Journey to the east (part 1)

9th of August
Kobe to Tokyo
14 hours
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This time, I decided to go to Tokyo by train (not express or shinkansen, just locals). Because it was Obon-Festival holiday, I decided to take Kansai-honsen(関西本線/kansai main line) and Chuo-honsen(中央本線/chuo main line) instead of taking the more popular and faster Tokaido-honsen (東海道本線/Tokaido main line).

The map. [From left to right]Red: 1st stage (to Kizu/木津), Blue: 2nd Stage, Kansai-honsen (to Nagoya/名古屋), Pink: 3rd stage(will explain later)

The journey to 木津(Kizu) was nothing special. So, I considered the journey to Kizu as stage 1.

Why Kizu?

Kizu is the starting point for Kansai Main Line.

To get to Kizu, there are3 lines (from west) connecting to Kizu. Katamachi line(片町線) [Osaka-Kizu], Nara Line[Kyoto-Nara], and Yamatoji Line(大和路線) [Namba-Kamo].

Oops. Correction: Kansai Main Line is starting from JR Namba(難波) to Nagoya.

Kamo (加茂) is a station after Kizu. Yamatoji Line is other name for electrified Kansai Main Line between Kamo and JR Namba.

Correction: 2nd stage is starting from Kamo, not Kizu

THE FIRST STAGE(to Kamo)

-Starting from Rokkomichi(六甲道) > Osaka > Tenouji(天王寺) > Nara（奈良) > Kamo

As I stated before, there is nothing special about this segment. All the train used for this line can be found used for Urban Network (Kobe-Osaka-Kyoto and around the area).

THE SECOND STAGE(Kamo-Nagoya)

-From Kamo-Kameyama(亀山)-Nagoya

-Kameyama is a station located in Mie prefecture.



Kamo-Kameyama portion is not electrified yet. For that, DMU (diesel multiple unit) are used. Another special thing about this portion of Kansai Main Line is the line is not double tracked. The one person train operation (ワンマン運転) is used for this portion.

Kiha 120, DMU operated between Kamo-Kameyama

One Person Train Operation(OPTO) is just like the one driver operation. For example, buses with no conductor. You pay the fare to the driver or the machine located near the driver. This is because the Kamo-Kameyama portion is a rural area. Its go through the mountains region in south kansai area.

This scenery is a common view when travelling along the Kamo-Kameyama section

The station where OPTO is used is just like bus stations. No station master, no ticket gates, even there are some that just consist a small platform with couple of benches. However, not all stations are unmanned. There are also some manned stations.

An unmanned station located in Kamo-Kameyama section

If you living in Japan, you must heard about Sharp's Kameyama Model. This is because the factory which manufactured the model is located in Kameyama.

More info about Kameyama.

There is a castle called Kameyama Castle (about 10 minutes walk if I'm not mistaken) located nearby. Kameyama also hosted Kameyama-juku (亀山宿) which is the 46th stop in Tokaido.

Here, I have to wait for nearly a half an hour for the next train. I wanted to go to the Kameyama Castle, but due to the very tight schedule (expected to arrive at destination at 10pm) I just take a look around the station only.

Kameyama Station

(more pics will be uploaded later)

OPTO is also used for Kameyama-Nagoya portion's operation. Because this portion is electrified (and double tracked), EMU (electric multiple unit) are used. Like Kamo-Kameyama section, unmanned stations are also can be found here.

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That's all for now. I will write more about the third stage later.





Posted in The World Of Orcaz