The Kumamoto Electric Railway (熊本電気鉄道) is a public transport company in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It is abbreviated as Kumamoto Dentetsu (熊本電鉄) or Kumaden (熊電). The company was founded in 1909. The company operates railway and bus lines. For the tram (streetcar) system in Kumamoto, see Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau.

Lines

A short section of the Fujisaki Line shares its track with public road, like a tram line.

Routes & Operation

As is the case with many Japanese rail and tram companies, the actual routes operated differ from the officially designated lines Trains operate on two routes: Services from all 3 termini (Kami-Kumamoto, Miyoshi and Fujisakigū-mae) meet at Kita-Kumamoto at the same times allowing seamless transfer between services. Routes operate every 30 minutes, but during am & pm peak periods the "Main Line" (Miyoshi — Kita-Kumamoto — Fujisakigū-mae) route operates every 15 minutes. At Kami-Kumamoto, passengers can transfer to JR Kyushu Kagoshima Line trains and Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau tram (streetcar) Route B.

Rolling stock

All trains are 2-car sets acquired second-hand from other operators.

Current Rolling Stock ()

Former Rolling Stock

History

The forerunner of the company, Kikuchi Tramway (菊池軌道), was established in on 15 August 1909, and opened the gauge steam-hauled line from Ikeda Station (池田駅) (close to the present-day Kami-Kumamoto Station) to Sendanbatamachi Station (千反畑町駅) (present-day Fujisakigū-mae Station) on 1 October 1911. On 27 August 1913, the line between Ikeda and Waifu Station (隈府駅) (later named Kikuchi) was opened. From 31 August 1923, the line was converted to gauge and electrified at 600 V DC. The current section of the Kikuchi Line between Kita-Kumamoto and Kami-Kumamoto opened on 1 October 1950, resulting in two lines between those stations, the original via Fujisakigū-mae and the new line. In June 1953 the original line from Kami-Kumamoto to Fujisakigū-mae closed. The 13.5 km Miyoshi to Kikuchi section closed on 16 February 1986 due to falling patronage.