- Tanimachi Line
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Tanimachi Line
Tanimachi Line 30000 series train at Yao Depot, September 2009Overview Type Rapid transit Locale Osaka Stations 26 Operation Opened March 24, 1967 Owner Osaka Municipal Subway Depot(s) Dainichi, Yao Rolling stock 22 series, 30 series, 30000 series Technical Line length 28.1 km (17.5 mi) Track length 28.3 km (17.6 mi) Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Electrification 750 V DC, third rail Operating speed 70 km/h (45 mph) Stations / Facilities / Connecting lines LegendUpper numbers are actual distance, lower are fare distance
Osaka Monorail: Main Line 
0.0 T11 Dainichi 
Dainichi Depot 
1.8 T12 Moriguchi 
Imazatosuji Line
3.0 T13 Taishibashi-Imaichi I14 4.0 T14 Senbayashi-Ōmiya 5.1 T15 Sekime-Takadono 5.9 T16 Noe-Uchindai 7.2 T17 Miyakojima 
8.5 T18 Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme K11 
←Hankyu: Senri Line 
Sakaisuji Line
Hanshin: Kita-Osaka Line 9.3 T19 Nakazakichō 
Osaka JR West: Osaka Loop Line 10.3 T20 Higashi-Umeda (connections below) JR West: JR Tōzai Line 
Sakaisuji Line11.5 T21 Minami-Morimachi K13 
L： Osaka-Tenmangū Keihan: Nakanoshima Line 
old Yodo River 
Keihan: Keihan Main Line 
13.1 13.3 T22 Temmabashi 13.8 14.2 T23 Tanimachi Yonchōme C18 
Chūō Line
Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line14.6 15.2 T24 Tanimachi Rokuchōme N18 15.5 16.1 T25 Tanimachi Kyūchōme S18 
Sennichimae Line
Kintetsu: ←Namba Line / Osaka Line→ 
Osaka Uehommachi 16.5 16.9 T26 Shitennōji-mae Yūhigaoka JR West: Osaka Loop Line 
17.6 17.8 T27 Tennōji (M23) 
JR West: Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line) 
Nankai: Tennoji Line 
Midōsuji Line
Osaka Abenobashi Kintetsu: Minami-Osaka Line→ 
Tennōji-ekimae 
JR West: Hanwa Line 
18.2 18.4 T28 Abeno 
Nankai: Hirano Line 
Hankai: Uemachi Line 
Midōsuji Line
19.3 19.5 T29 Fuminosato 
JR West: Hanwa Line 20.3 20.5 T30 Tanabe Kintetsu: Minami-Osaka Line 21.3 21.5 T31 Komagawa-Nakano 
Hirano (Nankai） 23.0 23.2 T32 Hirano 24.4 24.6 T33 Kire-Uriwari JR West: Kansai Line Branch (Hanwa Freight Line) 25.7 25.9 T34 Deto 26.9 27.1 T35 Nagahara 
28.1 28.3 T36 Yaominami 
Yao Depot Connecting lines around Umeda
1: Yotsubashi Line (planned extension) 2: Osaka Municipal Subway：■Midōsuji Line 3: Hankyu: Kobe/Takarazuka/Kyoto Main Line 1 2 3 4 4: JR-W： Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kyoto Line) 
JR-W： Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe/Takarazuka Line) 
Umeda (Hankyu) 
Osaka / JR-W： Osaka Loop Line 
Umeda (M16) / Subway Tanimachi Line 
Hanshin： Hanshin Main Line / Umeda (Hanshin) Higashi-Umeda (T20) 
(Y11) Nishi-Umeda / Subway Tanimachi Line Kitashinchi / JR-W： JR Tōzai Line Subway Yotsubashi Line The Tanimachi Line (谷町線 Tanimachi-sen) is a rapid transit line of the Osaka Municipal Subway, running from Dainichi Station in Moriguchi to Yaominami Station in Yao through Osaka City. Its official name is Rapid Electric Tramway Line No. 2 (高速電気軌道第2号線), while the Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau refers to it as Osaka City Rapid Railway Line No. 2 (大阪市高速鉄道第2号線), and in MLIT publications, it is written as Line No. 2 (Tanimachi Line) (2号線（谷町線）). On line maps, stations on the Tanimachi Line are indicated with the letter T.
The central part of the line runs underneath Tanimachi-suji, a broad north-south thoroughfare lined with prefectural government buildings and Buddhist temples. Its only above-ground segment is the vicinity of Yaominami Station. The line color on maps, station signs and train livery is royal purple (京紫 kyō-murasaki), derived from the kasaya robes worn by Buddhist monks (
).Contents
Overview
As noted above, the Tanimachi Line is officially "Line No. 2", but it was actually the fourth to open, after Line No. 3 (the Yotsubashi Line) during World War II and Line No. 4 (the Chūō Line) in the early 1960s. The line was opened gradually from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.
