Nanao Line
A JR West 521-100 series EMU used on the Nanao Line
Overview
Owner	JR West
Locale	Ishikawa Prefecture
Termini	Tsubata Anamizu
Stations	20 (JR West), 8 (Noto Railway)
Service
Type	Regional rail
Operator(s)	JR West, Noto Railway
History
Opened	1898; 126 years ago (1898)
Technical
Line length	59.5 km (37.0 mi) (JR West), 33.1 km (20.6 mi) (Noto Railway)
Track length	87.5 km (54.4 mi) (JR West)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1500 V DC (Tsubata — Wakuraonsen)
Operating speed	100 km/h (60 mph)
Route map Legend IR Ishikawa Line to Kanazawa 0.0 Tsubata Hokuriku Line to Naoetsu 1.8 Naka-Tsubata 2.9 Hon-Tsubata 5.1 Nose 8.8 Unoke 11.8 Yokoyama 14.4 Takamatsu 17.8 Menden 20.9 Hōdatsu 24.2 Shikinami 26.7 Minami-Hakui 29.7 Hakui 33.8 Chiji 37.5 Kanemaru 41.1 Notobe 43.9 Yoshikawa 46.1 Noto-Ninomiya 48.9 Tokuda JR West Nanao Line 0.0 Nanao Shared right-of-way 5.1 Wakuraonsen Noto Railway Nanao Line 8.6 Tatsuruhama 12.7 Kasashiho 16.3 Noto-Nakajima 22.5 Nishigishi 26.8 Noto-Kashima 33.1 Anamizu Noto Railway Noto Line 44.1 Noto-Mii 49.1 Noto-Ichinose 53.5 Wajima

The Nanao Line (七尾線, Nanao-sen) is a railway line in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and the Noto Railway. It runs between Tsubata Station in Tsubata and Anamizu Station in Anamizu.

JR West operates the section between Tsubata and Wakuraonsen, while the Noto Railway (the second company with this name, see Former connecting lines section below) operates the section between Nanao and Anamizu. The section between Wakuraonsen and Nanao is served by both companies. A further section of the line between Anamizu and Wajima closed in 2001.

Before the transfer of the Wakuraonsen — Wajima section from JR West to Noto Railway in 1991, Noto Railway took control of another former Japanese National Railways (JNR) line in 1988, the Noto Line. It closed in 2005.

In 2015, the IR Ishikawa Railway took over the Hokuriku Main Line at Tsubata, effectively isolating the Nanao Line from the rest of the JR network; however, all JR West Nanao Line services continue to run through into the IR Ishikawa Railway to terminate at Kanazawa.

JR West

JR West owns the entire Nanao Line between Tsubata and Anamizu, but it only operates the southern section while Noto Railway operates the rest of the line.

Nearly all local and rapid trains run between Nanao and Kanazawa or Komatsu. Between Nanao and Anamizu, only Noto Railway operates local trains.

The JR section is electrified and operates both local and limited express trains. Among others, there are nine Thunderbird limited express trains (4½ round trips) per day between Osaka and Wakuraonsen, as well as a single round-trip Shirasagi limited express train between Nagoya and Wakuraonsen.^[1] JR West also operates the Hanayome Noren excursion train from Kanazawa to Wakuraonsen Station.

Basic data

• Operators, distances:
  • West Japan Railway Company (Tracks)
    • Tsubata — Anamizu: 87.5 km (54.4 mi)
  • West Japan Railway Company (Services)
    • Tsubata — Wakuraonsen: 59.5 km (37.0 mi)
  • Noto Railway (Services)
    • Nanao — Wakuraonsen: 5.1 km (3.2 mi)
• Stations: 20
• Tracks: Entire line single-tracked
• Electrification: Tsubata — Wakuraonsen (1,500 V DC)
• Railway signalling:
  • Tsubata — Wakuraonsen: Simplified automatic

Stations

The Nanao Line is entirely within Ishikawa Prefecture.

Rapid trains stop at stations marked with a "●". Of trains bound for Kanazawa, some stop at stations marked with a "▲" while all stop at stations marked "■". All rapid trains pass stations marked "｜".

Rolling stock

Electric

• 681 series (JR West)
• 683 series (JR West)
• 521-100 series (JR West and IR Ishikawa Railway) (from 3 October 2020)

Diesel

• KiHa 48 (JR West) (Hanayome Noren)
• NT 200 series (Noto Railway) (Nanao - Wakuraonsen)
• NT 300 series (Noto Railway) (Nanao - Wakuraonsen)

Noto Railway

The Noto Railway section is not electrified (except for the section shared with JR West) and operates local trains only. Between Nanao and Anamizu, only Noto Railway operates local trains; there is no through service to the JR West-operated part of the line south of Nanao.

In addition, のと里山里海号 (Noto Satoyama-Satoumi-go) which is a tourist train, has been run on holidays since 2017. The trains stop at all stations and seats can be reserved for 500 yen.^[2] There are also dining cars on partly services.^{[3][clarification needed]}

Basic data

• Operators, distances:
  • West Japan Railway Company (Tracks)
    • Tsubata — Anamizu: 87.5 km (54.4 mi)
  • Noto Railway (Services)
    • Nanao — Anamizu: 33.1 km (20.6 mi)
• Stations: 8
• Tracks: Entire line single-tracked
• Electrification: Nanao — Wakuraonsen (1,500 V DC)
• Railway signalling:
  • Nanao — Anamizu: Simplified automatic

Stations

The Nanao Line is entirely within Ishikawa Prefecture.

History

The section between Tsubata Station (now Hon-Tsubata Station) and Yatashin Station (later renamed Nanaominato Station and closed in 1984) via Nanao Station was constructed and opened by the Nanao Railway (七尾鉄道, Nanao-tetsudō) on April 24, 1898. The terminal in Tsubata was moved to the present Tsubata Station on August 2, 1900, and connected to the government-owned Hokuriku Main Line. Nanao Railway was nationalized on September 1, 1907.^[5]

The line was extended and had been operated by the Japanese Government Railways. In 1925, the Nanao to Wakura (now Wakuraonsen) section opened, and in 1935 the line was completed with the opening of the Anamizu to Wajima section. In 1991, the Nanao Line was electrified to Wakuraonsen, enabling through operation of trains from the Hokuriku Main Line. Operation of the Nanao to Wajima section was transferred to the Noto Railway. In 2001, the section between Anamizu and Wajima was closed.^[6]