Keihan Otsu Line (京阪大津線)
The Otsu Line refers to two lines: Keihan Keishin Line managed by the Otsu Railway Business Department of Keihan Electric Railway connecting Misasagi Station in Yamashina ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture and Hamaotsu Station in the central part of Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture; and Keihan Ishiyama-sakamoto Main Line connecting Sakamoto Station (Shiga Prefecture) in the western part of Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, and Ishiyamadera Station.
Overview
The Otsu Line's name is used to distinguish it from the Keihan Line managed by the Railway Business Department of Keihan Electric Railway (the Keihan Line includes Keihan Main Line connecting Sanjo Station in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture and Yodoyabashi Station in Chuo ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, as well as three other lines: Keihan Oto Line, Keihan Uji Line and Keihan Katano Line).
During the late Meiji and early Showa periods, the Keihan Otsu Line was formed as a tramway connecting the western part of Otsu City around Hamaotsu Station (Lake Biwa and the western shore of the Seta-gawa River) and the central part of Kyoto City.
In the Keihan Electric Railway, the Keishin Line and the Ishiyama-sakamoto Main Line were above the Tramways Act, and thus their operation service was different from that of the Keihan Main Line in that, for example, vehicles running are in a tram style. As for the fare system, the Keihan Line adopted a FARE OVERVIEW and the Otsu Line adopted a FARE OVERVIEW; consequently, a fare of the Otsu Line is more expensive than that of the Keihan Line.
Keishin Line
In Japan, the Keihan Keishin Line is the only one that serves as three different types of tracks: a subway, a mountain railway and a tram; a vehicle consisting of four cars enters a subway (Tozai Line of the Kyoto Municipal Subway) in the central part of Kyoto City (not a mutual entry but a single entry of the Keihan Keishin Line), runs through a steep curve and slope like a mountain railway near Osakayama, which used to be the hilliest part of the Kyu-Tokaido (the former Tokaido) on the boundary of Kyoto Prefecture and Shiga Prefecture, and runs like a tram along National Route 161 in the central part of Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture (between Misasagi Station shared with the Tozai Line of the Kyoto Municipal Subway, and Kyu-Misasagi-fudo Fumikiri (Railroad Crossing at the former Kyoto Prefecture Route of Misasagi) (Sanjo-dori Street) runs a subway).
Once the Keihan Keishin Line was connected to the Keihan Main Line and had a through train service, but they have been separated since the Keihan Main Line was made underground and the Keishin Line was partly abolished as the Tozai Line of the Kyoto Municipal Subway Line opened.
Ishiyama-sakamoto Main Line
In contrast to the Keishin Line, the Keihan Ishiyama-sakamoto Main Line is a nostalgic one on which a vehicle consisting of two cars runs along the lakeside of Lake Biwa, as well as residential areas and downtown in the western part of Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture facing a river area of the Seta-gawa River.