Ridership, though less than half the numbers of the Midōsuji Line, is still the second-highest of all lines in the Osaka subway network, thanks to the large number of government buildings in eastern Chūō-ku and schools around Tennōji (total ridership for fiscal year 2009 was approximately 480,000 per day).[1] It is also the second-most profitable subway line in Osaka (total profit for FY 2009 was ¥7.3 billion — a 9.4% increase over the previous year). [1]
The Tanimachi Line has the longest operating distance (for the purpose of fare calculation) in the Osaka subway network, after the Midōsuji Line (although the latter would be the longest in the Osaka subway network if the Kita-Osaka Kyūkō Railway section of the Midōsuji Line was taken into account). It runs completely underground from Dainichi to just before Yaominami, and was known as the longest continuously underground subway line in Japan for a long time after the opening of Yaominami Station (it was also among the longest subway tunnels in the world at the time of its opening).[2] Now, it is fourth in Japan after the Toei Ōedo Line (entire line, 40.7km), Saitama Rapid Railway Line/Tokyo Metro Namboku Line/Tōkyū Meguro Line (Urawa-Misono –Fudōmae via Akabane-Iwabuchi and Meguro, 36.9km), and Nagoya Municipal Subway Meijō Line/Meikō Line (entire line, 32.4km).
If one considers Higashi-Umeda, Umeda, and Nishi-Umeda Stations as the same station (as they are for the purpose of transfers within 30 minutes), the Tanimachi Line has connections to all other subway lines in Osaka. (By comparison, the Chūō Line is the only subway line in Osaka that connects to all other subway lines, as well as the Nankō Port Town Line.)
Line data
- Above-ground section: vicinity of Yaominami Station
- Blocking system: Automatic
- Train protection system: WS-ATC
- Cars per train: 6 (1976 – present)
- Maximum possible cars per train (platform length): 8
- Capacity:
- Dainichi-bound: 114% (FY 2009, Tanimachi Kyūchōme – Tanimachi Rokuchōme)
- Yaominami-bound：101% (FY 2009, Higashi-Umeda – Minami-Morimachi)
For the purposes of fare calculation, the Higashi-Umeda – Tennōji segment is adjusted to the same length as Umeda – Tennōji on the Midōsuji Line.
Stopping patterns
All trains stop at every station along their route. During the day, trains alternate between Dainichi – Yaominami and Miyakojima – Fuminosato, with additional trains starting or terminating at Kire-Uriwari during rush hour. As the line is quite long and goes through the center of Osaka, express service was planned, but never implemented.
Since 1976, all trains have had 6 cars. Platforms are long enough to accommodate 8-car trainsets; the unused portions are fenced.
Women-only cars
Starting on 15 Deceber 2003, there have been women-only cars on the line. There is one such designated car in each train (Car No. 3), the use of which is restricted on weekdays from the first train until 9 a.m. After 9 a.m., the women-only restriction is lifted.
Women-only car ←Yaominami Dainichi→ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rolling stock
Current
- 30 series 6-car EMUs (since 1967)
- 22 series 6-car EMUs (since 1990)
- 30000 series 6-car EMUs (since 2009)
The 30-series train sets, in service since the 1960s, are steadily being replaced by the newer 30000 series, to be completely phased out within the next few years.
Train maintenance and inspection is carried out by the same group in charge of Chūō Line trains, at the Morinomiya depot and workshop, accessible through a spur located before Tanimachi Rokuchōme station on the Tanimachi Line and after Tanimachi Yonchōme station on the Chūō Line (the Dainichi and Yao depots are used mainly to store off-service trains). In 2006, in preparation for the opening of the Kintetsu Keihanna Line extension of the subway Chūō Line (then known as the Higashi-Osaka Line), nine 20-series trainsets of the Tanimachi Line were exchanged for nine 22-series trainsets (converted from 24-series trains) from the Chūō Line.
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30 series trainset
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22 series trainset (Tanimachi Line 22-50 series)
-
30000 series trainset
Former
- 50 series (1969–1991)
- 5700 series (1980–1991)
- 5800 series (1978–1991)
- 5900 series (1978–1991)
- 10 series (1974–1976) (subsequently transferred to the Midōsuji Line)
- 20 series (1989–2006) (transferred to the Chūō Line)
History
Construction
According to the original plan laid out for the Tanimachi Line in 1927, it was to follow Matsuyamachi-suji (to the west of Tanimachi-suji). It was also intended to interface directly with the Midōsuji Line directly at Umeda, similar to the cross-platform interchange between the Yotsubashi Line and the Midōsuji Line at Daikokuchō. A second tunnel was dug at Umeda for this purpose, but the connection southwards was plagued by collapses and other accidents; as a result, the planned route was changed to the current one, stopping at Higashi-Umeda and then veering eastward. The tunnel at Umeda reserved for the Tanimachi Line ("Matsuyamachi Line") went unused for decades before finally being adapted for the southbound track of the Midōsuji Line in 1989, allowing for expanded platforms to cope with overcrowding.
Over the course of tunnel construction for the line, the underground waterways in Osaka were greatly altered, causing a number of incidents in which famous wells dried up.
