Fukui Railway Fukubu Line
Introduction The  is a  railway line operated by Fukui Railway in Fukui Prefecture. The line runs from Takefu-shin Station in Echizen to  and  stations in Fukui. Although it has its own right-of-way for most of the route, the Fukubu Line runs with traffic as a tram line past Sekijūjimae Station.
History Fukui Railway 200 series train original livery.Fukui Railway F1000 low-floor vehicles at TakefuThe  opened the Fukubu Line on 23 February 1924 for the purposes of transporting soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army Sabae 36th Regiment between  and  (now ) stations. * 23 February 1924: Fukubu Electric Railway opens the Fukubu Line between  and Heiei (now ). * 26 July 1925: Heiei – Fukui-Shin (now ) section opens. * 5 June 1927: Sanjūhassha Station opens. * 5 October 1927: Mizuochi Station opens; former transfer station for the Seiho Electric Railway. * 13 August 1929: Kami-Sabae (now ), Shimo-Sabae (now ) stations open. * 15 October 1933: Fukui-Shin –  section opens. * 1 October 1935: Tobanaka Station opens; Nishi-Tobanaka Station (between Heiei and Tobanaka) closes. * April 1939: Heiei Station is renamed Chūō Station. * 1 April 1941: Express service begins. * 1 August 1945: Fukubu Electric Railway merges with Seiho Electric Railway to form Fukui Railway. * June 1946: Chūō Station renamed Shinmei Station. * 12 July 1950: Hanandō – Fukui-Shin section double-tracked. * 27 November 1950: Honmachi-dōri — Fukui-Shin section opens. Daimyōmachi Station is renamed Honmachi-dōri Station. * 1 April 1962: Keyamachi Station moved and renamed Kōenguchi Station. Fujishima-Jinja-mae Station (between Kidayotsutsuji and Kōenguchi) closes. * 11 December 1964: Matsumoto-dōri Station (between  and Tawaramachi) closes. Saibanshomae Station moved towards Tawaramachi. * 1 September 1969: Service between Hanandō, Fukui-Ekimae, and Tawaramachi abolished; all trains run through to Takefu-Shin Station. * 2 October 1979: Freight services discontinued. * 10 April 1980: Centralized traffic control (CTC) introduced. * 1 August 1985: Driver-only operation introduced on morning and evening services. * 10 April 1987: Shimo-Sabae Station renamed Nishiyama-Kōen Station. * 1 October 1989: Hanandō-Minami Station opens. * 20 January 1993: All trains equipped with ATS. * 15 April 1993: Hanandō-Minami Station renamed Bell-mae Station. * 20 September 1997: Harmony Hall Station opens. * 30 November 1998: Daytime service interval changed to 20 minutes. * 15 July 2002: Honmachi-dōri Station (between Kōenguchi and Shiyakushomae) closed. * 1 December 2003: Part of Shiyakushomae — Fukui-Ekimae section single-tracked due to construction around Fukui Station. * 30 September 2004: Semi-express service abolished. * January–March 2006: All station platforms modified to serve low-floor vehicles. * 1 April 2006: Low-floor trains enter service. Last departure time brought forward 30 minutes. * 16 December 2007: Daytime shuttle trains begin service between Fukui-Ekimae and Tawaramachi.On March 25, 2010, Sports-Kōen Station was established between the Nishi-Takefu and Iehisa stations. At the same time, five stations were renamed: Takefu-Shin to Echizen-Takefu; Nishi-Takefu to Kitago; Kami-Sabae to Sundome-Nishi; Fukui-Shin to Sekijūjimae; and Saibanshomae to Jin'ai-Joshikōkō.
Station list *All stations are located in Fukui Prefecture. *Express (急行) trains stop at stations marked "●", pass those marked "｜", and only a few stop at those marked "○". Most local trains stop at all stations but some pass those marked "○". *Staff:** ◎ - Present all day** ○ - Present except early mornings and late nights** ◇ - Present during peak hours only** △ - Present during holidays only** × - Unstaffed** ※ - Present during events onlyStation No.StationJapaneseDistance (km)ExpressStaffTransfersLocationBetweenStationsTotalF0たけふ新0.0●◎West Japan Railway Company (JR West): Hokuriku Main Line ()EchizenF1北府0.60.6●× F2スポーツ公園1.11.7｜× F3家久0.72.4●× F4サンドーム西1.74.1｜× SabaeF5西鯖江1.25.3●○ F6西山公園0.76.0｜※ F7水落1.37.3●× F8神明1.28.5●○ F9鳥羽中1.29.7｜× F10三十八社1.210.9｜× FukuiF11泰澄の里1.312.2｜× F12浅水0.813.0●○ F13ハーモニーホール0.813.8｜× F14清明1.114.9｜× F15江端0.615.5｜× F16ベル前0.616.1●△ F17花堂0.816.9｜× F18赤十字前0.917.8●○ F19商工会議所前0.618.4●× F20足羽山公園口0.518.9●× F21福井城址大名町0.719.6●◇ F22福井駅0.520.1○×JR West: Hokuriku Main Line (Fukui)Echizen Railway: Katsuyama Eiheiji Line (Fukui)F23仁愛女子高校0.6*20.2●× F24田原町0.720.9●×Echizen Railway: Mikuni Awara Line (Some through to Washizuka-Haribara)* Note that distances for Jin'ai Joshikōkō and Tawaramachi Stations are measured from Shiyakushomae Station.
References
External links * Fukui Railway