Midōsuji Line

Midōsuji Line
Midōsuji Line 21 series train with red line
Info
Type	Rapid transit
Locale	Osaka
Line number	1
Operation
Opened	20 May 1933
Owner	Osaka Municipal Subway
Depot(s)	Nakamozu
Rolling stock	10 series, 21 series
Technical
Line length	24.5 km
Track gauge	1,435 mm
Electrification	750 V DC, third rail
Operating speed	70 km/h

Route diagram

Legend Connections are of Osaka Municipal Subway lines unless otherwise noted 5.9 M08 Senri-Chūō Osaka Monorail: Main Line (temporary) Senri-Chūō / Expo Central Gate right: Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway: Expo Line 3.9 M09 Momoyama-dai Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway Momoyamadai Depot 1.9 M10 Ryokuchi-kōen 0.0 M11 Esaka boundary of Osaka Municipal Subway/Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway 2.0 M12 Higashi-Mikuni Osaka Higashi Line (projected) JR Central (JR-C): Tōkaidō Shinkansen and JR West (JR-W): Sanyō Shinkansen 2.9 M13 Shin-Osaka JR-W: Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kyoto Line) 3.6 M14 Nishinakajima-Minamigata Hankyū: Kyoto Line (Minamikata) Hankyū: Kobe Line. Takarazuka Line, Kyoto Line (Juso) Yodo River Nakatsu (Hankyu) 5.4 M15 Nakatsu JR-W: Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kyoto Line, JR Kobe Line, JR Takarazuka Line) Kita-Umeda Hankyu: Kobe Line. Takarazuka Line, Kyoto Line (Umeda) JR-W Osaka: Osaka Loop Line 6.4 M16 Umeda left: Hanshin: Main Line Yotsubashi Line Nishi-Umeda (Y11), Tanimachi Line Higashi-Umeda (T20) JR-W JR Tōzai Line (Kitashinchi) Dojima River Tosabori River Keihan: Nakanoshima Line (Ōebashi) 7.7 M17 Yodoyabashi left: Higobashi / right: Keihan Main Line 8.6 M18 Hommachi Yotsubashi Line (Y13) Chūō Line (C16) Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line (N15) 9.6 M19 Shinsaibashi Yotsubashi Line (Yotsubashi: Y14) Sennichimae Line (S16) Kintetsu: Namba Line (Osaka Namba) Hanshin: Hanshin Namba Line (Osaka Namba) 10.5 M20 Namba Yotsubashi Line (Y15) Nankai Nankai Main Line, Kōya Line 11.7 M21 Daikokuchō Yotsubashi Line (Y16) Nankai Railway (Shin-Imamiya); Nankai Line and Kōya Line JR-W Osaka Loop Line, Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line) (Shin-Imamiya) Hankai Tramway Hankai Line (Minamikasumichō) Sakaisuji Line (K19) 12.9 M22 Dōbutsuen-mae Tanimachi Line (T27) 13.9 M23 Tennōji Hankai Uemachi Line Tennōji-eki-mae Abeno, Osaka Abenobashi JR-W Osaka Loop Line JR-W Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line) Kintetsu Minami-Osaka Line : Tanimachi Line (T29: Fuminosato) 15.7 M24 Shōwachō 17.0 M25 Nishitanabe 18.3 M26 Nagai JR-W Hanwa Line 19.5 M27 Abiko Abiko Depot abandoned in 1987 Yamato River 21.4 M28 Kita-Hanada 23.0 M29 Shinkanaoka Nakamozu Depot 24.5 M30 Nakamozu Nankai Koya Line Osaka Prefectural Urban Development Semboku Rapid Railway

The Midōsuji Line (御堂筋線, Midōsuji-sen^?) is one of the Osaka Municipal Subway lines, the rapid transit system in Osaka City, Japan. Constructed under Midōsuji, a north-south major street, the line is the oldest line of the Osaka subway system and the second oldest in Japan, following the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line.

North of Nakatsu it runs above ground in the median of Shin-midōsuji, an elevated freeway.

The section between Senri-chūō and Esaka is owned and operated by Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway (北大阪急行電鉄, Kita Osaka Dentetsu^?), but is seamless to the passengers except with respect to fare calculations.

History

The Midōsuji Line was the first subway line in Osaka and the first government-operated subway line in Japan. Its construction was partly an effort to give work to the many unemployed people in Osaka during the early 1930s. The initial tunnel from Umeda to Shinsaibashi, dug entirely by hand, opened in 1933 after being initially plagued by cave-ins and water leakage caused by the poor composition of the earth below northern Osaka and the equally poor engineering skills of the work crew. The first cars were hauled onto the line by manpower and pack animals from the National Railway tracks near Umeda.^{[citation needed]}

Although the line only operated with single cars at first, its stations were designed from the outset to handle trains of up to eight cars. The line was
gradually extended over the next few decades, completing its current length in 1987.

• May 20, 1933 - Umeda (temporary station) - Shinsaibashi (opening)^[1]
• October 6, 1935 - Umeda Station (present station) opened.
• October 30, 1935 - Shinsaibashi - Namba (opening)
• April 21, 1938 - Namba - Tennōji (opening)
• Construction stopped during World War II.
• December 20, 1951 - Tennōji - Shōwachō (opening)
• October 5, 1952 - Shōwachō - Nishitanabe (opening)
• July 1, 1960 - Nishitanabe - Abiko (opening)
• September 1, 1964 - Umeda - Shin-Osaka (opening)
• February 24, 1970 - Shin-Osaka - Esaka together with Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway (Kitakyu) (opening)
• April 18, 1987 - Abiko - Nakamozu (opening)

Stations

For connections and distances, see route diagram.

Rolling stock

Current

• 10 series (from 1976)
• 21 series (from 1991)
• Kitakyū 8000 series (from 1986)

Former

• Type 100 EMU (1933-1969)
• Type 200 EMU (1935-1969)
• Type 300 EMU (1938-1969)
• Type 400 EMU (1943-1969)
• Type 500 EMU (1949-1969)
• Type 600 EMU (1951-1969)
• Type 1000 EMU (1953-1969)
• Type 1100 EMU (1957-1969)
• Type 1200 EMU (1958-1969)
• Type 5000 EMU* (1960-1969)
• 30 series* (1968-1993)
• Kitakyū 7000/8000 series (1969-1970)
• Kitakyū 2000 series (1969-1993)

* Type 5000 EMU (a.k.a 50 series) and 30 series trains also run on the Tanimachi Line.

References