EN日本語

JR line2 min read

Wakayama Line

和歌山線

The Wakayama Line (和歌山線, Wakayama-sen) is an 87.5-kilometre railway line operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West), running from Ōji Station in Nara Prefecture south and west through Takada, Gojō and Hashimoto to Wakayama Station in Wakayama Prefecture. It is a single-track line laid to 1,067 mm narrow gauge, electrified throughout at 1,500 V DC, and serves 36 stations. Between Gojō and Wakayama it runs along the Kinokawa.

Route of the Wakayama Line · Nara · Wakayama · Borders: MLIT

History

The Wakayama Line was not built as a single project by the state but pieced together by three separate private railways. The first section opened on 1 March 1891, when the Osaka Railway laid the stretch between Ōji and Takada. The Osaka Railway pushed on from Takada to Sakurai on 23 May 1893, building what would later become part of the Sakurai Line, while the Ōji–Takada portion formed the northern end of the future Wakayama Line.

The middle of the route was the work of the Minami-Kazu Railway, which opened the section from Takada to Kuzu — the present Yoshinoguchi Station — on 10 May 1896 and extended it from Kuzu through Gojō to Futami on 25 October 1896. The southern and longest portion fell to the Kiwa Railway, which opened Gojō to Hashimoto on 11 April 1898 and, the same year, on 4 May 1898, began running between the first-generation Wakayama Station and a temporary Funato halt at the Wakayama end.

The Kiwa Railway then closed the gap in stages, extending from Funato towards Kokawa in 1900 and finally opening the Hashimoto–Kokawa section on 25 November 1900, which at last connected Ōji and Wakayama as a continuous railway. By this time consolidation of the region's private lines was already under way: the Osaka Railway transferred its line to the Kansai Railway on 6 June 1900, and the other two builders followed, the Kiwa Railway ceding its line on 27 August 1904 and the Minami-Kazu Railway on 9 December 1904.

The Kansai Railway was itself nationalised on 1 October 1907 under the Railway Nationalization Act, bringing the whole Ōji–Wakayama route into the government railways. Two years later, on 12 October 1909, when the national railways' line names were established, the line from Ōji through Wakayama Station (the present Kiwa Station) to Wakayamashi Station was formally named the "Wakayama Line", the designation it still carries today.

Until electrification the line was worked by diesel railcars and locomotive-hauled passenger trains. Electrification came in two steps: the northern Ōji–Gojō section was electrified at 1,500 V DC on 3 March 1980, and the remaining Gojō–Wakayama section followed on 1 October 1984, completing electrification of the entire line.

With the breakup and privatisation of Japanese National Railways, operation of the Wakayama Line passed to the newly formed West Japan Railway Company (JR West) on 1 April 1987. Under JR West the line continued as a local and commuter route, with through services on its northern section to Nara via the Sakurai Line and to JR Namba via the Yamatoji Line.

On 16 March 2019 JR West introduced 227-1000 series electric multiple units on the Wakayama Line.

Stations on this line

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

Timeline
  • 18911 March: the Osaka Railway opens the first section, Ōji–Takada.
  • 189323 May: the Osaka Railway extends from Takada to Sakurai (later part of the Sakurai Line).
  • 189610 May: the Minami-Kazu Railway opens Takada–Kuzu (present-day Yoshinoguchi); on 25 October it extends the line from Kuzu through Gojō to Futami.
  • 189811 April: the Kiwa Railway opens Gojō–Hashimoto; on 4 May it begins running between the first-generation Wakayama Station and the temporary Funato halt.
  • 19006 June: the Osaka Railway transfers its line to the Kansai Railway.
  • 190025 November: the Kiwa Railway opens Hashimoto–Kokawa, completing the through route between Ōji and Wakayama.
  • 190427 August: the Kiwa Railway transfers its line to the Kansai Railway; on 9 December the Minami-Kazu Railway does the same.
  • 19071 October: the Kansai Railway is nationalised under the Railway Nationalization Act, bringing the Ōji–Wakayama route into the government railways.
  • 190912 October: when the national railways' line names are established, the line from Ōji via Wakayama (present-day Kiwa) to Wakayamashi is formally named the 'Wakayama Line'.
  • 19803 March: the northern Ōji–Gojō section is electrified at 1,500 V DC.
  • 19841 October: the Gojō–Wakayama section is electrified, completing electrification of the whole line.
  • 19871 April: with the breakup of Japanese National Railways, the line passes to the West Japan Railway Company (JR West).
  • 201916 March: JR West introduces 227-1000 series electric multiple units on the Wakayama Line.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

← All lines