IR Ishikawa Railway

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
IR Ishikawa Railway
Native name
IRいしかわ鉄道
Third sector
Genre Rail transport
Founded 28 August 2012
Headquarters Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Area served
Ishikawa Prefecture
Services Passenger railway
Website ishikawa-railway.jp

The IR Ishikawa Railway (IRいしかわ鉄道株式会社 IR Ishikawa Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha?) is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Ishikawa Prefecture when it was separated from the JR West network on 14 March 2015, coinciding with the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Nagano to Kanazawa. The company was founded on 28 August 2012, and has its headquarters in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.[1]

Shareholders

Shares in the company are owned by Ishikawa Prefecture, the city of Kanazawa, the town of Tsubata, and private-sector businesses.[1]

IR Ishikawa Railway Line

IR Ishikawa Railway Line
Overview
Native name IRいしかわ鉄道線
Type Regional rail
Locale Ishikawa Prefecture
Termini Kanazawa
Kurikara
Stations 5
Operation
Opened 1 November 1898
Owner IR Ishikawa Railway
Rolling stock 521 series EMUs
Technical
Line length 17.8 km (11.1 mi)
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification 20 kV AC (60 Hz)
Route map
Hokuriku Main Line
Nakabashi/Hokutetsu Kanaiwa Line
Hokutetsu Kanazawa City LineBSicon exTRAM.svg (Rokumaimachi)
0.0 KanazawaBSicon exTRAM.svg (Kanazawa Station)
Kanazawa
Horikawa
Hokuriku Railroad Asanogawa Line
Asanogawa
Kanazawa Depot
Higashi-Kanazawa Until 2002
2.6 Kanazawa Freight Terminal
2.6 Higashi-Kanazawa
BSicon exTRAM.svg (Higashikanazawa Station)
5.4 Morimoto
8.4 Hanazono (Signal Box) Until 1938
11.5 Tsubata
JR West Nanao Line
Tsubatagawa
Hokuriku Shinkansen
17.8 Kurikara
Ainokaze Toyama Railway

From 14 March 2015, the IR Ishikawa Railway took over control of local passenger operations on the 17.8 km section JR West Hokuriku Main Line between Kanazawa and Kurikara, with a total of five stations (although Kanazawa Station remains under the control of JR West).[2]

Service outline

All services inter-run either to and from the Ainokaze Toyama Railway Line (and Echigo Tokimeki Railway Nihonkai Hisui Line) to the east or over the JR West Nanao Line branching off at Tsubata.[2] Limited-stop "Rapid" services named Ainokaze Liner (あいの風ライナー?) are operated between Kanazawa and Tomari by Ainokaze Toyama Railway during the weekday morning and evening peaks, but these do not serve any IR Ishikawa Railway stations other than Kanazawa.[2] Noto Kagaribi (Kanazawa - Wakura-Onsen) and Thunderbird (Osaka - Wakura-Onsen) limited express services also operate over the section of the line between Kanazawa and Tsubata, with some services calling at Tsubata.[2]

Stations

Station Japanese Distance
(km)
Rapid Transfers Location
Kanazawa 金沢 0.0 O Hokuriku Main Line
Hokuriku Railroad Asanogawa Line (Hokutetsu-Kanazawa)
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Higashi-Kanazawa 東金沢 2.6 |
Morimoto 森本 5.4 |
Tsubata 津幡 11.5 | Nanao Line Tsubata, Ishikawa
Kurikara 倶利伽羅 17.8 | Ainokaze Toyama Railway Line

Rolling stock

File:IR Ishikawa Railway 521 tsubata station.JPG
IR Ishikawa 521 series EMU set IR03, June 2015
File:Ishikawa Railway IR521 Kanazawa 201503151841.JPG
IR Ishikawa Railway 521 series EMU set IR05, March 2015

The company operates a fleet of five 2-car 521 series EMU trains; three 2nd-batch sets (10, 14, and 30) were transferred from JR West, and two 3rd-batch sets (55 and 56) were newly built. The two new sets were initially delivered in February 2015 in standard JR West livery, but were repainted into the IR Ishikawa Railway livery before entering service.[3] Trains are normally operated as two- or four-car formations.[3]

As of 1 April 2015, the 521 series fleet is as follows.[4]

Set No. Former set No. Manufacturer Delivery date Livery accent colour
IR01 10 Kinki Sharyo 22 December 2009 Light green
IR02 14 Kinki Sharyo 2 March 2010 Purple
IR03 30 Kawasaki Heavy Industries 15 February 2011 Indigo
IR04 55 Kinki Sharyo 6 February 2015 Ochre
IR05 56 Kinki Sharyo 6 February 2015 Maroon

History

The line eastward from Kanazawa was opened on 1 November 1898 on the Hokuriku Main Line.[5] With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of JR West.[5]

The new third-sector operating company was founded on 28 August 2012,[1] and was renamed IR Ishikawa Railway from 1 August 2013.[6] The company was formally granted a railway operating license by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on 28 February 2014.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links