Matsuyama tram

Matsuyama tram
Track crossing at Ōtemachi station ( 大 手 町 )
Basic information
Country	Japan
city	Matsuyama
opening	1895/1911
electrification	1911
operator	Iyo Tetsudō KK
Infrastructure
Route length	9.2 km
Gauge	1067 mm ( cape track )
Power system	600 V = overhead line
business
Lines	3 + 2 ring lines
Network plan including suburban railway

Type 2100 low-floor vehicle at the Dōgo-onsen

"Steam" train when drawing electricity

Network development (continuous = existing, interrupted / dotted = shut down)

The Matsuyama Tram is the tram network in Matsuyama on Shikoku Island in Japan . It is operated by the private company Iyo Tetsudō KK ( Japanese 伊 予 鉄 道 株式会社 ), short Iyotetsu ( 伊 予 鉄 ).

It consists of five lines, the core of which is a ring around the city center. The northern area between the Heiwa-dōri-itchōme ( 平和 通 一 丁目 ) and Miyatachō ( 宮 田 町 ) just north of the main station is licensed as a railway and mostly single-track. Lines 1 and 2 serve the ring in (1) and counter (2) clockwise directions, but start and end via a short branch line at the “Stadtbahnhof” ( 松山 市 駅 , Matsuyama-shieki ) south of the center . Here, as at Komachi station ( 古 町 ), there is a transition to the suburban railway lines of the same company. A short distance east of the main train station is the last level crossing of rail and tram tracks in Japan. Between this and the branch line, another single track branch branches off to the north, which extends to just before the northern part of the ring. It is served by line 6, which runs over the southern part of the ring and further over an additional branch line to the Dōgo-onsen ( 道 後 温泉 ) in the far east . Lines 3 to the city station and 6 to the main station also depart from there. Line 4 does not exist.

In addition, a steam train replica used for tourism ( 坊 っ ち ゃ ん 列車 Botchan-ressha , diesel traction with auxiliary pantograph) operates on the Komachi – Stadtbahnhof – Dōgo-onsen connection.

After the Iyotetsu had built the first railway line on Shikoku in 1888, the company Dōgo Tetsudō ( 道 後 鉄 道 ) followed in 1895 with a connection between Dōgo-onsen and the city center or Komachi in 762 mm gauge. After the takeover by Iyotestu in 1900, parts of this network formed the basis for the construction of the tram in 1911 through electrification and gauge change to 1067 mm. In the same year, starting from the southern end point, a standard gauge line was built on the one hand through the city and via Komachi parallel to the existing railway line to the port of Enoguchi ( 江 ノ 口 ), on the other hand over the current route in addition to the dogo-onsen. It was not until 1923 that they were re-tracked to their current size, while the original routes were largely abandoned in 1926 (with the simultaneous laying of the route in the center) and 1927 (with the completion of today's northern part of the ring). It was the same with the route to Enoguchi. For this purpose, a branch line from Komachi to the newly built main station went into operation. This was relocated in 1936 and closed the southern part of the ring. In the post-war period, the southern and central branch line was finally built while the direct connection to Komachi was abandoned.

So far, no further changes have gone beyond the design phase; However, there are concrete plans to build another branch line. It should lead in a westerly direction beyond the main station and in the long term also open up the airport.

In addition to 28 high-floor single wagons, there are ten low-floor wagons supplied by Alna-Sharyō since 2002. Then there are the vehicles of the Botchan-ressha .

Web links

Commons : Iyo Railway  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• Official Japanese website (Japanese, English)
• Official city planning document (PDF, Japanese)

Remarks

1. ↑ including 3.5 km of railway line