Yudanaka

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

Yudanaka Station opened on 28 April 1927 as a station of the Hirao Line, following a 1920 application and a 1921 licence. Plans to extend a further 1.8 kilometres to Shibu-Yasudai were abandoned after the licence lapsed in 1931, and a second licence, for a 1.3-kilometre extension, acquired in 1949 likewise expired in 1958. The current station building was completed in November 1955. National Railways through-services via Nagano began in January 1937 and via Yashiro that July; the Ueno–Yudanaka express Shiga was discontinued in November 1982. Freight handling ended in 1971. In February 2005 the former station building was registered as a tangible cultural property. The unusual mini switchback approach was removed in August–September 2006 in conjunction with the introduction of the 1000-series rolling stock, whose drivers found switchback transfers difficult. The station is the terminus of the Nagano Electric Railway Nagano Line and at 599.76 metres is its highest point.

Until the 2006 rebuild Yudanaka was approached by an unusual mini switchback: trains crossed a road level crossing past the platforms then reversed about 200 metres back into the station, a manoeuvre necessitated by a 40-permille grade and the limited platform space.