trams, switching to 750 V only in the immediate approach to Matsuyama City Station, where it meets the 750 V Yokogawara and Gunchū lines.

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

• Baishinji梅津寺
• Kinuyama衣山
• Komachi古町
• Matsuyama City松山市
• Minatoyama港山
• Mitsu三津
• Nishi-Kinuyama西衣山
• Otemachi (Ehime)大手町
• Takahama (Ehime)高浜
• Yamanishi山西

• 188714 September: the Iyo Railway Company, the line's operator, is founded; by its own account, it is the second-oldest privately run railway in Japan.
• 188828 October: the line's first section, Mitsu–Matsuyama (now Matsuyama City), opens — the Iyo Railway's first line and the first railway in Shikoku, built as a light railway on 762 mm gauge, the first in Japan to adopt it.
• 188920 July: Matsuyama Station is renamed Sotogawa (and the first Mitsuguchi Station is renamed Komachi).
• 18921 May: the line is extended from Mitsu to Takahama, completing the route.
• 19021 June: Sotogawa Station is renamed back to Matsuyama.
• 191631 December: a merger of the Iyo Railway and Iyo Hydroelectric renames the company Iyo Railway Electric; the line passes to it.
• 19271 March: Matsuyama Station is renamed Matsuyama City; Edomachi Station opens (3 April) and Yamanishi and Kinuyama stations open (1 November).
• 19311 May: the whole line is re-gauged from 762 mm to 1,067 mm and electrified, and Baishinji and Minatoyama stations open; on 8 July the entire line is double-tracked.
• 19421 April: with the electric-power business separated off, the line reverts to the Iyo Railway.
• 194521 February: the whole line is reduced to single track when its second set of rails is requisitioned for metal — the material is reused on the national railway's Yosan Line between Yawatahama and Uwajima.
• 19521 February: the Baishinji–Mitsu section is re-doubled, the first stage of postwar double-track restoration.
• 19531 July: Edomachi Station is renamed Ōtemachi.
• 196416 July: the Mitsu–Kinuyama section is re-doubled, completing double-tracking except for the Baishinji–Takahama end section (which remains single to this day).
• 196810 June: Nishi-Kinuyama Station opens.
• 198110 August: through services with the Yokogawara Line begin, linking the two suburban lines via Matsuyama City Station; today trains run at roughly 15-minute intervals.
• 199818 July: elevation of the Kinuyama–Komachi section is completed.