IR Ishikawa Railway

IR Ishikawa Railway Line
IR Ishikawa Railway Line
	A 521 series at Tsubata Station
Overview
Native name	IRいしかわ鉄道線
Owner	IR Ishikawa Railway
Locale	Ishikawa Prefecture
Termini	Daishoji; Kurikara;
Stations	19
Service
Type	Regional rail
Rolling stock	521 series EMUs
History
Opened	1 November 1898
Technical
Line length	17.8 km (11.1 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20 kV AC (60 Hz)
Route map
	Legend

IR Ishikawa Railway
	Company headquarters
Native name	IRいしかわ鉄道
Company type	Third sector
Genre	Rail transport
Founded	28 August 2012
Headquarters	Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Area served	Ishikawa Prefecture
Services	Passenger railway
Website	ishikawa-railway.jp

The IR Ishikawa Railway (IRいしかわ鉄道株式会社, IR Ishikawa Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese third-sector railway company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Ishikawa Prefecture. The main line was separated from the JR West network on 14 March 2015, coinciding with the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Nagano to Kanazawa. It acquired another section from the JR West Hokuriku Main Line from Kanazawa to Daishoji on 16 March 2024 as the Hokuriku Shinkansen was extended from Kanazawa to Tsuruga.^[1] The company was founded on 28 August 2012 and has its headquarters in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.^[2]

Shareholders

Shares in the company are owned by Ishikawa Prefecture, the cities of Kanazawa and Komatsu, the town of Tsubata, and private-sector businesses.^[2]

IR Ishikawa Railway Line

From 14 March 2015, the IR Ishikawa Railway took over control of local passenger operations on the 17.8 km (11.1 mi) section JR West Hokuriku Main Line between Kanazawa and Kurikara, with five stations (although Kanazawa Station remains under the control of JR West).^[3] An additional section west to Daishoji was acquired from 16 March 2024.^[1]

Service outline

All services inter-run either to and from the Ainokaze Toyama Railway Line (and Echigo Tokimeki Railway Nihonkai Hisui Line) to the east or over the JR West Nanao Line branching off at Tsubata and the rest of the Hokuriku Main Line operated by JR West to the west of Kanazawa.^[3] Limited-stop "Rapid" services named Ainokaze Liner (あいの風ライナー) are operated between Kanazawa and Tomari by Ainokaze Toyama Railway during the weekday morning and evening peaks, but these do not serve any IR Ishikawa Railway stations other than Kanazawa.^[3] Noto Kagaribi (Kanazawa - Wakura-Onsen) and Thunderbird (Osaka - Wakura-Onsen) limited express services also operate over the section of the line between Kanazawa and Tsubata, with some services calling at Tsubata.^[3]

Stations

All stations are in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Legend

● - All Ainokaze liner trains stop
| - All Ainokaze liner trains pass

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Liner	Transfers	Location
Daishōji	大聖寺			Hapi-Line Fukui Line	Kaga
Kagaonsen	加賀温泉			Hokuriku Shinkansen
Iburihashi	動橋
Awazu	粟津				Komatsu
Komatsu	小松			Hokuriku Shinkansen
Meihō	明峰
Nomi-Neagari	能美根上				Nomi
Komaiko	小舞子				Hakusan
Mikawa	美川
Kaga-Kasama	加賀笠間
Nishi-Matto	西松任
Mattō	松任
Nonoichi	野々市				Nonoichi
Nishi-Kanazawa	西金沢				Kanazawa
Kanazawa	金沢	0.0	●	Hokuriku Shinkansen Hokuriku Railroad Asanogawa Line (Hokutetsu-Kanazawa)
Kanazawa Freight Terminal	金沢貨物ターミナル		\|
Higashi-Kanazawa	東金沢	2.6	\|
Morimoto	森本	5.4	\|
Tsubata	津幡	11.5	\|	Nanao Line	Tsubata
Kurikara	倶利伽羅	17.8	\|	Ainokaze Toyama Railway Line	Tsubata

