Hikone Station is served by the Biwako Line portion of the JR Tōkaidō Main Line, and is 6.0 kilometers from Maibara and 451.9 kilometers from Tokyo. It is also a station on the Ohmi Railway Main Line and is 5.8 kilometers from the starting point of that line at Maibara.
Layout
The JR Station has two opposed side platforms serving two tracks. Both platforms are connected to the ticket gate on the bridge over the tracks. The east end of the bridge, on the ground, is the Ohmi Railway station wishbone island platform.[1] The station has a Midori no Madoguchi staffed ticket office.
The station opened on 1 July 1889 as a station for passengers and cargo on the Japanese Government Railway (JGR) Tōkaidō Line, which became the Japan National Railways (JNR) after World War II.[2] The Ohmi Railway opened on 11 June 1898.[3] Freight operations were discontinued in November 1986. The station came under the aegis of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) on 1 April 1987 due to the privatization of JNR.
Station numbering was introduced in March 2018 with Hikone being assigned station number JR-A13.[4][5]
Passenger statistics
In fiscal 2019, the JR station was used by an average of 10,489 passengers daily (boarding passengers only). During the same period, the Ohmi Railway portion of the station was used by 1,371 passengers daily (boarding passengers only)[6]
^Ishino, Tetsu; et al., eds. (1998). 停車場変遷大事典 国鉄・JR編 [Station Transition Directory – JNR/JR] (in Japanese). Vol. II. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. p. 31. ISBN4-533-02980-9.
^Wakuda, Yasuo (1993). Shitetsushi Handobukku (in Japanese). Tokyo: Denkisha Kenkyūkai. p. 123. ISBN4-88548-065-5.
^"近畿エリアの12路線 のべ300駅に「駅ナンバー」を導入します!" ["Station numbers" will be introduced at a total of 300 stations on 12 lines in the Kinki area!]. westjr.co.jp (in Japanese). 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
^"「駅ナンバー」一覧表" ["Station number" list] (PDF). westjr.co.jp (in Japanese). 20 July 2016. Archived from the original(PDF) on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
^彦根市統計(令和2年版) 第10章 運輸および通信 [Hikone City Statistics (Reiwa 2nd Year Edition) Chapter 10 Transportation and Communications] (in Japanese). Japan: Hikone City. 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2021.