Nankai Main Line

The is one of the two main railway lines of Japanese private railway company Nankai Electric Railway, together with Kōya Line. The route is from Namba Station in south downtown of Osaka to Wakayamashi Station in Wakayama via Sakai, Izumiōtsu, Kishiwada, Kaizuka, Izumisano, Sennan, Hannan and Misaki municipalities. The proper name is with the company's name, "the Nankai Main Line", not simply "the Main Line" often seen in other Japanese private railways. Lines of the Nankai Main Lane and the connecting lines excluded the Kōya Line and the Airport Line are named generically "". The line is shown with a pictogram of waves, or distinguished with blue from conifer or green Kōya Line.

Route data

• Line length: Template:Convert
• Track: quadruple from Namba to Suminoe (to Kishinosato-Tamade, eastern two tracks are for Kōya Line exclusively), double from Suminoe to Wakayamashi

Service types

Nankai and Kintetsu are the only two private railway operators in Kansai that offer charged Limited Express trains.

Limited express trains named "Southern" are operated between Namba and Wakayamashi or Wakayamakō. They are operated with 8-car formations and 4 cars of 8 are charged for seat reservation. Trains to and from Wakayamakō connect to Nankai Ferry services to and from the Shikoku region.

Airport limited express trains named "rapi:t" are operated between Namba and Kansai Airport and exclusively with 50000 series 6-car formations. All cars are charged for seat reservation. rapi:t α trains stop at only stations marked with S, and rapi:t β trains at stations marked with S and S*. They have been operated since Kansai International Airport opened in 1994.

Express trains are operated between Namba and Wakayamashi or Wakayamakō before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. on weekdays and in morning on Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, and pass Haruki Station. They are operated with 6 or 8-car formations. The fourth car of 8-car trains for Namba is only for women in the morning until arriving at Tengachaya by 8:30 a.m. on weekdays.

Before November 26, 2005, operated all day, two per hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Airport express trains are operated between Namba and Kansai Airport all day and stop at Haruki. 4 trains are operated per direction per hour from 10 a.m. until 4 pm. They are operated with 6 or 8-car formations. The fourth car of 8-car trains for Namba is only for women in the morning until arriving at Tengachaya by 8:30 a.m. on weekdays.

Sub express trains are operated between Namba and Hagurazaki, Misakikoen or Wakayamashi in the morning, evening, and night. They stop at airport express stations between Namba and Izumisano, and every station between Izumisano and Wakayamashi. Namba-bound trains are operated every morning and weekday rush hours in the evening.

Semi-express trains are operated from Hagurazaki or Haruki to Namba only on weekday mornings.

Local trains are operated between Namba and Wakayamashi all day. They also return to Namba at Hagurazaki, Tarui, Misakikōen or Kansai Airport in the rush hours and midnight. Only 1 northbound train is operated from Wakayamashi to Hagurazaki in the midnight. Trains pass Imamiyaebisu and Haginochaya stations due to absence of platforms on the tracks of the Nankai Line. Those stations are served by local trains of the Kōya Line.

In Japanese railway operation, "Futsū" (literally "ordinary, normal") and "Kakueki Teisha" (literally "train that stops at every station", "Kakutei" for short) are used interchangeably for trains that stop at every station. On the Nankai Railway alone, however, the two words are used for different classes of train. The former is for Locals of Nankai Main Line that do not stop at the above two stations, while the latter is for Kōya Line trains that do stop there, true to the meaning of the Japanese name of the service class.

Stations

Main Line

• ● : Trains stop.
• ▲: Rapi:t α trains pass, β trains stop.
• ▼: At Haruki, Express trains marked with a white line makes a stop
• ◆: Trains stop in the off-peak hours from January 1 until 3 every year.
• ｜ ↑: All trains pass (Arrows indicate directions)
• Wakayamadaigakumae became one of the Southern stations on October 18, 2014.

