Kintetsu has three connecting lines: the Shinnokuchi Connecting Line, the Yagi-Nishiguchi Connecting Line, and the Nakagawa Shortcut Line. None are used by regular scheduled services — only limited expresses and charter trains pass through them. To ride every line, I researched how to board each one and completed all three.
Route Map Around Yamato-Yagi Station
Two of the three connecting lines are near Yamato-Yagi Station.
Orange is the Kashihara Line; light blue is the Osaka Line.
Red: Shinnokuchi Connecting Line. Connects the Kashihara Line to the Osaka Line. Used by the Kyoto–Ise limited express. After departing Shinnokuchi Station, the train takes the connecting line and enters the Osaka Line platform at Yamato-Yagi Station.
Green: Yagi-Nishiguchi Connecting Line. Connects the Osaka Line to the direction of Kashihara-Jingūmae, but no regular services run here. The only way for the public to ride it is on charter trains — cherry blossom excursions from Osaka toward Yoshino, or rail fan tour trains that run on irregular schedules. Check Kintetsu’s website for dates.
Route Map Around Ise-Nakagawa Station
The third is the Nakagawa Shortcut Line, near Ise-Nakagawa Station.
This connecting line is used by limited expresses running between Osaka and Nagoya.
Riding Record
Shinnokuchi Connecting Line & Nakagawa Shortcut Line
These two were ridden on the same day.
Train No. 1 (Kyoto–Ise limited express) passes through the Shinnokuchi Connecting Line and arrives at Yamato-Yagi. Transfer to Train No. 2 (Hinotori) to pass through the Nakagawa Shortcut Line as well. Limited express surcharge required.
Yagi-Nishiguchi Connecting Line
No regular services run here, so a charter train is the only option. The problem is that these charter trains are rarely operated. I kept checking Kintetsu’s tour information and finally found a tour that passed through the Yagi-Nishiguchi Connecting Line in August 2023.
The tour ran from Osaka-Uehommachi to Kashihara-Jingūmae, passing through the Yagi-Nishiguchi Connecting Line along the way. I had already ridden the Shinnokuchi and Nakagawa lines on a separate day, so this completed all three Kintetsu connecting lines.
Of the three, Yagi-Nishiguchi is by far the hardest to ride. The other two just require boarding a regular limited express, but Yagi-Nishiguchi requires finding and booking an irregularly scheduled charter train — you can’t predict when the opportunity will come.