The is a railway line in Japan which connects the cities of Saitama, Kawaguchi,

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 37.468 ...

, Kawasaki, and

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. It is part of the

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 are ...

(JR East) network. The line's name is derived from the characters for Tokyo ( ja, 東京, links=no), Yokohama ( ja, 横浜, links=no) and the

Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line ( ja, 東北本線, ) is a long railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Utsunomiya, Fukush ...

( ja, 東北本線, links=no). The Keihin-Tōhoku Line officially follows portions of the Tōhoku Main Line and

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...

. Between

Ueno is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of Na ...

and Akabane stations the Keihin–Tohoku and Tohoku Main lines are physically separate and thus alternate routes. Most Keihin–Tōhoku Line trains have a through service onto the

Negishi Line The Negishi Line ( ja, 根岸線, ) is a Japanese railway line which connects Yokohama and Ōfuna stations. It is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Freight trains also operate on this line, and it is essential for the southern K ...

between Yokohama and Ōfuna stations. As a result, the entire service between Ōmiya and Ōfuna is typically referred to as the Keihin-Tōhoku—Negishi Line ( ja, 京浜東北線・根岸線, links=no) on system maps and in-train station guides. Keihin-Tōhoku Line—Negishi Line trains are recognizable by their light blue stripe (the line's color on maps is also light blue).

Service outline

Trains run every 2–3 minutes at peak hours, every 5 minutes during the daytime, and less frequently the rest of the time. In general, these trains are classified as , stopping at all stations en route. However, all trains in the daytime (10:30-15:30) are classified as . Those rapid trains running on the

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 ...

stop at all stations. In order to do that, these rapid trains skip some stations in central Tokyo, where it runs parallel to the Yamanote Line.

Station list

* Local trains stop at all stations. Rapid trains stop at stations marked "●" and "■" on weekdays. (Stations marked "■" allow cross-platform transfers to the Yamanote Line). Additionally, stations marked "▲" are served by rapid trains on weekends and national holidays only.

Keihin–Tōhoku Line

Rolling stock

As of January 2010, all Keihin-Tohoku Line services are formed of

E233-1000 series The is a commuter and suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type developed by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) from the earlier E231 series and the E531 series design. The first train was introduced in December 2006 for use on the C ...

10-car

electrical multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

(EMU) trains. These were phased in from December 2007, and replaced the previous 209 series 10-car EMUs by 24 January 2010. All Keihin-Tohoku Line rolling stock is based at Urawa Depot.

Yokohama Line The Yokohama Line ( ja, 横浜線, ) is a Japanese railway line of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) connecting Higashi-Kanagawa Station in Yokohama, Kanagawa and Hachiōji Station in Hachiōji, Tokyo. The line forms part of what JR Ea ...

E233-6000 series The is a commuter and suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type developed by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) from the earlier E231 series and the E531 series design. The first train was introduced in December 2006 for use on the C ...

8-car EMUs also operate on through services over the Keihin-Tohoku Line between Higashi-Kanagawa and Ofuna stations.

Keihin–Tohoku Line & Negishi Line services

10-car EMUs (sky blue stripe) (from December 2007)

Yokohama Line through services

8-car EMUs (light/dark green stripe) (from February 2014) File:Series-E233-6000-H002.jpg, A Yokohama Line E233-6000 series EMU

Rolling stock used in the past

72 series The trains were DC electric commuter trains operated by Japanese National Railways (JNR), and served as the basis for the 101 series. The 72 series included the main production batch of 490 vehicles as well as 667 former 63 series cars convert ...

8-car EMUs (brown livery) (until October 1970) *

101 series 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

10-car EMUs (sky blue livery) (from December 1970 until March 1978) *

103 series 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

10-car EMUs (sky blue livery) (from October 1965 until March 1998) *

205 series 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

10-car EMU (sky blue stripe) (from October 1989 until February 1996) *

8-car EMUs (light/dark green stripe, on Yokohama Line through services until August 2014) * 209-900 series 10-car EMUs (sky blue stripe) (from May 1992 until August 2007) * 209-0 series 10-car EMUs (sky blue stripe) (from March 1993 until January 2010) * 209-500 series 10-car EMUs (sky blue stripe) (from January 2001 until 2009) File:Type103-sayonara.jpg, A Keihin-Tohoku Line 103 series EMU in March 1998 File:Keihin-Tohoku 205 Nishi-Nippori 199202.jpg, A Keihin-Tohoku Line 205 series EMU in February 1992 File:JR205-yokohama-line.JPG, A Yokohama Line 205 series EMU File:JR East 901 Tc 900-3.jpg, A Keihin-Tohoku Line 901 series (later 209-900 series) EMU in March 1993 File:JR East 209 series EMU 021.JPG, A Keihin-Tohoku Line 209 series EMU, March 2009 File:JRE 209-500 Ura80.jpg, A Keihin-Tohoku Line 209-500 series EMU in November 2008

