is a third-sector railway company 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 t ...

, Japan. It operates Japan's shortest independent railway line,地域振興
Narita Airport Authority the 2.2 km Shibayama Railway Line between Higashi-Narita Station and

Shibayama-Chiyoda Station is a passenger railway station in the town of Shibayama, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Shibayama Railway. It is situated on the eastern boundary of Narita International Airport. Lines Shibayama-Chiyoda St ...

, largely underneath

Narita International Airport Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airpo ...

. Narita International Airport Corporation owns a 68.39% majority stake in Shibayama Railway as of July 2009. The remainder is owned by Keisei Electric Railway,

Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...

, the prefectural government, and others.

Stations and operation

Although the Shibayama Railway is an independent operator, it functionally resembles an extension of the Keisei Electric Railway; the line is operated using equipment and crews leased from Keisei, and Shibayama-Chiyoda Station is designed to resemble a Keisei station. Most Shibayama Railway trains provide local service to Keisei Narita Station past Higashi-Narita; a few local trains run through to

Keisei Ueno Station is a railway station in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Keisei Electric Railway. It is the terminus of the Keisei Main Line and is a short distance from JR Ueno Station. Layout The station is underground beneath ...

, and express trains operate during rush hours through the Keisei Line and

Toei Asakusa Line The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo subway operator Toei Subway. The line runs between in Ōta and in Sumida. The line is named after the Asakusa district, a cultural center of Tokyo, under which it passes. The Asa ...

to terminate at Nishi-Magome Station, or at

Haneda Airport Station , 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 ...

on the Keikyū Airport Line.Timetable
/ref> The 92.8 km Haneda run goes through tracks of 6 different rail lines and requires coordination among 4 operators, namely, Shibayama, Keisei Main, Keisei Oshiage, Toei Asakusa, Keikyū Main, and finally Keikyū Airport Line. The adult fare between Higashi-Narita and Shibayama-Chiyoda is 190 yen.

History

Shibayama Railway was founded on May 5, 1981, and received an operating permit on June 24, 1988 to use dedicated small train sets between the current Shibayama-Chiyoda Station site and a temporary station adjacent to Higashi-Narita Station.会社概要
Shibayama Railway In 1990, the railway applied for a permit to operate through service with the Keisei Railway from Keisei Narita Station; construction of a through link was approved in 1996, and the line opened for operation on October 22, 2002. The construction of the railway was strongly demanded by Shibayama residents, and was supported by the Transport Ministry and Narita Airport Authority in order to appease residents of the area immediately east of

, as the airport property cut off Shibayaman's access to Narita City and points west. There are some proposals to extend the line beyond Shibayama-Chiyoda in the future. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has recommended studying an extension into central Shibayama Town.首都圏整備計画
MLIT, September 2006

Location

References

External links

Company website (in Japanese)
{{authority control Railway lines in Japan Railway companies of Japan Airport rail links in Japan Standard gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 2002 Companies based in Chiba Prefecture 2002 establishments in Japan Keisei Electric Railway Japanese third-sector railway lines ko:시바야마 철도 시바야마 철도선