Q.Why does a train line cut right through the Nara Palace Site?

The line came first, in 1914 — before any heritage designation

The Osaka Electric Tramway, forerunner of the Kintetsu Nara Line, opened its roughly 30.6 km line between Osaka-Uehommachi and Nara in April 1914 — and this is the line that now crosses the Nara Palace Site. Back then the area was farmland, and the full extent of the palace grounds was not recognized as something to protect. The tracks were laid on a curve to skirt the area around the Chōshūden-in, which was then thought worth preserving, but later excavations showed the site was far larger than assumed, so the line ended up dividing the ruins.

Heritage status came after the rails

The Nara Palace Site was designated a historic site in 1922 — eight years after the rails were laid. Part of it became a Special Historic Site on 29 March 1952, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs nationalized about 109 hectares. In 1998 it was inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage 'Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara,' and in 2008 a cabinet decision set its development as a national government park. Every layer of protection was put in place only after the trains had already started running.

The 2021 relocation plan and its price tag

The prefecture, the city of Nara and Kintetsu agreed to relocate the palace-crossing stretch to the south, submitting a project plan to the national government on 25 March 2021. The target was the roughly 4.4 km section between Yamato-Saidaiji and Kintetsu-Nara stations: elevate the tracks around Yamato-Saidaiji and along the west side of the site, then tunnel from the south down to Kintetsu-Nara, shifting the line onto Ōmiya-dōri south of the Suzakumon gate. Three new stations, including the provisionally named Suzaku-Ōji, were under consideration. The main aim was to remove level crossings — eight in all, two of them inside the palace grounds. The total cost was put at about 200 billion yen (about 126 billion for the continuous grade separation works, with Kintetsu covering about 10 billion), with construction slated for 2041 and completion for 2060.

In 2023, the plan was scaled back to 'elevation only'

In June 2023, Nara's newly elected governor Shinji Yamashita announced a review of the relocation plan. The new approach is 'elevation only, including Yamato-Saidaiji Station,' aligning with Kintetsu's view that moving the tracks out of the Nara Palace Site Historical Park is unnecessary. For fiscal 2023 the prefecture suspended 31.8 million yen in spending, excluding consultation costs. The crossings were reorganized into four on the west side and three on the east, and the governor argued that with a shrinking population the eastern crossings might resolve themselves over time, calling for a cost-effectiveness rethink. The roughly 200-billion-yen vision has, for now, been sent back to the drawing board.

Datasets behind this article

• Nara City Designated Cultural Properties and World Heritage Zone Data奈良市
• National Land Numerical Information: Railway Data (Lines and Stations)国土交通省