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Geibi Line
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A Geibi Line KiHa 120 DMU
Overview
Native name	芸備線
Type	Commuter rail line
System	Hiroshima City Network (Karuga–Hiroshima)
Locale	Hiroshima and Okayama Prefectures
Termini	Bitchū Kōjiro Station Hiroshima Station
Stations	44
Operation
Opened	1915
Owner	JR West
Technical
Line length	159.1 kilometres (98.9 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Operating speed	85 km/h (55 mph)
Route map km - Niimi - Nunohara Two tunnels Hakubi Line 0.0 Bitchū Kōjiro Merge to Hakubi Line 3.9 Sakane 6.4 Ichioka 10.0 Yagami 13.6 Nochi 18.8 Tōjō 25.3 Bingo Yawata 29.0 Uchina 33.6 Onuka 37.8 Dōgoyama Four tunnels 44.6 Bingo Ochiai Kisuki Line Three tunnels 50.2 Hibayama 53.2 Bingo Saijō Saijō River 57.4 Hirako 68.5 Taka 68.5 Bingo Shōbara 70.5 Bingo Mikkaichi 72.2 Nanatsuka 75.2 Yamanouchi Chūgoku Expressway 80.1 Shimowachi Fukuen Line / Basen River 83.2 Shiomachi 84.7 Kamisugi Chūgoku Expressway 88.0 Yatsugi 90.3 Miyoshi Sankō Line 91.9 Nishi Miyoshi Two tunnels 99.6 Shiwachi 102.2 Kamikawatachi 106.5 Kōtachi 109.9 Yoshidaguchi 116.1 Mukaihara 122.0 Ibaraichi 126.0 Shiwaguchi 129.5 Kamimita 134.0 Nakamita 136.3 Shirakiyama 138.5 Karuga 140.7 Kamifukawa 143.5 Nakafukawa 144.9 Shimofukawa 146.8 Kumura Sanyō Expressway 149.3 Akiyaguchi 152.1 Hesaka 156.9 Yaga Hiroshima Prefectural Route 70 159.1 Hiroshima Hiroden Main Line Sanyō Main Line Sanyō Shinkansen This diagram: view talk edit

The Geibi Line (芸備線, Geibi-sen) is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in the mountainous area of the Chūgoku region in Japan. It begins at Bitchū Kōjiro Station on the west side of Niimi, Okayama Prefecture, connecting through Miyoshi Station in Miyoshi, Hiroshima Prefecture, and terminating at Hiroshima Station in Hiroshima. In addition to the Chūgoku Expressway, the Geibi Line is considered the main commuter and local rail line covering the route between northern Hiroshima Prefecture and the city of Hiroshima. The name of the line refers to the ancient provinces of Aki (安芸) (in Hiroshima Prefecture) and Bitchū (備中) (in Okayama Prefecture), which the line connects.

Since 2007, the ICOCA card can be used in all stations between Hiroshima Station and Karuga Station (stations in the Hiroshima City Network).

As a result of a bridge being destroyed in the 2018 Japan floods, the majority of the line is expected to be out of service for up to a year.

Stations

Listed in order from Bitchū Kōjiro Station to Hiroshima Station, though the chart shows through Niimi Station for convenience as most schedules show through Niimi and the train will indicate the last stop as Niimi.

• A ● indicates a station at which the train stops, and ｜ indicates a station at which that particular train does not stop. Local trains stop at all stations.


• Stations Karuga to Hiroshima are part of the Hiroshima City Network.

Rolling stock

The following diesel multiple unit (DMU) rolling stock operates on the Geibi Line.

• 
  KiHa 120 DMU


• 
  KiHa 58 DMU


• 
  KiHa 40 DMU

History

The Geibi Line consists of the section opened by the Geibi Railway, which connected Hiroshima Station and Bingo Shōbara, the Shōbara Line between Bingo Shōbara and Bingo Ochiai which was partly built by the Geibi Railway and then nationalised and extended by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) and the Sanshin Line built by the JGR between Onuka and Bitchū Kōjiro. In 1936, the line between Hiroshima and Bitchū Kōjiro was completed, and the Geibi Railway was nationalised the following year, bringing the entire line under the control of the JGR. Opening dates for individual sections are given below.

Geibi Railway

• 18 April 1915: The Geibi Railway opened between Higashi Hiroshima (different from the current Higashi-Hiroshima Station) and Shiwachi.


• 1 June 1915: The line is extended from Shiwachi to Miyoshi (the current Nishi Miyoshi Station).


• 15 April 1916: Hesaka Station opens.


• 15 July 1920: The line between Hiroshima and Higashi Hiroshima opens. JNR Hiroshima Station opens.


• 7 June 1922: The line between Miyoshi (the current Nishi Miyoshi Station) and Shiomachi (the current Kamisugi Station) opens.


• 8 December 1923: The line between Shiomachi (the current Kamisugi Station) and Bingo Shōbara opens.


