Biwako Line

Biwako Line
A
223-2000 series EMU on a Biwako Line Special Rapid service
Overview
Native name	琵琶湖線
Type	Heavy rail
System	Urban Network
Locale	Kyoto Prefecture and Shiga Prefecture
Termini	Maibara Kyoto (Tōkaidō Line) Nagahama (Hokuriku Line)
Stations	23
Operation
Opened	May 1, 1882 (as part of Tōkaidō Main Line) March 13, 1988 (renamed as Biwako Line)
Owner	JR West
Operator(s)	JR West JR Freight
Technical
Line length	75.4 km (46.9 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead line
Operating speed	130 km/h (81 mph)

The Biwako Line (琵琶湖線, Biwako-sen^?) is the nickname used by the operator of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) to refer to the portion of the Tōkaidō Main Line (between Maibara Station and Kyoto Station) and the Hokuriku Main Line (between Maibara Station and Nagahama Station). The section, along with JR Kyoto Line and JR Kobe Line, forms a contiguous service that is the main trunk of JR West's "Urban Network" commuter rail network in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area.

The line is named after Lake Biwa (琵琶湖, Biwa-ko^?), which the route runs along. Line nicknames were introduced when the newly privatized JR West intended to use "familiar" names over official line names, such as Tōkaidō Main Line and Fukuchiyama Line. Biwako Line did not appear on the first list, and instead The JR Kyoto Line was to be called up to Maibara. A move in Shiga Prefecture opposed the name, claiming that the name of Kyoto Line in Shiga sounds like an auxiliary, requiring its own name in the prefecture. Biwako Line was thus made to refer to the section between Maibara and Kyoto.

The section of the name was extended to Nagahama, on the alteration of electric supply from 20 kV AC to 1,500 V DC, which enabled through operation to Kyoto and Osaka.