In 1970, during the construction of the underground Tenjimbashi Rokuchōme Station, there was a large gas explosion which caused a number of workers' deaths. This became known as the "Ten-Roku Gas Explosion Accident" in Japan.
Successor to the Nankai Hirano Line
Compared to the majority of areas served by the subway, where it runs underneath major roadways with high levels of traffic, part of the Tanimachi Line runs underneath relatively narrow streets with fewer cars, near residential areas. This is because the Abeno – Hirano section of the line was constructed as the successor in passenger transport to the same section of the Nankai Hirano Line, a tramway which ran aboveground between Imaike and Hirano, following the route of the Tanimachi Line from Abeno eastward. While it belongs to a different operator, this section of the Tanimachi Line is essentially the old streetcar line converted to an underground rapid-transit service.
The names of stations within this section reflect the station names of the Hirano Line:
Station Replaced by Note Imaike Station still exists on the Hankai Tramway Hankai Line; Hirano Line branched off just south of the station Tobita Located at the southwest edge of Tobita Shinchi, next to the wall of the former pleasure district Abeno (Saijō-mae) Abeno Located perpendicular to Uemachi Line Abeno Station; a spur east of the station allowed through service between Tennōji-ekimae and Hirano Nawashiroda Fuminosato Fuminosato Subway station shifted northwest towards Nawashiroda; Hirano Line station was located at the entrance to Fuminosato shopping arcade Momogaike Located next to Momogaike park, where the JR Hanwa Line crosses over the Tanimachi Line Tanabe Tanabe Subway station shifted 200m northwest towards Momogaike Komagawa-chō Komagawa-Nakano Located near Komagawa-ekimae Shopping Street Nakano Located roughly where Imazato-suji crosses the Tanimachi Line Nishi-Hirano Hirano Located north of Hirano Ward office Hirano Located east of Osaka Inner Loop Road, near the southwest edge of historical Hirano Village; small park and monument in former location Timeline
- March 24, 1967 - Higashi-Umeda - Tanimachi Yonchōme (opening), as Osaka Subway Line 2.[3] Trains started running in 2-car formation.
- October, 1967 - Automatic train operation (ATO) trialled on Line 2, trials ended February 1968.
- December 17, 1968 - Tanimachi Yōnchōme - Tennōji (opening). Trains started running in 4-car formation.
- December 6, 1969 - Officially adopted the name Tanimachi Line.
- April 8, 1970 - The "Ten-Roku Gas Explosion Accident" occurs during the construction of the underground Tenjimbashi Rokuchōme Station at 17:45 JST, leading to 79 deaths and 420 injuries.
- May 29, 1974 - Higashi-Umeda - Miyakojima (opening). 10 series EMUs began operation (later transferred to Midōsuji Line in February 1976).
- October 25-31, 1976 - Trains started running in 6-car formation.
- April 6, 1977 - Miyakojima - Moriguchi (opening)
- November 27, 1980 - Tennōji - Yaominami (opening)
- February 8, 1983 - Moriguchi - Dainichi (opening)
- May, 1989 - 20 series EMUs began operation (transferred to the Chūō Line in 2006)
- April, 1990 - 22 series EMUs began operation, replacing the 50 series.
- March 18, 2009 - 30000 series EMUs began operation.
Stations
Station Location T11 Dainichi Moriguchi T12 Moriguchi T13 Taishibashi-Imaichi Asahi-ku, Osaka T14 Sembayashi-Omiya T15 Sekime-Takadono T16 Noe-Uchindai Miyakojima-ku, Osaka T17 Miyakojima T18 Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchōme Kita-ku, Osaka T19 Nakazakichō T20 Higashi-Umeda T21 Minami-morimachi T22 Temmabashi Chūō-ku, Osaka T23 Tanimachi Yonchōme T24 Tanimachi Rokuchome T25 Tanimachi Kyūchōme Tennōji-ku, Osaka T26 Shitennōji-mae Yūhigaoka T27 Tennōji T28 Abeno Abeno-ku, Osaka T29 Fuminosato T30 Tanabe Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka T31 Komagawa-Nakano T32 Hirano Hirano-ku, Osaka T33 Kire-Uriwari T34 Deto T35 Nagahara T36 Yaominami Yao References
- ^ a b Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau: Current Account Balance by LinePDF
- ^ The 1979 to 1981 Japanese editions of the Guinness Book of World Records (published by Kodansha) listed as the "World's Longest Subway Tunnel" Morden – East Finchley via Bank-Monument (27.8km) on the Northern Line of the London Underground, while the 1982 edition honored Belyayevo – Medvedkovo (30.km, opened 1978) on the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line of the Moscow Metro.
- ^ "公営地下鉄在籍車数ビッグ３ 大阪市交通局 (One of the big three public subway operators: Osaka Municipal Subway)". Japan Railfan Magazine 49 (576): p.88–99. April 2009.
Categories:- Osaka Municipal Subway
- Rail transport in Osaka Prefecture
- Standard gauge railways in Japan
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