Kanmon Railway Ferry - Kanmon Railway Ferry

...This is the name of the first railway tunnel built for the Sanyo Main Line, but the Kanmon National Highway Tunnel for roads and the Shin-Kanmon Tunnel for the Sanyo Shinkansen have also been built in the Kanmon Strait. The current Sanyo Main Line was originally built by the Sanyo Railway Company, and sea transport by the Kanmon Railway Ferry began at the same time as the full line between Kobe and Bakan (now Shimonoseki) was opened in 1901. Even after the nationalization of the railway in 1906, passengers were forced to transfer and freight was forced to transport by freight car for a long time. In the late 1930s, due to the development of society, economy, and industry in Japan, the amount of rail transport between Honshu and Kyushu increased rapidly, and there was a strong demand for the achievement of stable intermodal transport by land route, as well as the increase in transport capacity and the shortening of travel time. With military considerations also being added, the plan to build an undersea tunnel under the Kanmon Strait was promoted. ...

*Some of the terms used in reference to the Kanmon Railway Ferry are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…最初に造られた山陽本線用の鉄道トンネルの名称であるが，このほか関門海峡には道路用の関門国道トンネル，山陽新幹線用の新関門トンネルも建設されている。　現在の山陽本線は，当初から山陽鉄道会社によって建設され，1901年神戸～馬関(現，下関)間の全線開通と同時に関門鉄道連絡船による航路輸送が開始され，06年の鉄道国有化後も，長らく旅客は乗換えを，貨物は貨車航送を余儀なくされていた。30年代後半には日本の社会，経済，産業の発展から，本州～九州間の鉄道による輸送量が急増し，輸送力の増強，到達時分の短縮とともに，安定した陸路による一貫輸送の達成が強く要請され，軍事的配慮も加わって，関門海峡下に海底トンネルを建設する構想が推進された。…

※「関門鉄道連絡船」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報