Number	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Local	Semi-Express	Sub-Express	Airport Express	Express	Ltd. Exp. Southern	Ltd. Exp. Rapi:t	Transfers	Location
NK01	Template:STN	難波	0.0	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Template:Plainlist	Chūō-ku, Osaka	Osaka Prefecture
NK02	Template:STN	今宮戎	0.9	｜	↑	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜		Naniwa-ku, Osaka
NK03	Template:STN	新今宮	1.5	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Template:Plainlist	Nishinari-ku, Osaka
NK04	Template:STN	萩ノ茶屋	2.0	｜	↑	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK05	Template:STN	天下茶屋	3.0	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Template:Plainlist
NK06	Template:STN	岸里玉出	3.9	●	↑	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜	Template:Plainlist
NK07	Template:STN	粉浜	5.1	●	↑	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜		Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka
NK08	Template:STN	住吉大社	5.7	●	↑	◆	◆	｜	｜	｜	Template:Plainlist
NK09	Template:STN	住ノ江	6.7	●	↑	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜		Suminoe-ku, Osaka
NK10	Template:STN	七道	8.2	●	↑	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜		Sakai-ku, Sakai
NK11	Template:STN	堺	9.8	●	●	●	●	●	●	▲
NK12	Template:STN	湊	11.2	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK13	Template:STN	石津川	12.7	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜		Nishi-ku, Sakai
NK14	Template:STN	諏訪ノ森	13.8	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK15	Template:STN	浜寺公園	14.8	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜	Template:Plainlist
NK16	Template:STN	羽衣	15.5	●	●	●	●	●	｜	｜	Template:Plainlist	Takaishi
NK17	Template:STN	高石	17.4	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK18	Template:STN	北助松	18.5	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜		Izumiōtsu
NK19	Template:STN	松ノ浜	19.5	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK20	Template:STN	泉大津	20.4	●	●	●	●	●	｜	｜
NK21	Template:STN	忠岡	22.3	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜		Tadaoka
NK22	Template:STN	春木	23.7	●	●	●	●	▼	｜	｜		Kishiwada
NK23	Template:STN	和泉大宮	25.0	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK24	Template:STN	岸和田	26.0	●	●	●	●	●	●	▲
NK25	Template:STN	蛸地蔵	26.9	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK26	Template:STN	貝塚	28.6	●	●	●	●	●	｜	｜	Template:Plainlist	Kaizuka
NK27	Template:STN	二色浜	30.4	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK28	Template:STN	鶴原	31.3	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜		Izumisano
NK29	Template:STN	井原里	32.4	●	●	｜	｜	｜	｜	｜
NK30	Template:STN	泉佐野	34.0	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Template:Plainlist
Through service:				From Izumisano: Local / Airport Express / Limited Express Rapi:t to File:Nankai airport line symbol.svg Nankai Airport Line for Kansai Airport
NK33	Template:STN	羽倉崎	36.1	●	●	●		｜	｜			Izumisano	Osaka Prefecture
NK34	Template:STN	吉見ノ里	37.4	●		●		｜	｜			Tajiri
NK35	Template:STN	岡田浦	38.8	●		●		｜	｜			Sennan
NK36	Template:STN	樽井	40.6	●		●		｜	｜
NK37	Template:STN	尾崎	43.1	●		●		●	●			Hannan
NK38	Template:STN	鳥取ノ荘	44.6	●		●		｜	｜
NK39	Template:STN	箱作	46.6	●		●		｜	｜
NK40	Template:STN	淡輪	50.2	●		●		｜	｜			Misaki
NK41	Template:STN	みさき公園	51.9	●		●		●	●		Template:Plainlist
NK42	Template:STN	孝子	56.3	●		●		｜	｜
NK43	Template:STN (Fujitodai)	和歌山大学前 （ふじと台）	58.0	●		●		●	●			Wakayama	Wakayama Prefecture
NK44	Template:STN	紀ノ川	61.6	●		●		｜	｜		Template:Plainlist
NK45	Template:STN	和歌山市	64.2	●		●		●	●		Template:Plainlist
Through service:				From Wakayamashi: Express (weekdays only) / Limited Express Southern to File:Nankai mainline symbol.svg Wakayamako Line for Wakayamako