Timeline

History

The line opened on 20 December 1914 as an electrified passenger line connecting

Shinagawa Station is a major railway station in the Takanawa and Konan districts of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and the private railway operator Keikyu. The Tokaido Shinkan ...

in Tokyo with Takashimacho Station in

. (The latter station was renamed

Yokohama Station is a major interchange railway station in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It is the busiest station in Kanagawa Prefecture and the fifth-busiest in the world as of 2013, serving 760 million passengers a year. Lines Yokohama Station is served by the ...

in August 1915, when the former Yokohama Station was renamed Sakuragicho Station). It was originally called the Tokaido Electric Line( ja, 東海道電車線, links=no) and was subsequently renamed to the Keihin Line( ja, 京浜線, links=no). From 30 December 1915, services were extended south to the new Sakuragicho Station. The Keihin Line service was extended north via the Tohoku Main Line to

Akabane Station is a railway station in Kita, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Akabane Station is served by the following lines. * Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) * Takasaki Line * Keihin-Tōhoku Line * Sh� ...

in February 1928, and to Ōmiya Station in September 1932. The Keihin Line initially had third-class and second-class cars, analogous to today's ordinary cars and Green Cars respectively. Second-class service ended in 1938 in order to accommodate special military cars during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The military seating was converted to seating for women and children after the war, and back to ordinary seating in 1973 amid overcrowding concerns: second-class service was briefly restored in the 1950s but abandoned shortly thereafter. Rush hour at Ueno 01

From November 1956, the Keihin-Tohoku Line was physically separated from the

between Tamachi and Tabata, allowing more frequent service. Through service with the Negishi Line began on 19 May 1964. 10-car trains (103 series) began operating from 1 April 1966. Limited-stop "Rapid" services were introduced in 1988 to further ease congestion along the Yamanote Line corridor. From 14 March 2015, all rapid services began serving Kanda Station. Additionally, rapid services began serving

Okachimachi Station is a railway station in Taito, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Okachimachi Station is served by the circular Yamanote Line and also the Keihin-Tohoku Line. Although not physically connected, on the Tokyo ...

on weekends and national holidays only. A new station, the

Takanawa Gateway Station is a railway station in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The station is operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The station is also accessible by the Toei Asakusa Line and the Keikyu Line via the nearby Sengakuji Station. Naming During the ...

, opened on 14 March 2020, in time for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

to be held in Tokyo. The station is located on the

and Keihin-Tohoku Line between and stations. The distance between Shinagawa and Tamachi stations was 2.2 km. Takanawa Gateway was constructed on top of the 20-hectare former railyard, which is undergoing rationalization and redevelopment by JR East. The Yamanote Line and the Keihin Tohoku Line tracks were moved slightly to the east to be aligned closer to the

Tokaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...

tracks. The area on the west side of the yard made available will be redeveloped with high-rise office buildings, creating an international business center with good connections to the Shinkansen and Haneda Airport.

Accidents

At around 01:11 in the morning of 23 February 2014, an empty stock train operating from Sakuragicho to Kamata hit a track maintenance vehicle on the track close to

Kawasaki Station Kawasaki station may refer to: * Kawasaki-juku ( ja, 川崎宿, Kawasaki-shuku, Kawasaki lodging), a Tōkaidō waystation in Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan * Kawasaki Station ( ja, 川崎駅, Kawasaki-eki, Kawasaki Station, a train station ...

. The first two cars of the 10-car E233 series train derailed, with the first car ending up on its side. The train was carrying no passengers, and the driver and conductor escaped with minor injuries.

References

External links

Stations of the Keihin-Tōhoku Line
(JR East)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keihin-Tohoku Line Lines of East Japan Railway Company Railway lines in Tokyo Rail transport in Saitama Prefecture Railway lines in Kanagawa Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1914 1914 establishments in Japan