Rolling stock

The company operates a fleet of five two-car 521 series EMU trains; three second-batch sets (10, 14, and 30) were transferred from JR West, and two third-batch sets (55 and 56) were newly built. The two new sets were initially delivered in February 2015 in standard JR West livery but were repainted into the IR Ishikawa Railway livery before entering service.^[4] Trains are normally operated as two- or four-car formations.^[4]

As of 1 April 2015^[update], the 521 series fleet is as follows.^[5]

Set no.	Former set no.	Manufacturer	Delivery date	Livery accent colour
521-0 series
IR01	10	Kinki Sharyo	22 December 2009	■ Light green
IR02	14	Kinki Sharyo	2 March 2010	■ Purple
IR03	30	Kawasaki Heavy Industries	15 February 2011	■ Indigo
IR04	55	Kinki Sharyo	6 February 2015	■ Ochre
IR05	56	Kinki Sharyo	6 February 2015	■ Maroon
521-100 series
IR06	-	Kinki Sharyo	3 December 2020	-
IR07	-	Kinki Sharyo	3 December 2020	-
IR08	-	Kinki Sharyo	3 December 2020	-

IR Ishikawa 521-0 series EMU set IR03, June 2015

History

The line eastward from Kanazawa was opened on 1 November 1898 on the Hokuriku Main Line.^[6] With the privatization of JNR on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of JR West.^[6]

The new third-sector operating company was founded on 28 August 2012^[2] and was renamed IR Ishikawa Railway from 1 August 2013.^[7] The company was formally granted a railway operating license by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on 28 February 2014.^[8]

Effective the timetable revision that took place on 16 March 2024, the section of the Hokuriku Main Line from Kanazawa Station to Daishoji Station was transferred from JR West to the IR Ishikawa Railway.^[1] The line has been running between Daishoji and Kurikara effective the same date.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "JR北陸本線の県内区間は16日から第３セクターに" [JR Hokuriku Main Line sections within Ishikawa Prefecture will move to third-sector operations from the 16th of March.]. NHK NEWS WEB (in Japanese). 16 March 2024. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c 会社概要 [Company overview] (in Japanese). Japan: IR Ishikawa Railway. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Osano, Kagetoshi (March 2015). 北陸新幹線並行在来線各社の姿 [Guide to companies operating conventional lines alongside the Hokuriku Shinkansen]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 44, no. 371. Japan: Kōtsū Shimbun. pp. 28–33.
^ ^a ^b Terada, Hirokazu (June 2015). 北陸新幹線長野ー金沢間開業並行在来線4社5路線を訪ねて（１） [Visiting the 5 parallel conventional lines of 4 companies following the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen between Nagano and Kanazawa]. Japan Railfan Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 55, no. 650. Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. pp. 42–47.
^ JR電車編成表 2015夏 [JR EMU Formations - Summer 2015] (in Japanese). Japan: Kotsu Shimbunsha. 20 May 2015. p. 142. ISBN 978-4-330-56915-4.
^ ^a ^b Ishino, Tetsu, ed. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典: 国鉄・jr編 停車場変遷大辞典国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory - JNR/JR] (in Japanese). Vol. II. Japan: JTB. p. 137. ISBN 978-4-533-02980-6.
^ ＩＲいしかわ鉄道始動並行在来線三セク会社看板掲げ準備本格化 [IR Ishikawa Railway: Preparation starts in earnest for third-sector company]. 47 News (in Japanese). Japan: Press Net Japan Co., Ltd. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
^ しなの鉄道（株）、えちごトキめき鉄道（株）、あいの風とやま鉄道（株）及びＩＲいしかわ鉄道（株）申請の第一種鉄道事業許可について [Details of railway business approval for Shinano Railway, Echigo Tokimeki Railway Company, Ainokaze Toyama Railway, and IR Ishikawa Railway]. News release (in Japanese). Japan: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.