The is a proposed

subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Intercontin ...

line that would run between and , ultimately extending to . The whole line will lie within the city of Kawasaki 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. Kanag ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. It would link the eastern and western parts of southern Kawasaki that are otherwise not well served by rail transport. The

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

line is planned by the city government of Kawasaki, therefore the operator would be Kawasaki City Transportation Bureau, which previously ran a city tram, busway, and currently operates extensive bus services. The project is commonly known as the .

History

A plan for a subway through Kawasaki was first devised in the 1960s. In 1966, the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) planned to construct a subway line between and stations. In 1985, the ministry changed the plan to use the existing Musashino South Line right-of-way, converting it from a freight-only to passenger-only operations. However the operator of the line,

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 pre ...

, was not favorable to the plan due to the line's importance for transporting freight, especially since the passenger-only

Nambu Line The Nambu Line ( ja, 南武線,) is a Japanese railway line which connects Tachikawa Station in Tachikawa, Tokyo and Kawasaki Station in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. For most of its length, it parallels the Tama River, the natural border between Tokyo an ...

was already operating nearby. The plan was therefore put on hold. In 2001, the ministry announced plans to build the line between Shin-Yurigaoka and Kawasaki stations, erasing the eastern segment to Sangyō-Dōro present in the 1966 plan. Instead, the line would have connecting service onto the

Keikyū (), also known as or, more recently, , is a private railroad that connects inner Tokyo to Kawasaki, Yokohama, Yokosuka and other points on the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture. It also provides rail access to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. mea ...

Daishi Line. The Kawasaki city government then divided the 2001 plan into two segments: the segment between Shin-Yurigaoka and to be built first, and the segment between Motosumiyoshi and Kawasaki to be extended later. However, in 2003, due to the weak Japanese economy, the city government postponed the subway's construction for five years. In 2005, they changed the path of the line to go through Musashi-Kosugi rather than Motosumiyoshi, to improve the line's revenue potential. The current funding has been shelved, and as of 2013 there are no concrete plans to proceed.

2005 plan

Basic data

*Distance: (Shin-Yurigaoka – Musashi-Kosugi) *Stations: 11 *Gauge: *Tracks: Entire line double-tracked *

Electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histo ...

: 1500 V DC

Stations

* All stations are located in Kawasaki. * The ''Express Service'' stops at stations marked "●", skips those marked ", ". All other services stop at every station.

References

* Aihara, Kenta
A study of the Kawasaki Longitudinal Rapid Railway
.

External links

Kawasaki City Transportation Bureau
{{Metro systems in Japan Rail transport in Kanagawa Prefecture Proposed railway lines in Japan