Iyotetsu

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Transport provider on Shikoku Island, Japan

title: "Iyotetsu" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["iyotetsu", "railway-companies-of-japan", "bus-companies-of-japan", "tram-transport-in-japan", "japanese-companies-established-in-1887", "railway-companies-established-in-1887", "600-v-dc-railway-electrification", "750-v-dc-railway-electrification"] description: "Transport provider on Shikoku Island, Japan" topic_path: "geography/japan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyotetsu" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Transport provider on Shikoku Island, Japan ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Iyo Railway Co., Ltd.
logo	[[File:IYOTETSU logo.svg
logo_size	250px
image	IyoRailway-Otemachi.jpg
image_size	300px
image_caption	Iyotetsu heavy rail, bus and tram services meet at Ōtemachi Station in January 2020
native_name	伊予鉄道株式会社
native_name_lang	ja
trade_name
industry	Transport
founded	in Takahama, Shikoku, Japan
hq_location	4-4-1 Minatomachi
hq_location_city	Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture
hq_location_country	Japan
area_served
owner
website
::

The Iyo Railway Co., Ltd., commonly known as Iyotetsu, is the main transport provider in Matsuyama, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan. The company operates railway, tram, and bus lines, and also has many subsidiaries, which include a bank, department stores, travel agencies, and various other businesses.

History

The company was founded on September 14, 1887, and its Takahama railway line, the first in Shikoku, was opened on October 28, 1888. In addition to being the first railway in Shikoku, it was also the third private railway in Japan. It is named for the former Iyo Province. The first tramway was electrified in 1911, whilst the entire tram network was changed from gauge to gauge in 1923.

Services

Railway

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Iyo_Railway_Linemap.svg" caption="Route map"] ::

Iyotetsu operates the following railway lines.

Takahama Line: Takahama —
Yokogawara Line: Matsuyama City — Yokogawara
Gunchū Line: Matsuyama City — Gunchū Port

Takahama Line

This 9.4 km line opened as gauge in 1888, and was regauged to , double-tracked to Baishinji (8.2 km) and electrified at 600 V DC in 1931. This line is still electrified at 600 V DC, not increased to 750 V DC as Yokogawara or Gunchū Lines. The Takahama Line and the Ōtemachi Tramline have one of the few remaining rail/tram level crossings in Japan.

Yokogawara Line

This 13.2 km line opened as gauge in 1893, and was regauged to in 1931. Steam locomotives were replaced by diesel traction in 1954, and the line was electrified at 750 V DC in 1967. Through services to and from the Takahama line commenced in 1981.

Gunchū Line

The initial 10.7 km line was opened as a gauge line in 1896 by the South Iyo Railway. Iyotetsu acquired it through merger in 1900. It was regauged to in 1937. The line was electrified in 1950 at 600 V DC, increased to 750 V DC in 1976.

CTC signalling was introduced on the rail system in 1993.

Former connecting lines

A 4.4 km 762 mm gauge line opened from Iyo Tachibana (on the Yokogawara Line) to Morimatsu in 1896, the line being regauged to 1,067 mm in 1931. The line closed in 1965.

Tram===

Iyotetsu operates the Matsuyama City Lines, a system of five interconnected tram lines. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Iyo_Railway_Tram_Route_Map.png" caption="Diagram of the tram network, illustrating the various routes"] ::

Lines

There are officially five lines, as follows.

Jōhoku Line: Komachi — Heiwadōri 1
Jōnan Line: Dōgo Onsen — Nishi-Horibata
Honmachi Line: Minami-Horibata — Hommachi 6
Ōtemachi Line: Komachi — Nishi-Horibata
Hanazono Line: Matsuyama City Station — Minami-Horibata
Renraku Line: Heiwadōri 1 — Kami-Ichiman

Routes

There are five routes regularly in service by using one or more lines above.

