Near Kintetsu’s Yamato-Yagi Station, two connecting lines link the Osaka Line and the Kashihara Line: the Shinokuchi shortcut line and the Yagi-Nishiguchi connecting line. The Shinokuchi shortcut line carries scheduled trains—Kyoto–Ise limited expresses and the “Shimakaze”—so it can be ridden on regular services. The Yagi-Nishiguchi connecting line has no scheduled passenger trains. Only deadheading and occasional charter trains pass through.
The Yagi-Nishiguchi connecting line is a remnant of the original Osaka Line. When Yamato-Yagi Station was located where Yagi-Nishiguchi Station stands today, the Osaka Line terminated there. When the Osaka Line was extended toward Sakurai, Yamato-Yagi moved to its current position, and the old track was kept as a connecting line.
The only way to ride this line is on a charter train. For an overview of covering Kintetsu’s connecting lines, see this article. While searching the internet for Kintetsu tours, I found the “Nabari Station New Sign Commemorative Tour on the Raku.” The itinerary included passage through the Yagi-Nishiguchi connecting line, so I signed up.
Itinerary
The train was a Kintetsu 20000 series “Raku” (set PL01), running with a Kashihara Line 100th anniversary commemorative headmark. Departed from ground-level platform 8 at Osaka-Uehommachi. The “Raku” is a charter-only train with elevated seating, giving excellent views from the windows. Seats were arranged on the window side only, so each passenger had two seats’ worth of space.
Most participants were rail enthusiasts, though there were a surprising number of families too.
The Yagi-Nishiguchi Connecting Line
Leaving Osaka-Uehommachi, the train headed south on the Osaka Line and entered the Yagi-Nishiguchi connecting line just before Yamato-Yagi. It’s a single-track spur branching off the Osaka Line toward Yagi-Nishiguchi Station on the Kashihara Line. After passing through the connecting line, we merged onto the Kashihara Line and continued to Kashiharajingu-mae.
Trainspotters lined the route here too. A “Raku” running on a connecting line that normally never sees passenger trains must have been quite a sight.
Kashiharajingu-mae to Nabari
Reversed at Kashiharajingu-mae and headed north on the Kashihara Line to Hirahata. Reversed again at Hirahata, this time passing through the Shinokuchi shortcut line to reach the Osaka Line platform at Yamato-Yagi. I had ridden the Shinokuchi shortcut line before on a Kyoto–Ise limited express, so it was not a coverage target this time.
From Yamato-Yagi, we continued on the Osaka Line to Nabari. At Nabari the train performed a shunting move, then ran a round trip to Aoyamachō before returning to Nabari. The shunting was a movement you never experience as a regular passenger—watching the train pull off the main line and into the shunting track was a highlight.
Coverage Results
This trip completed coverage of the Yagi-Nishiguchi connecting line. With no scheduled passenger service, a charter tour is the only way to ride it. Kintetsu runs these tours irregularly, so anyone aiming to cover the connecting lines needs to check frequently.