Hakone Tozan Line

Hakone Tozan Railway 1000 series trainset "Bernina"(Japan) at Gōra Station

Hakone Tozan Railway 2000 series trainset "St. Moritz" at Odawara Station, in 2006

The Hakone Tozan Line (箱根登山鉄道線, Hakone Tozan Tetsudō-sen^?, lit. Hakone Mountain-Climbing Railroad Line) is Japan's first mountain railroad. It is operated by the Hakone Tozan Railway. This company belongs to the Odakyū Group, and also owns the Hakone Tozan Cable Car.

The initial stretch of the line from Odawara Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station started operations in 1919, with current terminus Gōra reached in 1930. Since 2006, only Odakyū Odawara Line trains run on the previously dual-gauge section from Odawara Station to Hakone-Yumoto Station. From Gora, visitors can continue up the mountain on the Hakone Tozan Cable Car.

The railroad is capable of climbing one meter vertically for every 12.5 meters of horizontal distance, a maximum slope of 8%. The line traverses Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, so the line was carefully designed to limit the impact on scenery. Due to the difficult conditions, the line has three switchbacks used to ascend particularly tight spots.

Description

1000 series cars on a slope of 8%, near Hakone-Yumoto Station (for Tōnosawa)

Dual gauge section at Iriuda Station

• Length: 15.0 km
• Gauge:
  • Odawara - Iriuda: 1,067 mm
  • Iriuda - Hakone-Yumoto: 1,067 mm and 1,435 mm (dual gauge)
  • Hakone-Yumoto - Gōra: 1,435 mm
• Stations: 11 (including ends)
• Track: single
• Power:
  • Odawara - Hakone-Yumoto: 1,500 V DC overhead supply
  • Hakone-Yumoto - Gōra: 750 V DC overhead supply
• Block system: Automatic (cab signal/digital) (CTC)

History

• October 1, 1888: Odawara Horse-drawn Railway opens from Kōzu Station via Odawara Station, to Hakone-Yumoto Station.
• October 31, 1896: Operating company name is changed to Odawara Electric Railway.
• March 21, 1900: Line is electrified (as a tram, 600 V DC).
• June 1, 1919: Line opens between Hakone-Yumoto and Gōra as an electrified (600 V DC) funicular railway.
• December 16, 1920: Tram line closes between Kōzu - Odawara, and connected with JGR (now JR) Tōkaidō Main Line at Odawara.
• August 16, 1928: Hakone Tozan Railway is founded.
• October 1, 1935: Mainline railway is extended from Hakone-Yumoto to Odawara. Tram line remains between Odawara - Hakone-Itabashi, and is renamed "Odawara Town Line".
• December 20, 1940: Tram section is renamed "Odawara City Line".
• June 1, 1948: Hakone Tozan Railway becomes part of the Odakyū Group.
• August 1, 1950: Odakyū Electric Railway begins operating Limited Express and Express trains from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto. Line voltage is changed to 1,500 V DC for dual gauge section between Odawara and Hakone-Yumoto.
• June 1, 1956: Odawara City Line (tram) is abandoned.
• July 14, 1993: Hakone-Yumoto - Gōra section is changed from 600 to 750 V DC. Operations start using 3-car EMUs.
• March 18, 2006: Hakone Tozan Railway discontinues operation using its own units between Odawara and Hakone-Yumoto. Dual-gauge section reduced to Iriuda - Hakone-Yumoto.
• March 15, 2008: New Romancecar through service starts from Kita-Senju Station.

Stations

• Trains: "S" = All stop, "/" = All pass.

Stations/ Signal Spots	Japanese	Distance (km)		Height (m)	Stops			Location (in Kanagawa)
					Limited Express	Local	Local
Odawara	小田原		0.0	26	S	S		Odawara
Hakone-Itabashi	箱根板橋	1.7	1.7	27	/	S
Kazamatsuri	風祭	1.5	3.2	48	/	S
Iriuda	入生田	1.0	4.2	66	/	S	(terminus)
Hakone-Yumoto	箱根湯本	1.9	6.1	108	S	S	S	Hakone, Ashigarashimo District
Tōnosawa	塔ノ沢	1.0	7.1	165	(terminus, from/to Shinjuku (some from/to Kita-Senju))	(terminus, from/to Shin-Matsuda)	S
Deyama (Signal Station)	出山信号場	1.2	8.3	234			/
Ōhiradai	大平台	1.6	9.9	349			S
Kami-Ōhiradai (Signal Station)	上大平台信号場	0.5	10.4	359			/
Sennnindai (Signal Station)	仙人台信号場	0.8	11.2	410			/
Miyanoshita	宮ノ下	0.9	12.1	448			S
Kowakidani	小涌谷	1.3	13.4	535			S
Chōkoku-no-Mori	彫刻の森	0.9	14.3	551			S
Gōra	強羅	0.7	15.0	553			S

