The railroad was put through a sheer cliff, and once the complicated construction work to build eight tunnels and more than 50 bridges at Hozukyo Valley was finished, the sector between Kyoto and Sonobe Station opened in 1900; however, the construction work north of Sonobe did not proceed due to a cash-flow problem, and when the Maizuru army base (or Maizuru naval base) opened, the government decided it was necessary to lay railroad from Kyoto to Maizuru in order to carry out national policy, took away the rail license and started the work to finish laying the railroad by itself.
断崖絶壁に線路を通し、トンネル8箇所、橋梁は50箇所を越える保津峡の難工事も苦心の末、1900年（明治33年）に京都～園部駅間が開業するが、園部以北へは資金難のため工事が遅々として進まず、政府は舞鶴鎮守府開庁に続き、京都から舞鶴へ通じる鉄道の建設は国策遂行上必要不可欠とし、未成部分の鉄道免許を取り消し、政府は自らの手で京都から舞鶴へ通じる鉄道を建設を開始した。