, commonly known as , is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services in the four prefectures

Prefectures of Japan

The prefectures of Japan are the country's 47 subnational jurisdictions: one "metropolis" , Tokyo; one "circuit" , Hokkaidō; two urban prefectures , Osaka and Kyoto; and 43 other prefectures . In Japanese, they are commonly referred to as...

 on the island of Shikoku

Shikoku

is the smallest and least populous of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of the island of Kyūshū. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima , Iyo-shima , and Futana-shima...

 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The company is headquartered in Takamatsu

Takamatsu, Kagawa

is a city located in central Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan, and is the seat of the prefectural government. It is designated a core city by the Japanese Government. It is a port city located on the Seto Inland Sea, and is the closest port to Honshu from Shikoku island...

, Kagawa Prefecture

Kagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is Takamatsu.- History :Kagawa was formerly known as Sanuki Province.For a brief period between August 1876 and December 1888, Kagawa was made a part of Ehime Prefecture.-Battle of Yashima:...

.

Lines

JR Shikoku operates a railway system of 855.2 km. Unlike other JR companies, JR Shikoku discontinued the classification of "Main Lines" and others in the names of its railway lines in 1988. Prior to the change, the Dosan, Kōtoku, Tokushima and Yosan Lines were Main Lines.

Each line is color-coded and labeled with a letter, which is used to assign a station number to each station on the line. For example, Naruto Station on the Naruto Line (labeled N) is numbered N10. Although this method is widely accepted in metro

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

 systems in Japan, JR Shikoku was the only JR company which used it until October 2007, when Hokkaidō Railway Company

Hokkaido Railway Company

The is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group , and thus often known as . It operates intercity rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart card ticketing system, from autumn 2008....

 (JR Hokkaidō) followed suit.

Line color	Label	Name		Japanese	Terminuses
Main Lines
	n/a	Honshi Bisan LinePart of the Seto-Ōhashi Line connecting Okayama Okayama, Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan.The city was founded on June 1, 1889. As of August 2010, the city has an estimated population of 705,224 and a population density of 893 persons per km². The total area is 789.88 km²....  to Shikoku Shikoku is the smallest and least populous of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of the island of Kyūshū. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima , Iyo-shima , and Futana-shima...  via the Great Seto Bridge Great Seto Bridge The , or Seto-Ohashi Bridge, is a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Built over the period 1978–88, it is one of the three routes of the Honshū-Shikoku Bridge Project connecting Honshū and... .		本四備讃線	Kojima — Udatsu
	Y	Yosan Line Yosan Line The is a railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, operated by the Shikoku Railway Company . It runs along the Inland Sea coast, connecting the prefectural capitals of Takamatsu and Matsuyama , continuing on to Uwajima...	Main Line	予讃線	Takamatsu — Matsuyama
	U				Matsuyama — Mukaibara
			Branch Line (New Line)		Mukaibara — Uchiko
		Uchiko Line Uchiko Line The is a railway line in Shikoku, Japan, operated by the Shikoku Railway Company . The line connects to the Yosan Line at both ends.-Stations:...		内子線	Uchiko — Niiya
		Yosan Line	Branch Line (New Line)	予讃線	Niiya — Iyo-Ōzu
			Main Line		Iyo-Ōzu — Uwajima
	S		Main Line (Old Line)		Mukaibara — Iyo-Ōzu
	T	Kōtoku Line Kotoku Line The is a railway line owned and operated by Shikoku Railway Company . It connects the prefectural capitals of Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture and Tokushima in Tokushima Prefecture. The route hugs the northeastern coast of the island of Shikoku...		高徳線	Takamatsu — Tokushima
	D	Dosan Line Dosan Line is a railway line in Shikoku, Japan, operated by the Shikoku Railway Company . It runs between Tadotsu Station in Tadotsu, Kagawa and Kubokawa Station in Shimanto, Kōchi. The line links the city of Kōchi with northern Shikoku and the island of Honshū via the Seto-Ōhashi Line...		土讃線	Tadotsu — Kōchi
	K				Kōchi — Kubokawa
	B	Tokushima Line		徳島線	Tsukuda — Sako
Other Lines
	M	Mugi Line Mugi Line The is a railway line in southeastern Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by Shikoku Railway Company . It connects the prefectural capital of Tokushima with the town of Kaiyō in Kaifu District...		牟岐線	Tokushima — Kaifu
	N	Naruto Line		鳴門線	Ikenotani — Naruto;
	G	Yodo Line Yodo Line The is a railway line in Shikoku, Japan, operated by Shikoku Railway Company . It runs between Shimanto in Kōchi Prefecture and Uwajima in Ehime Prefecture. Its name comes from the ancient provinces of and , which the line connects.-Services:The Yodo Line is a quiet, rural line with only local...		予土線	Wakai — Kita-Uwajima

