 Initially steam powered, the line was built and opened in 1898 by the , whose plan was to connect towns of southern Kawachi Province to the then main line of the , present-day Kansai Main Line.In the following year, the whole railway from to  was transferred to the , who extended the line to Nagano (present ) in 1902.With its name changed to the Osaka Railway in 1919, the company built its own railway directly to Osaka's downtown, diverting at .