Tennoji Branch Line

Listed counterclockwise: All stations are in the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Station	Japanese	Closed	Location
Template:STN	天下茶屋	18 November 1984	Nishinari-ku, Osaka
Template:STN	曳舟	1949
Template:STN	今池町	1 April 1993
Template:STN	大門通	1949
Template:STN	飛田本通	1 April 1993
Template:STN	天王寺		Tennōji-ku, Osaka

Rolling stock

File:Nankai50000Series01.jpg

50000 series EMU on a rapi:t limited express service

File:Nankai12000.jpg

12000 series EMU on a Southern limited express service bound for Wakayamakō

• 9000 series exclusively for Southern (non-reserved car)
• 8300 series (from Autumn 2015) exclusively for Southern (non-reserved car, from December 2020)
• 8000 series exclusively for Southern (non-reserved car)
• 7100 series exclusively for Southern (non-reserved car)
• 7000 series (until October 2015)
• 2000 series
• 1000 series
• 10000 series exclusively for Southern (reserved car)
• 12000 series exclusively for Southern (reserved car)
• 50000 series exclusively for rapi:t
• 3000 series
• Semboku 5000 series
• Semboku 7000 series
• Semboku 7020 series

History

One of the oldest private railway lines still existing, the Template:RailGauge gauge Namba - Yamatogawa (since closed) section was opened in 1885 by (separate from the present-day Hankai Tramway). The line was extended to Sakai in 1888, and the Namba - Sumiyoshitaisha section was duplicated in 1892.

In 1897 the then separate Nankai Railway opened the Sakai - Sano (present-day Izumisano) section as 1067mm gauge, with the Namba - Sano section regauged to match, and the Sumiyoshitaisha - Sano section duplicated the same year. The following year the Hankai Co. merged with Nankai Railway, and the line was extended to Wakayama. The present line to Wakayamashi was completed in 1903, and in 1906 the first dining car on a private railway in Japan was introduced on the Wakayama express.

The duplication of the line extended to Hamaderakōen in 1907, Kaizuka in 1911, Takako in 1915 and was completed to Wakayama in 1922.

Electrification at 600 VDC began in 1907 on the section from Namba to Hamaderakōen, and was completed in 1911. The voltage was increased to 1500 VDC in 1973.

Works to elevate long sections of the line began with the short downtown section including Imamiyaebisu station in the 1930s and continued from the 1970s until the 2020s. The first 18 km until past Takaishi station will be completely elevated by 2028, and three shorter isolated sections further down the line have also been elevated. Completion of the various stages:

• 1938: Imamiyaebisu
• 1980: Namba (terminus), Kohama - Sumiyoshitaisha - Suminoe
• 1985: Shichidō - Sakai - Minato - Ishizugawa
• 1993: Tengachaya - Kishinosato-Tamade
• 1994: Kishiwada
• 2008: Matsunohama, Izumisano
• 2012: Izumiōtsu
• 2021: Hagoromo - Takaishi
• 2024: Tennoji Branch Line
• 2028: Suwanomori - Hamaderakōen

Former connecting lines

• Tengachaya station - A 2 km line to Tennoji opened in 1900. In 1933 the line was electrified at 1500 VDC, the line closing in 1984.
• Sakai station - A 2 km 1435mm gauge line from Shukuin to Ohama, electrified at 600 VDC, opened by the BanSakai Electric Railway Co. in 1912 (and acquired by Nankai in 1914) connected at this station until closed in 1949.
• Wakayama station - A 3 km line to Higashi-Matsue on the Nankai Kada Line opened in 1912. The line was electrified at 600 VDC in 1930, and closed in 1955.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia Template:Reflist