Train services

JR Shikoku provides intercity transportation with its limited express

Limited express

A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes.- Japan :...

 services, connecting major cities on the island of Shikoku with Okayama

Okayama, Okayama

is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan.The city was founded on June 1, 1889. As of August 2010, the city has an estimated population of 705,224 and a population density of 893 persons per km². The total area is 789.88 km²....

 on Honshū

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

. The company also operates local trains.

Major named trains of JR Shikoku

Type	Name	(Stations outside of Shikoku in parentheses)	Train type
Limited Express	Ashizuri	–	2000 series DMU
	Ishizuchi	– –	2000 series DMU, 8000 series 8000 series (JR Shikoku) The is a limited express electric multiple unit operated by Shikoku Railway Company in Shikoku, Japan....  EMU
	Muroto	– –	185 series DMU
	Nanpū Nanpu The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from Okayama to Kōchi and Sukumo. Trains are usually formed of 3-car 2000 series DMUs, and often run coupled with Shimanto services.-History:...	– Kōchi – Nakamura –	2000 series DMU
	Uwakai	Matsuyama – Uwajima	2000 series DMU
	Uzushio Uzushio (train) The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from Tokushima to Takamatsu and Okayama....	(Okayama) – Takamatsu – Tokushima	185 series DMU, 2000 series DMU
	Shimanto Shimanto (train) The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from Takamatsu to Kōchi and Sukumo. Trains are formed of 3-car 2000 series DMUs, and often run coupled with Nanpū services....	Takamatsu – Kōchi – (Nakamura) – (Sukumo)	2000 series DMU
	Shiokaze Shiokaze (train) The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from Okayama to Matsuyama and Uwajima.-Route:The main stations served by this service are as follows.Okayama - Tadotsu - Iyo-Saijō - Matsuyama - Uwajima-Rolling stock:...	(Okayama) – Matsuyama – Uwajima	2000 series DMU, 8000 series 8000 series (JR Shikoku) The is a limited express electric multiple unit operated by Shikoku Railway Company in Shikoku, Japan....  EMU
	Tsurugisan Tsurugisan (train) The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from Kaifu and Tokushima stations to Anabuki and Awa-Ikeda stations. The train received its name from Mount Tsurugi, a nearby mountain....	Kaifu – Tokushima – –	185 series DMU
	Sunrise Seto	– Takamatsu	285 series 285 series The is an electric multiple unit train type operated jointly by Central Japan Railway Company and West Japan Railway Company on the overnight Sunrise Izumo/Sunrise Seto limited express service in Japan....  EMU sleeper (operated by JR West and JR Central)
Rapid	Marine Liner Marine Liner The is the name of a train service in Japan operated by West Japan Railway Company and Shikoku Railway Company . The Marine Liner links Okayama, the capital city of Okayama Prefecture and a major station on the Sanyō Shinkansen, with Takamatsu, the capital city of Kagawa Prefecture on the island...	(Okayama) – Takamatsu	5000 series 5000 series (JR Shikoku) The is a suburban electric multiple unit train type operated by Shikoku Railway Company in Shikoku, Japan.Seven 2-car sets were introduced in 2003 by JR Shikoku along with the JR West 223-5000 series...  EMU (operated by JR Shikoku) 223-5000 series 223 series The is a suburban electric multiple unit train type operated by West Japan Railway Company in the Kansai Region, Chūgoku region and Shikoku of Japan... EMU (operated by JR West)

External links

• Shikoku Railway Company