琵琶湖線
The 74.8km
Biwakosen, or "
Lake Biwa Line," is operated by the
West Japan Railway and runs along the eastern coast of
Lake Biwa from
Shiga prefecture to
Kyoto. Before the breakup of
Japan National Railways in
1987, it was part of the
Tokaido Line that ran all the way to
Tokyo: now, it is operated separately, and passengers have to change trains at
Maibara to travel to points farther east.
The northernmost segment, from Maibara to Nagahama, was part of the Hokuriku Line back in the JNR days. Today, those lines are considered to be part of the Biwako and Hokuriku lines: Biwako Line trains go as far north as Nagahama, and Hokuriku Line trains go as far south as Maibara.
At Kyoto, the Biwako Line turns into the Kyoto Line, which turns into the Kobe Line at Osaka Station. Rapid service trains from Maibara often go as far as Himeji, which is about two hours away on the Kobe Line.
The Hida limited express service from Osaka to Takayama also uses the Biwako Line.
Station Distance Transfers
Nagahama Hokuriku Line
Tamura 3.0 Hokuriku Line
Sakata 4.7 Hokuriku Line
Maibara 7.1 Shinkansen, Hokuriku Line, Tokaido Line
Hikone 13.1 Omi Railway
Minami-Hikone 14.4
Kawase 19.5
Inae 23.2
Notogawa 26.9
Azuchi 32.0
Omi-Hachiman 35.5 Omi Railway
Shinohara 39.5
Yasu 45.1
Moriyama 48.2
Ritto 50.3
Kusatsu 52.6 Kusatsu Line
Minami-Kusatsu 55.1
Seta 57.8
Ishiyama 60.3 Keihan Railway
Zeze 63.1 Keihan Railway
Otsu 64.8
Yamashina 69.3 Tozai Line, Keihan Railway, Kosei Line
Kyoto Station 74.8 Karasuma Line, Shinkansen, Sagano Line,
Nara Line, Kyoto Line, Kintetsu
(to Kyoto Line)