Kansai Main Line

Kansai Main Line
Kansai Main Line
	KiHa 120 diesel car on a rural section in March 2007
Overview
Other name(s)	Yamatoji Line (Kamo - JR Namba)
Native name	関西本線
Status	In operation
Owner	JR Central; JR West
Locale	Aichi Prefecture; Mie Prefecture; Kyoto Prefecture; Nara Prefecture; Osaka Prefecture;
Termini	Nagoya; JR Namba;
Stations	52
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	JR Central, JR West
History
Opened	1889
Technical
Line length	179.6 km (111.6 mi)
Character	Both urban and rural
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC, overhead line; (Nagoya–Kameyama, Kamo–JR Namba)
Operating speed	120 km/h (75 mph) (Nagoya–Kawarada, Nara–Tennoji); 95 km/h (59 mph); (Kawarada–Nara, Tennoji–JR Namba)

The Kansai Main Line (関西本線, Kansai-honsen, also called the "Kansai Line") is a railway line in Japan, which connects Nagoya Station with JR Namba Station in Osaka. It is jointly run by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), with the boundary between both companies being located at Kameyama Station in Kameyama, Mie.

The section from Kamo Station west to JR Namba Station is electrified and a part of the JR West "Urban Network", and is nicknamed the Yamatoji Line. The JR Central section from Nagoya to Kameyama is also electrified.

Despite its name, for much of its length it is a very local line with mainly single track sections and no regular express services. The line was originally built in the 1890s by Kansai Railway (later under the Japanese Government Railways and Japanese National Railways) as an alternate route from south Osaka to Nara and Nagoya, but competition from the Kintetsu lines and declining ridership forced the line to operationally become two electric suburban lines for Osaka and Nagoya respectively, with a less-used unelectrified rural section in the middle.

Formerly a Kasuga express train ran from Nagoya to Nara, but this service was discontinued in March 2006.