Osaka Loop Line

Overview
The Osaka Loop Line (大阪環状線, Ōsaka kanjō-sen) is a railway loop line in Japan operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It encircles central Osaka.

Part of a second, proposed outer second loop line, the Osaka Higashi Line, from Hanaten to Kyuhoji was opened on March 15, 2008, and the line from Shigino to Shin-Ōsaka opened in March 2019. This entry covers the original central loop line.

This loop line consists of two tracks around the heart of metropolitan Osaka. All trains consist of 8 carriages, with distinctive orange colour with white JR graphics on the front, rear and sides. The train schedule varies, but on average, two trains leave Tennōji Station and Ōsaka Station every seven minutes, in opposite directions.

Operation
On this line, JR West operates several types of trains. The line serves as a link between Ōsaka Station in northern Osaka (actually the Umeda district), and Tennōji in southern central Osaka. Some Limited Express trains linking north and south of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area use the line as a bypass between the Tōkaidō Main Line in the north and the Hanwa Line in the south. Traffic is heavier in the eastern half, Osaka - Kyōbashi - Tennōji, than in the western half via Nishi-Kujō.

Direction[edit]
The completely loop shaped Osaka Loop Line is unable to use the 'up' and 'down' train direction convention commonly applied in Japanese railways, e.g. trains traveling to Tokyo are usually 'up' trains and vice versa. Instead, the words "outer circle" (or outer loop) (外回り, Soto mawari) and the "inner circle" (内回り, Uchi mawari) are used to refer to the direction. The outer is clockwise, the inner counterclockwise.

If rules, such as the registration of the line at Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport apply,[2] the inner loop is down.

Local[edit]
Local trains are operated all day. Some operate over the complete loop, while some serve the eastern half between Osaka and Tennōji via Kyōbashi.

Eight-car EMUs of 323 series are used.

Sakurajima Line trains[edit]
Trains of the Sakurajima Line (JR Yumesaki Line) are now operated through to the loop line to/from Kyōbashi and Tennoji.

Eight-car 201 series and 323 series EMUs are used.

Rapids of Kansai Main Line[edit]
Through trains to the Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line) began operated in 1973. "Yamatoji Rapid" (大和路快速, Yamatoji Kaisoku) and "Regional Rapid" (区間快速, Kukan Kaisoku) trains originate at Tennōji on the loop, passing the loop as "inner" via Osaka, and after stopping at Tennōji after a complete circuit, exit the loop onto the Kansai Main Line and terminate at Kamo, Nara or Ōji. In the loop, Yamatoji Rapids pass some stations while Regional Rapids stop all.

For "Yamatoji Rapid" and "Regional Rapid", 8-car 221 series EMUs are used.

Rapids of Hanwa Line[edit]
Trains to the Hanwa Line, "Kansai Airport Rapid" (関空快速, Kankū Kaisoku) for Kansai Airport and Kishūji Rapid (紀州路快速, Kishūji Kaisoku) for Wakayama originate at either Tennoji or Kyobashi, and together with other types of rapid trains, operate on the inner loop via Osaka, pausing at Tennoji and then exiting from the loop. This pattern commenced in 1989, but increased significantly in 1994 on the opening of Kansai Airport.

8-car 223 series and 225 series EMUs in 4+4 formations are used for Kansai Airport and Kishūji rapids. 113 series 4-car units were used for rapids of Shin-Ōsaka - Kii-Tanabe in early morning and late night. They were withdrawn in 2010.

Limited express[edit]
Charged Limited Expresses such as Haruka for Kansai International Airport, and south bound Kuroshio on the Hanwa Line and Kisei Main Line (Kinokuni Line) heading for the scenic southern Wakayama Prefecture utilise the Osaka Loop Line to bypass the Tōkaidō Main Line and reach the Hanwa Line. On the loop, aside from Tennōji, limited numbers of trains stop only at Nishi-Kujō.

Between the Tōkaidō Main Line and the Osaka Loop Line, trains utilise the "Umeda freight line" which crosses immediately west of Ōsaka Station, not stopping at Osaka because no passenger facilities are installed on the freight line, until it merges the main line at Shin-Ōsaka. This route was introduced in 1989 on the completion of a bypass track from the Hanwa Line to platforms of the Kansai Main Line at Tennōji. Until then no through operations were possible from the Hanwa Line.

281 series EMUs are used for Haruka, 283 series EMUs, 287 series EMUs and 289 series EMUs for Kuroshio.

Freight trains[edit]
After the abandonment of the Naniwa freight terminal, freight trains on the line operate only between Fukushima and Nishikujō, from the "Umeda Freight Line" to Ajikawaguchi on the Sakurajima Line (JR Yumesaki Line).

Stations[edit]
Listed counterclockwise: All stations are in the city of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Stopping patterns

 * Stations
 * ● : All trains stop.
 * ▲ : Stop, outer loop (Tennoji → Nishikujo → Osaka → Kyobashi → Tennoji)
 * Number: Track (Platform) numbers to arrive at and depart from.
 * | : All trains skip

Local[edit]
The first of a fleet of 21 new 323 series eight-car EMU trains were introduced from 24 December 2016, scheduled to entirely replace the fleet of 23 103 and 201 series trains by 2018.[3] As of April 2019, few of the remaining 103 series (from Nara Line) and 201 series (Osaka Higashi & Yamatoji Line) continue to be used on the Loop Line.
 * 323 series (since 24 December 2016)

Yamatoji Rapid, Regional Rapid[edit]

 * 221 series

Kansai Airport Rapid, Kishūji Rapid, Direct Rapid and Local[edit]

 * 223 series (0 and 2500 subseries)
 * 225 series (5000 and 5100 subseries)

Limited express[edit]

 * 271 series (Haruka service, from Spring 2020)
 * 281 series (Haruka service)
 * 283 series (Kuroshio service)
 * 287 series (Kuroshio service)
 * 289 series (Kuroshio service)

Freight[edit]
Locomotives seen hauling freight trains include the M250 series, EF65, EF66, EF81, EF210 and DE10.

Passenger[edit]

 * 72 series
 * 101 series (March 22, 1964 – April 28, 1991)
 * 103 series (1969– 3 October 2017)[4]
 * 113 series (until December 10, 2011)
 * 381 series (Kuroshio service, until October 30, 2015)
 * 201 series ( 2005–7 June 2019)[5]

See Also:
Yamanote Line