Uchiko Line - History

History

The line was originally built by the Ehime Railway (愛媛鉄道, Ehime Tetsudō?) as a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) light railway line stretching from Wakamiya Junction (若宮連絡所, Wakamiya-renraku-sho?), where the line split off the main line from Nagahama-machi (the present Iyo-Nagahama) to Ōzu (the present Iyo-Ōzu), to Uchiko, opening on May 1, 1920. On October 1, 1933, it (along with the Ehime Railway Main Line) was nationalised and the name Ehime Line (愛媛線, Ehime-sen?) was assigned to both lines; both lines were regauged to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), the national standard, on October 6, 1935, the same day when the Ehime Line was incorporated into the Yosan Main Line. That day, the line from Gorō to Uchiko gained its own identity as the Uchiko Line. Freight operations ceased on December 1, 1971.

On November 25, 1985, the line was closed and replaced by buses to allow heavier rails to be laid, the railbed to be strengthened, and curves to be relaxed. The next year, on March 3, the line between Uchiko and Niiya, together with new branches of the Yosan Main Line from Mukaibara and Niiya to Iyo-Ōzu, opened as a shortcut route between Matsuyama and Uwajima, with new passing facilities at Niiya, relocated stations at Uchiko and Ikazaki, and Centralised Traffic Control. The line from Niiya to Gorō was abolished. The next year, on April 1, JNR was divided and privatised, and the Uchiko Line came under the control of Shikoku Railway Company, with Japan Freight Railway Company operating services on the line. JR Freight subsequently ceased to run services on the line on April 1, 2006.