• Transfers:
  • At Odawara Station:
    • Odakyu Electric Railway - Odawara Line
    • East Japan Railway Company (JR East) - Tōkaidō Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line
    • Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) - Tōkaidō Shinkansen
    • Izu-Hakone Railway - Daiyūzan Line
  • At Gōra Station:
    • Hakone Tozan Railway - Hakone Tozan Cable Car

• Hakone-Yumoto Station is the terminal of all Hakone Tozan Line trains.
• On Odawara - Hakone-Yumoto section, Limited Express "Romancecar" and Local trains run through Odakyū Odawara Line.
  • Odakyū LE, Super Hakone, Hakone and Homeway services run from/to Shinjuku Station.
  • Odakyū LE Metro Hakone runs between Hakone-Yumoto and Kita-Senju Station, on Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line at weekends only.
  • Local trains runs between Odawara and Hakone-Yumoto, partly from/to Shin-Matsuda Station using 4-car Odakyū EMUs.
• Section between Hakone-Yumoto and Gōra is operated by local trains only, using Hakone Tozan 2/3-car EMUs.
  • Trains stop at three signal stations which have no passenger platforms.
  • There are three switchbacks: Deyama (signal), Ōhiradai and Kami-Ōhiradai (signal).
• Journey time between Odawara - Hakone-Yumoto is approximately 15 minutes, Hakone-Yumoto - Gōra is approximately 40 minutes, Shinjuku - Hakone-Yumoto is approximately an hour and 25-35 minutes by limited express.

Signal Stations

There are 3 Signal stations on Hakone Tozan Line. All of them have a siding track and 2 of them have zigzags.

Deyama Signal Station

Signal Station with zigzag. 234m AMSL. 35°13′57″N 139°05′14″E / 35.232402°N 139.087167°E / 35.232402; 139.087167

Kami-Ōhiradai Signal Station

Signal Station with zigzag near Ōhiradai station which has zigzag too. 359m AMSL. 35°14′08″N 139°04′32″E / 35.235604°N 139.075444°E / 35.235604; 139.075444

Sennindai Signal Station

Signal Station without zigzag. 410m AMSL. 35°14′18″N 139°04′09″E / 35.238215°N 139.069042°E / 35.238215; 139.069042

• 

  Deyama S.S. (close)

• 

  Deyama S.S. (wide)

• 

  Kami-Ōhiradai S.S

• 

  Sennindai S.S.

Rolling stock

Hakone Tozan Railway (Hakone-Yumoto - Gōra)

Current

• MoHa 1
• MoHa 2
• 1000 series ("Bernina", named from Rhätische Bahn Line in Switzerland)
• 2000 series ("St. Moritz")
• MoNi 1 (as management car)

All trains are based at Iriuda Depot.

Former

• MoHa 3
• Yu 1 (as goods wagon)

Odakyu Electric Railway (Shinjuku - Odawara - Hakone-Yumoto)

Romancecars

• Odakyū 7000 series LSE
• Odakyū 10000 series HiSE
• Odakyū 20000 series RSE
• Odakyū 30000 series EXE
• Odakyū 50000 series VSE
• Odakyū 60000 series MSE (also from Kita-Senju)

Commuter EMUs

• Odakyū 1000 series
• Odakyū 5000 series
• Odakyū 8000 series

Microsoft Train Simulator

This route appears in Microsoft Train Simulator complete with scenarios simulating prototypical operation (Only from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto).

External links

• Hakone Tozan Railway Official Site (in Japanese)
• Hakone Navi (Odakyu's official sightseeing guide, in English)