The Negishi Line ( ja, 根岸線, ) is a Japanese railway line which connects
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 ...
and
Ōfuna stations. It is operated 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 are ...
(JR East). Freight trains also operate on this line, and it is essential for the southern
Keihin region
The consists of the Japanese cities Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama. The term is mostly used to describe these cities as one industrial region.
''Keihin'' is derived from the second character of Tōkyō, , which can be read ''kyō'' or ''kei'', ...
.
The Negishi Line does not exist as an independent service. Nearly all passenger trains are operated through onto the
Keihin-Tōhoku Line past Yokohama to , , and ; 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).
A few trains travel through to via the
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 ...
.
Basic data
*Double-tracking: Entire line
*
Railway signalling
Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...
:
**Yokohama – Ōfuna (Passenger services):
Automatic Train Control
Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver do ...
,
D-ATC
**Sakuragichō – Ōfuna (Freight services):
Automatic Signaling Block,
ATS-P
Automatic train stop or ATS is a system on a train that automatically stops a train if certain situations occur (unresponsive train operator, earthquake, disconnected rail, train running over a stop signal, etc.) to prevent accidents. In some scena ...
Services
During the daytime, trains operate every 3 minutes between Yokohama and Sakuragichō stations (including
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 ...
trains). Between Sakuragichō and Isogo, trains operate every 5 minutes, and Isogo and Ōfuna every 10 minutes.
The ''
Hamakaiji'' limited express service also operates on the Negishi Line.
Freight services
Freight trains are a common sight on the Negishi Line. The following rail companies either link up to or use the Negishi Line for the purpose of transporting freight.
* Takashima Freight Line( ja,
高島貨物線, links=no) ()
*
Kanagawa Rinkai Railway ()
*
Tōkaidō Freight Line
The is a railway line that links Odawara Station in Kanagawa Prefecture and Hamamatsuchō Station in central Tōkyō, Japan.
Summary
The Tōkaidō Freight Line was first opened on 20 December 1914 between Shiodome Freight Terminal and Shinagawa ...
()
Station list
* All stations are located in
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...
.
* All trains stop at every station (excluding some seasonal trains).
History
The oldest station on the line is , which was opened by the
Japanese Government Railways
The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) was the national railway system directly operated by the Japanese Ministry of Railways ( ja, 鉄道省, Tetsudō-shō, ) until 1949. It was a predecessor of Japanese National Railways and the later Japan Rai ...
on June 12, 1872
[July 5 according to the calendar that Japan used at the time] as the first railway terminal in Yokohama of the first railway line in Japan. The line was extended to on July 11, 1887; trains had to reverse direction at Yokohama via a
switchback to continue their journey. This was alleviated by a bypass line between and which opened on August 1, 1898. The branch was named the Tōkaidō Main Line Branch Line on October 12, 1909.
Takashimachō Station opened between Kanagawa and Yokohama on December 20, 1914 as the terminus of an electrified Keihin Line (the predecessor of today's Keihin-Tōhoku Line). On August 15, 1915, a new
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 ...
opened, absorbing nearby Takashimachō and becoming the new terminus of the line. The old Yokohama station was renamed and the Sakuragichō – Hodogaya bypass closed. Keihin Line service was extended to Sakuragichō on December 30, 1915 when freight service ceased on the branch.
The line was planned to be extended to Ōfuna, and in 1920 the Government Railways decided that the extension route would be parallel to the Ōoka River and then turn to Hodogaya. From Hodogaya to Ōfuna, additional tracks would be added to the existing Tōkaidō Main Line. However, this plan was scrapped after the
Great Kantō earthquake
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
of 1923. Later, the planned extension was revived with a completely different route: "The railway from Sakuragichō in Kanagawa Prefecture to " was added to the list of railways to be built in the Railway Construction Act on March 31, 1937.
This provision was the basis for the construction of the present-day Negishi Line.
Yokohama Station moved on October 15, 1928; between then and January 26, 1930, temporary platforms for the Keihin Line were provided on either side of the station.
On May 19, 1964, the line was extended to . The line was renamed the Negishi Line after one of the new stations. The Takashima freight line opened on June 1 that year and freight service returned to the line after a nearly 50-year absence.
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 ...
trains were introduced to the line in October 1965.
The line was extended from Isogo to on March 17, 1970. The final section between Yōkōdai and opened on April 9, 1973; On October 1 that year, freight service commenced between Ōfuna and Isogo.
Freight services between Ōfuna and Isogo ceased on February 1, 1984; three days prior to this, the line adopted
Automatic Train Control
Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver do ...
. On April 1, 1987 the
Japanese National Railways
The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987.
Network Railways
As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...
were privatized, with ownership of the Negishi Line passing to JR East; JR Freight took over freight services on the line.
Some trains began operating through onto the
Yokosuka Line
The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km segment between and ...
on March 15, 2008.
Accidents
The
Sakuragichō train fire occurred on April 24, 1951.
On May 20, 1970 a 103 series train derailed between and Yōkōdai, injuring two people.
Rolling Stock
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
(used on Yokohama Line inter-running services)
Footnotes
References
External links
Stations of the Keihintohoku Line&the Negishi Line(JR East)
{{East Japan Railway Company Lines
Lines of East Japan Railway Company
Railway lines in Kanagawa Prefecture
1067 mm gauge railways in Japan
Railway lines opened in 1872