Echizen Railway Katsuyama Station

Echizen Railway Katsuyama Station

Echizen Railway Katsuyama Station, at Hishima in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture, is the terminus of the Katsuyama Eiheiji Line and opened in 1914 as a station of the Echizen Electric Railway. Two of its buildings, the two-storey wooden station building and the waiting shelter on the platform across the tracks, became Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 2004.2.17.

The town of Katsuyama lies on the far bank of the Kuzuryu River, and the station sits on rising ground on the near side. Trains from Fukui reverse here. Most passengers change to a bus or a taxi in the forecourt, but a glance back before leaving the gate shows both the original station building and the pre-war shelter still standing in the same yard.

From the Echizen Electric Railway to Echizen Railway

The station was opened by the Echizen Electric Railway, the railway arm of the Kyoto Dento electricity company, which linked Fukui with Katsuyama. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database and Katsuyama City both date the opening to April 1914, while some railway literature gives March of the same year. The month is not settled.

Kyoto Dento was dissolved in 1942 and the line passed to Keifuku Electric Railroad. After a collision closed the whole network in 2001, operation was transferred to Echizen Railway in 2003. Katsuyama City now owns the station building, with Echizen Railway as manager, and in 2013 part of the interior was returned to the open ceiling it had when it was built.

In the forecourt stands Teki 6, an electric locomotive built in 1920 that hauled Katsuyama textiles and timber towards Fukui. The Fukui Prefectural Tourism Federation describes it as one of the oldest Japanese electric locomotives still kept in working order.

Finding your way round the yard

The station building faces the forecourt on the east side of the tracks. Buy a ticket, cross the waiting room, pass the gate, and the platform is immediately in front of you. The shelter stands on the platform opposite, close enough to be read whole from under the eaves of the station building.

The two structures were built for different purposes. The station building is the public face of the terminus, painted boarding below and white plaster above, while the shelter is a plain roof for people waiting for a train. Seen side by side, they show how a rural railway spent its money.

The platforms lie beyond the ticket gate, so you need a ticket to walk out to them. The exterior, the forecourt and the waiting room can be seen without one.

Getting there, and what the station offers

Trains on the Katsuyama Eiheiji Line run from Fukui Station to the terminus in about 53 minutes during the day, roughly every 30 minutes. The ticket window is open all year from 5:15 a.m. until 0:15 a.m. the following day, and there are ticket machines, toilets and an accessible toilet.

Drivers can use the park and ride car park in front of the station, which has 190 free spaces, and there is bicycle parking for 114. The station keeps 7 rental bicycles and 4 electric-assist bicycles, and there are 10 coin lockers. Buses connect in the forecourt. These times and numbers were checked in September 2026; confirm them on the Echizen Railway station page before you travel.