Editing Osaka Loop Line (section)

==History==
The Ōsaka Loop Line consists of four segments, namely:
;Jōtō Line
:Eastern half of present line, Ōsaka – Tennōji via Kyōbashi
;Nishinari Line
:The northwestern quarter, Osaka – Nishi-Kujō
;Kansai Main Line freight line
:Southwestern portion, Tennōji – Sakaigawa Junction
;Purpose-built section
:The remainder to complete the loop, Nishi-Kujō – Sakaigawa Junction

===Jōtō Line===
The Ōsaka to Tennōji via Kyōbashi section (the eastern half of Osaka Loop Line) was opened by the {{Nihongo|Osaka Railway|大阪鉄道|Osaka Tetsudō}} (which also opened the present [[Minami Osaka Line]] network) to link it to the Japanese Government Railway ('''JGR''') network in 1895. The line was opened in 2 stages: Tennōji – Tamatsukuri (2&nbsp;mi. 28 [[chain (unit)|chain]], ca. 3.8&nbsp;km) on 28 May; and Tamatsukuri – Umeda (4&nbsp;mi. 29 chain, ca. 7.0&nbsp;km) on 17 October.

Earlier, in 1889, the company opened its main line from {{STN|Kashiwara|x}} – Tennōji – {{Nihongo|Minatomachi|湊町||present {{STN|JR Namba|x}} }} which includes a short section of the Osaka Loop Line, being Tennōji – {{STN|Imamiya|x}}; Imamiya station itself, located between Tennōji and Minatomachi, was opened in 1890.

The Osaka Railway merged with the {{Nihongo|Kansai Railway|関西鉄道|Kansai Tetsudō|also read as Kansei or Kwansai}} in 1900, creating a single entity for the line from Tennōji Station to [[Japanese Government Railways|JGR]] Ōsaka Station. The Kansai Railway was acquired by the national government in 1907 under the 1906 [[Railway Nationalization Act]]. In 1909 the line was named the {{Nihongo|"Jōtō Line"|城東線|Jōtō sen}}.

In 1930, distrances were changed to metric, thus the distance changed from 6.6&nbsp;miles. to 10.7&nbsp;km. Electrification of the Jōtō Line was commissioned in 1933.

===Nishinari Line===
The Osaka to Nishi-Kujō section (the northwestern quarter of the line) was built by the {{Nihongo|Nishinari Railway|西成鉄道|Nishinari Tetsudō}} to provide rail access to the Osaka Port. In 1898, the company opened the Osaka – {{STN|Ajikawaguchi|x}} line, which was leased to JGR in 1904. In 1906 the company was nationalized under the act of the same year. In 1909, the line was named the {{Nihongo|"Nishinari Line"|西成線|Nishinari sen}} which included the present-day [[Sakurajima Line]].

The Nishinari Line was electrified in 1941.

===Kansai Main Line Freight Line===
The Tennōji to Sakaigawa Signal Box (between Taishō and Bentenchō, closed in 2006 when the branch to the port closed) section (south-western portion of the loop) was constructed for freight traffic by the JGR to the port area in 1928, connecting to a freight branch line of the [[Kansai Main Line]], Imamiya – {{Nihongo|Naniwa|浪速}} – {{Nihongo|Osaka-minato|大阪港||apart from the present [[Ōsakakō Station]] on the [[Osaka Municipal Subway]] [[Chūō Line (Osaka)|Chūō Line]]}} with a distance of 5.2&nbsp;mi. (ca. 8.4&nbsp;km). In 1930 with the change to metric measurement, it became 8.2&nbsp;km. The former Osaka-Minato and Osaka-Tōkō stations were closed in 1984.

===Purpose-built loop line section===
To complete the Loop Line, new tracks were constructed between Nishi-Kujō and Sakaigawa Signal Box by the then [[Japanese National Railways]]. In 1961, this section opened and the new Osaka Loop Line was named for the entirety of the then Jōtō Line, Osaka – Nishi-Kujō section of the Nishinari Line (the rest, Nishi-Kujō – Sakurajima was named the [[Sakurajima Line]]) and the new Nishi-Kujō – Taishō – Tennōji section.

In 1964, operation as a complete Loop Line commenced with the opening of elevated double tracks around Nishi-Kujō. Until then the operation had been undertaken in the shape of a mirrored "6", Sakurajima – Nishi-Kujō – Osaka – Kyōbashi – Tennōji – Nishi-Kujō. The Tennōji – Shin-Imamiya section was quadrupled in 1968, to separate operations from the Kansai Main Line.