Hiroden-hatsukaichi

Departure data for this station is not available on this site.

Hiroden-hatsukaichi Station opened on 6 April 1924 as Hatsukaichi-machi when the Miyajima Line was extended from Kusatsu-machi to its then-terminus here; the station had been planned as Tenjin-shita Station (for a Tenmangū shrine on a nearby hill) but the name was changed before opening. The line was extended further to Jigozen on 15 July 1925, and the station was renamed Densha-Hatsukaichi ('Tramcar Hatsukaichi') on 1 February 1931, the day the Miyajima Line reached its full present length. During the Pacific War, on 21 July 1944, the down-line track between this station and Densha-Miyajima Station was lifted to provide rails for the under-construction Minami Line in central Hiroshima, leaving the western section single-track; the line was re-doubled on 24 July 1950. The station was renamed Hiroden-Hatsukaichi on 1 June 1961 to distinguish it from JNR's (now JR West's) Hatsukaichi Station. Other dates: platform improvements on 31 January 1981; becoming unstaffed outside morning rush hours on 15 May 1988; end of morning rush-hour terminating service on 17 August 1999; closure of the commuter-pass window on 1 December 2005; restoration of morning rush-hour terminating service in October 2009; demolition of the wooden station building from October 2012 (with a farewell event on 8 September 2012); completion of the new south rotary in August 2013, with the new waiting room entering use that December. The station carries number M31.

The Hatsukaichi Substation, which stands behind the up-side platform, is why central Hiroshima's tram network was able to restart so quickly after the atomic bombing on 6 August 1945: the substation, then housed in a brick building about 150 m north of the station along the line towards Hiroden-Nishihiroshima and some 15 km from the hypocentre, was largely undamaged and could re-energise the city tracks three days later. It had supplied power to Miyajima Line trams since the line opened in August 1922. The old brick substation was demolished in 2009, its replacement behind the up-side platform having come online in March 2008.