• 20 September 1924: Nakafukawa Station and Yamanouchi Station open.


• 1 February 1925: Wadamura Station becomes Shimowachi Station.


• 20 March 1929: Yaga Station and Kamifukawa Station open.


• 1 January 1930: Shirakiyamaguchi Station, Mita Yoshinaga Station, and Tōkaichi Station open.


• 22 April 1930: Takō Station (the current Shiomachi Station) opens.


• 25 April 1930: Mikkaichi Station opens.

Shōbara Line

• 1 June 1933: Tōkaichi Station is renamed Bingo Tōkaichi Station and Mikkaichi Station is renamed Bingo Mikkaichi Station. The Geibi Railway line between Bingo Tōkaichi Station (the current Miyoshi Station) and Bingo Shōbara Station is nationalized and renamed the Shōbara Line.


• 1 January 1934: Shiomachi Station is renamed Kamisugi Station, and Takō Station is renamed Shiomachi Station.


• 15 March 1934: The line between Bingo Shōbara Station and Bingo Saijō Station opens.


• 20 December 1935: The line between Bingo Saijō Station and Bingo Ochiai Station opened.

Sanshin Line

• 10 February 1930: The Sanshin Line opens between Bitchū Kōjiro Station and Yagami Station.


• 25 November 1930: The line opens between Yagami Station and Tōjō Station.


• 15 June 1935: The line between Tōjō Station and Onuka Station opens.


• 10 October 1936: The line between Onuka Station and Bingo Ochia Station opens. The Shōbara Line is absorbed into the Sanshin Line, which now includes everything between Bitchū Kōjiro Station and Bingo Tōkaichi Station.


• 21 November 1936: Dōgoyama Station opens.

Geibi Line

• 1 July 1937: The Geibi Railway line between Hiroshima Station and Bingo Tōkaichi Station is nationalized, and the Sanshin Line is absorbed into the Geibi Line. Kawatachi Station is renamed Kamikawatachi Station, Mita Yoshinaga Station is renamed Kamimita Station, Shirakiyamaguchi Station is renamed Shirakiyama Station, and Yaguchi Station is renamed Akiyaguchi Station.


• 10 August 1941: Kamifukawa Station and Yaga Station close.


• 28 October 1942: Yaga Station closes, and a signal box is installed.


• 2 April 1943: Yaga Station reopens.


• 10 August 1948: Kamifukawa Station reopens.


• 1 February 1952: Hirako Station opens.


• 1 October 1953: Ichioka Station opens.


• 10 November 1954: The former Miyoshi Station is renamed Nishi Miyoshi Station.


• 10 December 1954: Bingo Tōkaichi Station is renamed Miyoshi Station.


• 20 July 1955: Uchina Station opens.


• 11 November 1955: The Chidori service begins.


• 20 December 1956: Bingo Kumano Station is renamed Hibayama Station.


• 13 April 1959: The Chidori is upgraded to a local express train.


• 15 March 1962: The Taishaku service begins.


• 5 March 1968: The Taishaku and Chidori services are upgraded to regular express trains.


• 1 March 1983: The line between Miyoshi Station and Hiroshima Station uses CTC.


• 31 October 1983: The line between Bitchū Kōjiro and Miyoshi uses CTC.


• 15 March 1985: The Miyoshi express service begins.


• 1 November 1986: Freight service is discontinued on the Geibi Line.


• 1 April 1987: The Geibi Line becomes part of West Japan Railway Company following privatization of Japanese National Railways.


• 1 April 1991: Wanman driver-only operation commences on the line between Niimi and Miyoshi.


• 1 November 1991: The line between Miyoshi and Hiroshima is converted to wanman driver-only operation.


• 22 March 2002: The Chidori and Taishaku express services are absorbed into the Miyoshi express service.


• 1 October 2003: The Miyoshi Liner and Tsūkin Liner services begin.


• 23 April 2006: The Geibi Line is moved between Kamikawatachi and Kōtachi following widening of Hiroshima Prefectural Route 37 between Hiroshima and Miyoshi.


• 19 July 2006: Services between Bingo Ochiai and Bingo Saijō are suspended due to storm damage of the Geibi Line. An interim bus service begins the following day.


• 1 April 2007: Train service is resumed between Bingo Ochiai and Bingo Saijō.


• 1 July 2007: Miyoshi express services are discontinued, and Tsūkin Liner rapid services are integrated into Miyoshi Liner rapid services.^[1]
  


• 7 July 2018: The 2018 Japan floods result in damage to the line in several places, most significantly destroying the bridge over the Misasagawa River between Shirakiyama and Karuga stations, resulting in the closure of the entire line^[2].


• 23 July 2018: The Hiroshima - Shimofukawa section of the line is reopened. JR West advises replacement of the Misasagawa Bridge is expected to take up to a year.

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.