The Hokuriku Railroad Ishikawa Line (北陸鉄道石川線, Hokuriku Tetsudō Ishikawa-sen) is a railway line owned and operated by Hokuriku Railroad in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. The line extends 13.8 km from the city of Kanazawa to Hakusan with a total of 16 stations.
Service
All services are all-stations "Local" trains which travel the entire length of the line, from Nomachi to Tsurugi; the trip takes approximately 30 minutes. During the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day holidays, the line was operated all night to move passengers to and from now-closed Kaga-Ichinomiya, where the nearby Shirayama-Hime Shrine draws crowds.[citation needed]
All trains are operated by drivers only; doors in the middle of each train car do not open.
Until November 30, 2006, there was daytime semi-express service between Nomachi and Tsurugi; trains stopped at Osano, Nonoichi, Sodani, and Oyanagi, making the trip in 25 minutes. This semi-express service was intended to move trains from one part of the line to the other in order to have a more balanced schedule.
On November 1, 2009, the section between Tsurugi and Kaga-Ichinomiya was closed.[citation needed]
Hokuriku Railroad uses ten 7000 series (formerly Tokyu 7000 series) and eleven 7700 series (formerly Keio 3000 series) electric multiple units (EMUs) on the Ishikawa Line. They are typically run in paired sets.
June 22, 1915: Ishikawa Electric Railway begins operating the 762mm gauge line between Shin-Nonoichi and Tsurugi stations, not electrified despite the company's name.
June 30, 1915: Ishikawa Electric Railway renamed to Ishikawa Railway
December 1, 1916: Kami-Nonoichi Station opens
August 1, 1921: Track gauge changed to 1,067 mm; electrified with 600 V DC overhead catenary
October 1, 1922: Nishi-Kanazawa — Shin-Nonoichi section opened by Kanazawa Electric Railway, through operation with Ishikawa Railway starts
May 1, 1923: Kanazawa Electric Railway absorbs Ishikawa Railway
September 5, 1925: Hinomiko Station opens
October 1, 1925: Nishi-Kanazawa Station renamed to Shiragikuchō Station; Shin-Nonoichi Station renamed to Shin-Nishi-Kanazawa Station; Kami-Nonoichi Station renamed to Nonoichi Station
Nomachi Station: In 1904, the 8 km, 915 mm gauge Matsukane horse-drawn tramway opened to Matto on the Hokuriku Main Line, and also connected with Nonoichi station on this line (not the current JR West station of the same name, which opened in 1968). In 1916, the line was converted to 1,067 mm gauge and electrified at 600 V DC. The line was acquired by the Kanazawa Electric Railway in 1920, which merged with the Hokuriku Railway in 1942. The 3 km Nonoichi to Nomachi section closed in 1944, and the remaining 5 km line closed in 1955.
Tsurugi Station: The 17 km line to Yamashita was opened between 1926 and 1929, and electrified in 1949. Freight services ceased in 1971, and the line closed in 1983 after the Dainichigawa bridge was damaged by floodwaters. The Nomi Electric Railway opened a 17 km line, electrified at 600 V DC to Terai on the Hokuriku Main Line in 1927. Flooding destroyed the Tedorigawa bridge in 1934, which was replaced nine months later. The company merged with the Hokuriku Railway in 1942. Freight services ceased in 1968, and the line closed in 1980.
