Powerful Climber to the Holy Mountain

EMU Nankai 30000 series stands at Gokurakubashi station

Koya-san is the common name of Buddhist temple settlement in Wakayama Prefecture, about 620 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. It was opened by a monk, Kukai, in 819 as the headquarters of the Koyasan Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. Located on an 800-meter high mountain, there are 120 temples. Many of which offer lodgings to pilgrims and tourists. Konpon Daito, the Basic Great Pagoda, is the main tower of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism doctrine. It's a 48.5 meters tall vermillion colored beautiful pagoda. Koya-san was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.

To visit this holy mountain, please take the Nankai-Koya line and get off at Gokurakubashi terminal. Nankai is a major private railway company in the Osaka area. The route extends to the southern part of Osaka and northern Wakayama Prefecture. The electric system is 1,500 V DC overhead. The gauge size is 1,067 millimeters. The track is double between Shiomibashi and Hashimoto and single between Hashimoto and Gokurakubashi.

The EMU 30000 series is the flagship train on the Koya line. It was commissioned in 1983 as limited express train, Koya. Two sets of 4-car trains were built by Tokyu Sharyo. Each set is composed of four motorcars. Trailers are not connected because a powerful EMU is required to climb a maximum inclination of 50 per mil slope on the section between Hashimoto and Gokurakubashi. The technical specification of the 30000 series is rather old. It still has a traditional rheostatic electric control system. To be continued...

Konpon Daito (the Basic Great Pagoda)

Official information about the Nankai limited express trains (in Japanese):

http://www.nankai.co.jp/traffic/express.html