Kansai Railway - Kansai Railway

A private railway with a major line network between Nagoya and Osaka. It was one of 17 private railways that were acquired by the government in 1907 under the Nationalization of Railways Act of 1906 (Meiji 39). In addition to the Nagoya-Kameyama-JR Namba section (now the Kansai Main Line), it also had lines between Kusatsu and Tsuge (now the Kusatsu Line), Kyoto and Kizu (now the Nara Line), Kizu and Katamachi (now the Katamachi Line, the Kyobashi-Katamachi section was abolished in 1997), Nara and Takada (now the Sakurai Line), and Oji and Wakayama (now the Wakayama Line). The Kansai Railway Company was established in Yokkaichi in 1888 (Meiji 21), and opened in 1889, with the Kusatsu-Tsuge and Yokkaichi-Tsuge sections fully operational in 1890. It then completed the Nagoya-Nara section, and in 1900 (Meiji 33) acquired Osaka Railway, which operated between Nara and Minatomachi and other sections, and further expanded its operating area by merging Kiwa Railway, Nanwa Railway, Nara Railway, and others. It is known for having engaged in a fierce fare discount competition with Japan National Railways (then a government-run railway) in the transportation of passengers and freight between Nagoya and Osaka around 1903. The system of wrapping ribbons of the same color as the ticket under the windows of passenger cars - white for 1st class, blue for 2nd class, and red for 3rd class - to make it easier for passengers to identify each other was started by Kansai Railway.

[Yasuo Wakuda]

"Kansai Railway History" by Haruhiko Okuda (2006, Railway History Materials Preservation Society)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

名古屋―大阪間に有力な路線網をもっていた私設鉄道。1906年（明治39）の鉄道国有法により1907年国に買収された17社の私鉄の一つ。名古屋―亀山―JR難波(なんば)間（現、関西本線）のほか、草津―柘植(つげ)間（現、草津線）、京都―木津(きづ)間（現、奈良線）、木津―片町間（現、片町線、京橋―片町間は1997年廃止）、奈良―高田間（現、桜井線）、王寺(おうじ)―和歌山間（現、和歌山線）などの各線からなっていた。1888年（明治21）関西鉄道会社が四日市(よっかいち)に設立され、1889年開業、1890年草津―柘植間、四日市―柘植間、全通。ついで名古屋―奈良間を完成し、奈良―湊町間その他を営業していた大阪鉄道を1900年（明治33）買収、さらに紀和鉄道、南和鉄道、奈良鉄道などを統合して営業区域を広めた。1903年前後に名古屋と大阪間の旅客、貨物の輸送で国鉄（当時の官設鉄道）と激しい運賃割引競争を繰り広げたことで知られている。客車の窓下に1等は白、2等は青、3等は赤と、切符と同色の帯を巻いて利用者の識別を便利にするという方式は関西鉄道が始めたものである。

［和久田康雄］

『奥田晴彦著『関西鉄道史』（2006・鉄道史資料保存会）』

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