Plans for a railway connecting Fukuchiyama with Miyazu had been around for a long time and in 1887, Kansai Railway Company surveyed a route going through Yura, but the project wasn't realized.
福知山と宮津を結ぶ鉄道計画は古くからあり、1887年（明治20年）には関西鉄道が由良を経る経路で測量するが、実現しなかった。