The Geibi Line consists of the section opened by the Geibi Railway, which connected Hiroshima Station and Bingo-Shōbara, the Shōbara Line between Bingo-Shōbara and Bingo-Ochiai which was partly built by the Geibi Railway and then nationalised and extended by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) and the Sanshin Line built by the JGR between Onuka and Bitchū-Kōjiro. In 1936, the line between Hiroshima and Bitchū-Kōjiro was completed, and the Geibi Railway was nationalised the following year, bringing the entire line under the control of the JGR. Opening dates for individual sections are given below.
Geibi Railway • 18 April 1915: The Geibi Railway opened between Higashi Hiroshima (different from the current
Higashi-Hiroshima Station) and
Shiwachi. • 1 June 1915: The line is extended from Shiwachi to Miyoshi (the current
Nishi Miyoshi Station). • 15 April 1916:
Hesaka Station opens. • 15 July 1920: The line between
Hiroshima and Higashi Hiroshima opens.
JNR Hiroshima Station opens. • 7 June 1922: The line between Miyoshi (the current Nishi Miyoshi Station) and Shiomachi (the current
Kamisugi Station) opens. • 8 December 1923: The line between Shiomachi (the current Kamisugi Station) and
Bingo-Shōbara opens. • 20 September 1924:
Nakafukawa Station and
Yamanouchi Station open. • 1 February 1925: Wadamura Station becomes
Shimowachi Station. • 20 March 1929:
Yaga Station and
Kamifukawa Station open. • 1 January 1930: Shirakiyamaguchi Station, Mita Yoshinaga Station, and Tōkaichi Station open. • 22 April 1930: Takō Station (the current
Shiomachi Station) opens. • 25 April 1930: Mikkaichi Station opens.
Shōbara Line • 1 June 1933: Tōkaichi Station is renamed Bingo-Tōkaichi Station and Mikkaichi Station is renamed Bingo-Mikkaichi Station. The Geibi Railway line between Bingo-Tōkaichi Station (the current
Miyoshi Station) and Bingo-Shōbara Station is nationalized and renamed the Shōbara Line. • 1 January 1934: Shiomachi Station is renamed
Kamisugi Station, and Takō Station is renamed
Shiomachi Station. • 15 March 1934: The line between Bingo-Shōbara Station and
Bingo-Saijō Station opens. • 20 December 1935: The line between Bingo-Saijō Station and
Bingo-Ochiai Station opened.
Sanshin Line • 10 February 1930: The Sanshin Line opens between
Bitchū-Kōjiro Station and
Yagami Station. • 25 November 1930: The line opens between Yagami Station and
Tōjō Station. • 15 June 1935: The line between Tōjō Station and
Onuka Station opens. • 10 October 1936: The line between Onuka Station and Bingo-Ochia Station opens. The Shōbara Line is absorbed into the Sanshin Line, which now includes everything between Bitchū-Kōjiro Station and Bingo-Tōkaichi Station. • 21 November 1936:
Dōgoyama Station opens.
Geibi Line • 1 July 1937: The Geibi Railway line between
Hiroshima Station and Bingo-Tōkaichi Station is nationalized, and the Sanshin Line is absorbed into the Geibi Line. Kawatachi Station is renamed
Kamikawatachi Station, Mita Yoshinaga Station is renamed
Kamimita Station, Shirakiyamaguchi Station is renamed
Shirakiyama Station, and Yaguchi Station is renamed
Akiyaguchi Station. • 10 August 1941:
Kamifukawa Station and
Yaga Station close. • 28 October 1942: Yaga Station closes, and a
signal box is installed. • 2 April 1943: Yaga Station reopens. • 10 August 1948: Kamifukawa Station reopens. • 1 February 1952:
Hirako Station opens. • 1 October 1953:
Ichioka Station opens. • 10 November 1954: The former Miyoshi Station is renamed
Nishi Miyoshi Station. • 10 December 1954: Bingo-Tōkaichi Station is renamed
Miyoshi Station. • 20 July 1955:
Uchina Station opens. • 11 November 1955: The
Chidori service begins. • 20 December 1956: Bingo-Kumano Station is renamed
Hibayama Station. • 13 April 1959: The
Chidori is upgraded to a local express train. • 15 March 1962: The
Taishaku service begins. • 5 March 1968: The
Taishaku and
Chidori services are upgraded to regular express trains. • 1 March 1983: The line between Miyoshi Station and Hiroshima Station uses
CTC. • 31 October 1983: The line between Bitchū-Kōjiro and Miyoshi uses CTC. • 15 March 1985: The
Miyoshi express service begins. • 1 November 1986: Freight service is discontinued on the Geibi Line. • 1 April 1987: The Geibi Line becomes part of
West Japan Railway Company following privatization of
Japanese National Railways. • 1 April 1991:
Wanman driver-only operation commences on the line between and . • 1 November 1991: The line between Miyoshi and Hiroshima is converted to
wanman driver-only operation. • 22 March 2002: The
Chidori and
Taishaku express services are absorbed into the
Miyoshi express service. • 1 October 2003: The
Miyoshi Liner and
Tsūkin Liner services begin. • 23 April 2006: The Geibi Line is moved between Kamikawatachi and Kōtachi following widening of Hiroshima Prefectural Route 37 between Hiroshima and Miyoshi. • 19 July 2006: Services between Bingo-Ochiai and Bingo-Saijō are suspended due to storm damage of the Geibi Line. An interim bus service begins the following day. • 1 April 2007: Train service is resumed between Bingo-Ochiai and Bingo-Saijō. • 1 July 2007:
Miyoshi express services are discontinued, and
Tsūkin Liner rapid services are integrated into
Miyoshi Liner rapid services. • 7 July 2018: The
2018 Japan floods result in damage to the line in several places, most significantly destroying the bridge over the Misasagawa River between Shirakiyama and Karuga stations, resulting in the closure of the entire line. • 23 July 2018: The Hiroshima – Shimofukawa section of the line is reopened. JR West advises replacement of the Misasagawa Bridge is expected to take up to a year. • 25 August 2018: The Karuga – Shimofukawa section of the line is reopened. • 27 August 2018: The Bitchū-Kōjiro – Tōjō section of the line is reopened. • 31 August 2018: The Tōjō – Bingo-Ochiai section of the line is reopened. • 4 October 2018: The Bingo-Shōbara – Miyoshi section of the line is reopened. • 20 December 2018: The Bingo-Ochiai – Bingo-Shōbara section of the line is reopened. • 4 April 2019: The Miyoshi – Nakamita section of the line is reopened. However, trains only operate in the morning and evening hours (Operations were suspended from 25 July to 31 August). • 23 October 2019: The Nakamita – Karuga section of the line is reopened. The entire line reopened after 1 year and 3 months from the 2018 Japan floods. • 9 March 2020: A KiHa 120 car derails near Bingo-Yawata station, causing a temporary closure of the line between Tōjō and Bingo-Ochiai. • 8 June 2021: JR West initiated a work group with local communities along the
Bingo-Shōbara –
Niimi section to assess the future of the line. According to JR West data, on average only 81 passengers use the line between
Bitchū-Kōjiro and
Tōjō, 11 between Tōjō and
Bingo-Ochiai and 215 between Bingo-Ochiai and
Miyoshi. Due to the lack of patronage, JR West is considering to abolish the aforementioned section and replace it with bus services. ==See also==