While many trains used to run on the Keihan Uji Line and the Kintetsu Kyoto Line (both of which run parallel to the Nara Line), the Nara Line was only electrified toward the end of JNR in 1984; consequently, it remained just a small local line on which the JNR/JR Commuter Train Series 105 (comprising two cars or the like) ran for some time, even after electrification, until the privatization of the JNR.
並行する京阪宇治線や近鉄京都線は以前から多数の列車が運行されていたのに対し、奈良線は国鉄末期の1984年まで鉄道の電化がされず、電化後も国鉄民営化までのしばらくは国鉄105系電車の2両編成などが細々と走る小さなローカル線でしかなかった。