The is a railway service proposed by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters ar ...

that would link

Haneda Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

directly to central

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. The plan will consist of three branches departing from Haneda and branching west towards

Osaki Osaki is a type of spirit possession of a fox told about in legends of Japan. They are also called osaki-gitsune. They can also alternatively be written 尾先. Other ways of writing them include 尾裂, 御先狐, 尾崎狐, among others. Conce ...

and

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

, north towards

Shinbashi , sometimes transliterated Shimbashi, is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Name Read literally, the characters in Shinbashi mean "new bridge". History The area was the site of a bridge built across the Shiodome River in 1604. The river was la ...

and

Tokyo Station Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far from the Ginza ...

, and east towards

Shin-Kiba is an area of Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It is located north of Wakasu, east of Tatsumi, south of Yumenoshima, and west of the Arakawa River. It is built on reclaimed land. Etymology The name "Shinkiba" means "New Lumberyard", and is taken from the ...

. In 2021, JR East announced that they have received

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法 ...

approval for the project and intended to start construction in 2022, for completion by 2029. A 2023 revision has pushed back the opening date to fiscal 2031. Construction of the line eventually began on 2 June 2023.

History

Due to the growing demand of air travelers using

, especially international travelers, East Japan Railway Company, JR East, officially announced in the “JR East Group Management Vision V” issued in 2013 that they aimed to improve the accessibility to the airport. In 2014, JR East released its fundamental construction plan for the accessibility improvement. According to the plan, an existing freight line running from

Tamachi Station is a railway station in the Tamachi neighborhood of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is served by the circular Yamanote Line and the Keihin-Tōhoku Line. All trains stop at this station. Mita Stat ...

located on

Yamanote Line The Yamanote Line ( ja, 山手線, Yamanote-sen) is a loop service in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important lines, connecting most of Tokyo's major stations and urban c ...

will be extended, connecting directly to the airport through an underwater tunnel. The newly-constructed section is expected about long, running from the existing Tokyo Freight Terminal to a new to be located between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Therefore, the construction cost is expected to be minimized, estimated to be approximately . In the JR East Group Management Vision "Move Up” issued in 2018, JR East decided to construct three conventional lines departing from the airport. In 2019, JR East officially launched the environmental assessment for the new lines, and the construction for the new train link is expected to be completed around 2029. In early April 2023, JR East announced that it had chosen to build the East Yamanote Route from Tokyo Station. On the same date, the company announced that a construction groundbreaking ceremony would take place at a later date in June of that year. The opening date is expected to take place sometime in fiscal 2031, two years later than the initial expected opening date set for 2029. Construction of the new line is estimated to cost about . Construction of the line officially began on 2 June 2023 with the aforementioned groundbreaking ceremony going ahead as scheduled.

Routes and expected effects

The line consists of an extension of an existing freight line to the airport, upgrading of track on the existing freight line, two connecting spurs to the

Rinkai Line The is a railway line in Tokyo, Japan. It is the only line operated by the third-sector company Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit. It connects central Tokyo to the artificial islands of Aomi and Odaiba. The line is served by some trains on t ...

, and a connecting spur to the Ueno-Tokyo Line, which allows three access routes to the airport.

East Yamanote Route

The East Yamanote Route was the option finalized by JR East in 2023. It will run from the airport station located near Terminals 1 and 2 in Haneda Airport via the Tokyo Freight Terminal Station to a point near

, using an unused freight line between Tamachi and Tokyo Freight Terminal to connect to the Tokaido Main Line ( Ueno-Tokyo Line). By running through trains on the Ueno–Tokyo Line, through service can be offered to

Ueno Station is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and othe ...

, and northbound lines including the

Takasaki Line The Takasaki Line ( ja, 高崎線, ) is a Japanese railway line which connects Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama Prefecture and Takasaki Station in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) ...

Utsunomiya Line The Utsunomiya Line ( ja, 宇都宮線, ) is the name given to a 163.5 kilometer section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Tokyo Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company ...

, and Joban Line, allowing service to the northern suburbs of Tokyo. Since the East Yamanote Route will link directly Tokyo Station and the airport, accessibility to the airport is expected to be greatly improved. Travel times between Tokyo and Haneda are estimated to decrease from the current 28 minutes to 18 minutes.

West Yamanote Route

The West Yamanote Route connects the new line to Oimachi Station on the

, which operates as a

through service A through service is a concept of passenger transport that involves a vehicle travelling between lines, networks or operators on a regularly specified schedule, on which the passenger can remain on board without alighting. It may be in form of eith ...

with the

Saikyo Line Saikyo may refer to: *Saikyō Line, a Japanese railway line in the Tokyo metropolitan area *''Saikyō Maru'', a Japanese ship involved in the Battle of the Yalu River (1894) *Western Capital (disambiguation) Western Capital may refer to: China ...

connecting to major terminal stations on the west side of the

including

, Ebisu,

Shibuya Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

, and

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second larges ...

, as well as points north in Tokyo and

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

. Travel time between Shinjuku and Haneda will be reduced from 43 minutes at present to 23 minutes.

Coastal Area Route

The Coastal Area Route connects Tokyo Freight Terminal to the Rinkai Line for

Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built in this area for defensive purposes in the 1850s. Reclaimed land offshore Shinagawa was dramatically expanded durin ...

(

Tokyo Teleport Station is an underground railway station on the Rinkai Line in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (TWR). Lines Tokyo Teleport Station is served by the Rinkai Line from to . The station is situated between and st ...

) and the Tokyo waterfront. This also allows for future through service to the

Keiyo Line :''Keiyo may also refer to Keiyo, a district in Kenya, ''Keiyo Line'' a railway line in Japan or Elgeyo escarpment'' The Elgeyo (also known as Keiyo) are an ethnic group who are part of the larger Kalenjin ethnic group of Nilotic origin. They ...

for Maihama (

Tokyo Disney Resort The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is fully owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under a licence from The Walt Disney Company, who constru ...

) and points east in

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

. The travel time between Haneda and

Shin-Kiba Station is a railway station in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan, operated jointly by Tokyo Metro, East Japan Railway Company (JR East), and Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (TWR). Lines Shin-Kiba Station is served by the following lines: Station layout Each ...

on the Keiyo Line will decrease from 41 minutes to 20 minutes. This route is also planned to connect to the Tokyo Rinkai Subway Line, a new subway line under planning between Tokyo and Odaiba. Through service to the Tokyo Rinkai Subway Line as well as the

Tsukuba Express The , or TX, is a Japanese railway line operated by the third-sector company Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company, which links Akihabara Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and Tsukuba Station in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. The route was inaugurated on 24 Aug ...

(through a future Tokyo-Akihabara connector) is under consideration.

References

{{coord missing, Tokyo Airport rail links in Japan Proposed railway lines in Japan Haneda Airport Railway lines in Tokyo Lines of East Japan Railway Company