Route 1 - Loop Line (clockwise): Matsuyama City Station → JR Matsuyama Station → Kiyachō → Kami-Ichiman → Ōkaidō → Matsuyama City Station
Route 2 - Loop Line (counter-clockwise): Matsuyama City Station → Ōkaidō → Kami-Ichiman → Kiyachō → JR Matsuyama Station → Matsuyama City Station
Route 3: Dōgo Onsen — Ōkaidō — Matsuyama City Station
Route 5: Dōgo Onsen — Ōkaidō — JR Matsuyama Station
Route 6: Dōgo Onsen — Hommachi 6

Bus

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Iyotetsu-Bus_HINO-5670.jpg" caption="Iyotetsu local bus"] ::

The company operates highway buses linking Matsuyama and the major cities of Japan, including Tokyo, Ōsaka, Fukuyama, Takamatsu, Tokushima, and Kōchi. It also operates a local network in and around the city, including services that operate to and from Matsuyama Airport.

Rolling stock

Heavy rail

Iyotetsu 700 series two/three-car EMU sets (since 1987, converted from former Keio 5000 series trains)
Iyotetsu 610 series two-car EMU sets (since 1995)
Iyotetsu 3000 series three-car EMU sets (since 2009, converted from former Keio 3000 series trains)
Iyotetsu 7000 series three-car EMU sets (since 2025)

File:Iyotetsu-Series700-766.jpg|700 series set 728 in December 2021 File:612f_Baishinji.jpg|610 series EMU set 612 in April 2023 File:Iyotetsu-Series3000-3504.jpg|3000 series set 3010 in December 2021

Trams

MoHa 50 series (since 1951)
MoHa 2000 series (since 1964)
MoHa 2100 series (since 2002)
MoHa 5000 series (from September 2017)

Two 5000 series low-floor tramcars (numbers 5001 and 5002) were delivered in September 2017, scheduled to enter revenue service on 21 September 2017.

File:Iyotetsu-Moha66.jpg|A MoHa 50 series tramcar File:Iyotetsu2003_20210809.jpg|A MoHa 2000 series tramcar File:Iyotetsu-Moha2102.jpg|A MoHa 2100 series tramcar File:Iyotetsu-Moha5001.jpg|A MoHa 5000 series tramcar

Former rolling stock

Iyotetsu 100 series
Iyotetsu 300 series (until 2008)
Iyotetsu 600 series (until 2008)
Iyotetsu 800 series (until 2010, converted from former Keio 2010 series trains)

File:Good-bye_Iyo103.jpg|An Iyotetsu 100 series train in 1984 File:Iyotetsu 300 series 303 20081009.JPG|An Iyotetsu 300 series train in October 2008 File:Iyotetsu601.JPG|An Iyotetsu 600 series train in March 2008 File:Iyotetsu825.JPG|An Iyotetsu 800 series train in March 2008

''Botchan Ressha''

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Bocchan-ressha(Matsuyama-Ekimae-Turning).jpg" caption="Botchan Ressha turning at Matsuyama City Station"] ::

Iyo Railway also operates the Botchan Ressha, diesel-powered replicas of the original Iyotetsu steam locomotives, well-known from Natsume Sōseki's famous 1906 novel, Botchan. The current Botchan Ressha, operating on two of the city lines since 2001, reproduces the atmosphere of early Meiji era train travel in Matsuyama.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

References

"Yuichiro Kishi, "Railway Operators in Japan 13: Shikoku Region", ''Japan Railway & Transport Review'' 39 (2004): 44.".
Brown, Colin (2007). "Tramway Opening and Closure Dates". ''Bullet-In'' Issue 61, p.25
Terada. Hirokazu. Neko Publishing. (19 January 2013). link
Kawashima. Ryōzō. (2013). Kodansha. link
In 1939, a 600 m extension opened to Gunchuko, enabling a transfer to JR Iyo station (today {{STN. Iyoshi. Kawashima. Ryōzō. (2013). Kodansha. link
Imao. Keisuke. (2009). Mook
(2025-02-21). "". link
link. (1 September 2017). Koyusha Co., Ltd.
INC, SANKEI DIGITAL. (2017-09-25). "ゆったり乗車できます松山・伊予鉄路面電車に新型ＬＲＴ５０００系車両導入".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::