NS  Non-stop Limited Express (ノンストップ特急; nonsutoppu tokkyū) Trains for Ōsaka Namba run hourly.

The first section, between Shiroko and Takadahonzan, was opened in 1915 by an independent railway operator Ise Electric Railway (伊勢電気鉄道, Ise Denki Testudō) with rail gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in).

In 1936 the line was acquired by the Sangu Express Railway Co., which duplicated the Kuwana - Kusu section in 1938, the year that the Kansai Express Railway Co. opened the Nagoya - Kuwana section as electrified dual track.

After the acquisition of a 1435mm connection to Osaka, Kintetsu passengers to that destination needed to change trains due to the difference of gauges.

In 1959 the disastrous Ise-wan Typhoon destroyed the line and Kintetsu decided to convert to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge (standard gauge) with the reconstruction, the standard of the company to enable direct operation between Osaka and Nagoya.