Railway Construction Act

The was promulgated by the Diet of Japan on June 21, 1892, and designated government support for a network of thirty-three railway lines covering most of Japan, with the exception of Hokkaidō. On April 11, 1922, the Diet amended the law to add an additional network of regional and local routes. Today, these lines form the backbone of the national railway network, JR (although JR has relinquished control of some of the more minor ones).

Lines designated by the Act of 1892

Notable main lines before the Act

The lines listed below were not covered by the act, since they were already built by that time.

• Tokyo — Gotenba — Nagoya — Gifu — Maibara — Kusatsu — Kyoto — Osaka — Kōbe (Tōkaidō Main Line)
• Tokyo — Hachiōji (Chūō Main Line as Chūō Line Rapid)
• Takasaki — Shinonoi — Nagano — Toyono — Naoetsu (Shin’etsu Main Line)
• Maibara — Tsuruga (Hokuriku Main Line)
• Ōmiya — Takasaki — Maebashi (Takasaki Line)
• Tokyo — Ōmiya — Shirakawa — Fukushima — Iwanuma — Sendai — Kogota — Kitakami — Morioka — Aomori (Tōhoku Main Line)
• Tokyo — Mito (Jōban Line)
• Nagoya — Kameyama — Tsuge — Kusatsu (Kansai Main Line and Kusatsu line)
• Osaka — Ōji — Nara (Tōkaidō Main Line and Nara Line)
• Ōji — Takada
• Kōbe — Himeji — Okayama — Mihara
• Marugame — Tadotsu — Kotohira
• Moji — Kokura — Hakata — Tosu — Kurume — Ōmuta — Kumamoto
• Tosu — Saga
• Wakamatsu — Iizuka

See also

• Railway Nationalization Act
• History of rail transport in Japan

References