Ryūgasaki Line

The Ryūgasaki Line (竜ヶ崎線, Ryūgasaki-sen) is a railway line operated by the Kantō Railway in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan. It is a non-electrified line which connects Sanuki, on the Jōban Line, to Ryūgasaki, with one intermediate station at Ireji.^[1]

Ryūgasaki Line
Kanto Railway KiHa 532 DMU in August 2007
Overview
Status	In operation
Owner	Kantō Railway
Locale	Ibaraki Prefecture
Termini	Sanuki Ryūgasaki
Stations	3
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	Kantō Railway
Operator(s)	Kantō Railway
Rolling stock	KiHa 532 series DMU, KiHa 2000 series DMU
History
Opened	1900
Technical
Line length	4.5 km (2.8 mi)
Number of tracks	Entire line single tracked
Character	Rural
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Old gauge	762 mm (2 ft 6 in)
Minimum radius	207 m (679 ft)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	50 km/h (31 mph)

Services

Trains operate approximately every 20 minutes during morning & evening peak hours and every 30 minutes at other times.^[2] All services on the Line are Local trains, stopping at every station. Running time is 7 minutes.

History

The Ryuzaki Railway Co. opened the line on 14 August 1900 as a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge steam-operated line. The line was regauged to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) in July 1915.

The company merged with the Kashima Sangu Railway Co. in 1944, which merged with the Kanto Railway Co. in 1965.

Freight services ceased in 1971, the same year the line switched to driver-only-operation (in August 1971), becoming the first driver-only-operation line in Japan.^[1]

Stations

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Transfers	Location
Sanuki	佐貫	0.0	■ Jōban Line	Ryūgasaki	Ibaraki Prefecture
Ireji	入地	2.2
Ryūgasaki	竜ヶ崎	4.5