Hosono Station (祝園駅)
Hosono Station, located in Koaza-Nagatsuka, Oaza-Hosono, Seika-cho, Sorakugun of Kyoto Prefecture, is a stop on the Katamachi Line of West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is one the station names that is difficult to read correctly in Japanese.
Station layout
It is an above-track station with two platforms opposite each other and two tracks. The platform length can accommodate only four cars, but the platforms of stations between Kizu and Doshisha-mae (including this station) are scheduled to be extended to accommodate seven cars by March 2010 (end of fiscal year 2009). The platforms for departures and arrivals are completely segregated by the directions in which trains are to move, because a one-track thoroughfare setup is not in place and due to the Y-configuration branching.
It is connected to Kintetsu Kyoto Line Shin-Hosono Station outside the ticket gates by an above-track corridor. A wicket is found in only one place, and the automated ticket gates are of the simplified type. Station operations are commissioned to JR West Japan Transportation Service Co., Ltd. The ICOCA and J-Thru cards can be used. The simple-type automated ticket gates can't handle the use of more than one J-Thru Card for a single transaction.
※The track or platform number of the train on which one is to board is not shown on the direction boards (automated announcements refer to 'this platform,' in a manner similar to those on the Osaka Loop, Sakurai and Wakayama lines).
Station surroundings
Shin-Hosono Station - The station for transfer to/from the Kintetsu Kyoto Line
Seika Garden City
Seika Town Hall
Seika Town Library
Seika-cho Hospital
Seika Municipal Seika Junior High School
Hosono Post Office
Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library
Yawata-Kizu Line of Kyoto Prefectural Route 22
Bus Service (Shin-Hosono bus stop)
Nara Kotsu Bus Lines Co., Ltd.
Bus stop 1
No. 36 - Hikaridai Inner Circle Loop Line (via Hikaridai 3-chome)
No. 47 - For Gakken-Nara-Tomigaoka Station (via Vocational Museum, KEIHANNA PLAZA, Hikaridai 2-chome, Hikaridai-minami)
No. 48 - For Gakken-Nara-Tomigaoka Station (via Vocational Museum, KEIHANNA PLAZA, NTT Keihanna, Hikaridai 2-chome) (one trip only on weekdays)
No. 74 - For Kizu Station (Kyoto Prefecture) (one trip only on Sundays and national holidays)
Bus stop 2
No. 38 - For Gakkentoshi-Seikadai (one trip only on weekdays)
No. 39 - For Hikaridai 1-chome Minami (via Seikadai 1-chome, U-Town Keihanna) (one trip only on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays)
No. 41 - For Gakken-Nara-Tomigaoka Station (via Vocational Museum, KEIHANNA PLAZA, Hikaridai 8-chome)
No. 66 - For Kizugawadai-Jutaku (via Seikadai 1-chome, Vocational Museum (two trips only on weekdays)
Bus stop 3
No. 73 - For Miyamaki Station (one trip only on weekdays)
Seika Kururin Bus
NC Bus Koriyama Branch consigned operations
Northern route
Southern route
Usage status
The number of passengers boarding at this station came to approximately 1,762 per day in fiscal year 2006.
(Source: Kyoto Prefecture Statistical Report
History
June 4, 1898: The station was inaugurated as the section between Nagao Station (Osaka Prefecture) and Shin-Kizu Station (abolished) when Kansai Railway's Line was extended.
October 1, 1907: The Kansai Railway Company was nationalized under the Railway Nationalization Act.
April 1, 1987: The station became a JR West station due to the split privatization of Japan National Railways.
September 14, 1994: The station became an above-track station, and the connecting bridge to Kintetsu Shin-Hosono Station was completed.
February 2, 2007: The JR Ticket Office (Midori-no-madoguchi) opened for business.
Neighboring stations
West Japan Railway Company
■Gakkentoshi Line (Katamachi Line)
■Rapid Service/■Regional Rapid Service/■Local (only outbound regional rapid service in operation)
Nishi-Kizu Station - Hosono Station - Shimokoma Station