Wakayamako Line

The line opened on 6 May 1956, in the same year that Nankai inaugurated its ferry route to Shikoku, running from Wakayamashi to a first-generation Wakayama Port station (later renamed Chikkōchō). It was built so that rail passengers could reach the new ferry, and through trains from Namba on the Nankai Main Line served the connection from the outset; the earliest of these was an express named “Awa” worked by 1551-series cars, followed later by the limited express “Shikoku”.

On 6 March 1971 the line was extended beyond Chikkōchō to a new terminus at Suiken, taking the route to 5.4 km. The extension was carried out by Wakayama Prefecture in connection with the relocation of the port and a planned timber-transport scheme, and at the same time the original Wakayama Port station was relocated and renamed Chikkōchō while a second-generation Wakayamakō opened on the new section. By the time the extension opened, however, the timber traffic had already shifted to road haulage, and no timber freight train ever ran on it.

Ownership of the line is divided. The Wakayamashi-to-Kubochō section (0.8 km) is Nankai's own railway, but the Kubochō-to-Wakayamakō portion (2.0 km) was built as a harbour railway by Wakayama Prefecture, the port authority, which took over Nankai's construction licence. As a result Nankai is the Class-1 operator on the inner section and a Class-2 operator on the harbour section, while Wakayama Prefecture is the Class-3 owner of the harbour section. PTC was introduced on the line on 1 September 1980, and one-man (driver-only) operation of local trains began on 24 March 2001.

Service beyond Wakayamakō was sparse — only two return local trips a day ran between Wakayamashi and Suiken — and on 26 May 2002 the 2.6-kilometre Wakayamakō–Suiken section was closed, the stated reason being that a level crossing on it obstructed the widening of the intersecting road. Special services marked the closing: a one-off limited express “Southern” ran from Namba all the way to Suiken on 28 April 2002, and on the section's final day of operation extra trains supplemented the regular two round trips. No freight had ever used the section in its three decades.

The line's three intermediate stations — Kubochō, Tsukijibashi and Chikkōchō — were closed on 27 November 2005 because each averaged no more than 100 passengers boarding and alighting a day; Wakayama Bus routes in effect provide substitute transport for the area around them. With the intermediate stops gone, in-line local trains were withdrawn, leaving only the through limited expresses and expresses; the former Kubochō site became simply the “Prefecture–Company Boundary” (県社分界点) marking the change of ownership. From 1 April 2012 the timetable was reorganised entirely around ferry connections, services were thinned, weekend and holiday expresses were dropped, in-line local trains returned in place of some “Southern” and express runs, and Wakayamakō Station became unstaffed.

Today the Wakayamakō Line is worked by Nankai Main Line through limited expresses “Southern” (since 1985) and, on weekdays, expresses to and from Namba, together with local trains shuttling within the line; the local stock is operated in common with the Kada Line. On 29 August 2023 Nankai, together with the signalling maker Kyosan Electric, began an autonomous-driving demonstration on the line with 8300-series trains. When the discontinuation of Nankai Ferry's Shikoku route was announced on 30 March 2026, Nankai stated that the Wakayamakō Line would nonetheless remain and that there was no plan to close it.

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

• Wakayamako和歌山港
• Wakayamashi和歌山市

• 19566 May: the line opens between Wakayamashi and the first-generation Wakayama Port station (later Chikkōchō), the same year Nankai's Shikoku ferry route begins.
• 19716 March: the line is extended from Chikkōchō to Suiken (reaching 5.4 km) by Wakayama Prefecture; the original Wakayama Port station is relocated and renamed Chikkōchō and a second-generation Wakayamakō opens.
• 197131 March: last day of the connection with the Nankai Wakayama Tramway Line at Wakayamashi Station.
• 19801 September: PTC is introduced on the line.
• 200124 March: one-man (driver-only) operation of local trains begins.
• 200226 May: the 2.6 km Wakayamakō–Suiken section is closed, on the stated grounds that a level crossing on it obstructed the widening of the intersecting road; no freight train ever ran on it.
• 200527 November: the three intermediate stations Kubochō, Tsukijibashi and Chikkōchō are closed for low ridership (each averaging no more than 100 passengers boarding and alighting a day); in-line local trains are withdrawn and the former Kubochō becomes the 'Prefecture–Company Boundary'.
• 20121 April: the timetable is reorganised around ferry connections, services are reduced, weekend/holiday expresses are dropped, in-line local trains return in place of some 'Southern' and express runs, and Wakayamakō Station becomes unstaffed.
• 202329 August: Nankai begins an autonomous-driving demonstration on the line with the signalling maker Kyosan Electric, using 8300-series trains.
• 202630 March: the discontinuation of Nankai Ferry's Shikoku route is announced; Nankai states the Wakayamakō Line will remain, with no plan to close it.