The is a railway line in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

, Japan, operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

(JR East). It approximately parallels the east bank of the

Sagami River The is a river in Kanagawa and Yamanashi Prefectures on the island of Honshū, Japan. The upper reaches of the river in Yamanashi prefecture are also sometimes known as the , and the portion near the river mouth as the . The river overall was ...

. The line connects Hashimoto Station in Sagamihara and

Chigasaki Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Chigasaki Station is served by the Tōkaidō Main Line and the Shōnan-Shinj ...

Chigasaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 242,798 and a population density of 6800 people per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography The city is located on the eastern ban ...

Services

All services on the line are operated as local trains. Between March 1991 and 11 March 2022, some trains operated through services onto the Yokohama Line beyond Hashimoto and made four additional stops, terminating at Hachiōji Station.

Rolling stock

* E131-500 series four-car EMUs (from 18 November 2021) Former Rolling Stock: * KiHa 4 DMU * KiHa 10 DMU (until 1980) * KiHa 20 DMU (1958–1982) * KiHa 26-400 (under KiHa 55 family) * KiHa 30 * KiHa 35 (1986–1991) * KiHa 36 * 205-500 series four-car EMUs (from 1991—2022) The Sagami Line formerly operated a series of Diesel Multiple Unit passenger trains before electrification. The 205-500 series four-car EMUs were introduced in 1991 after the line was electrified. New E131-500 series EMUs replaced the older 205 series EMUs starting from Fall 2021. File:Series-E131-500 G02.jpg, Sagami Line E131-500 series EMU, November 2021 File:Series-205-500 R10.jpg, Sagami Line 205-500 series EMU, November 2021

Stations

* All stations located in

. * All trains stop at every station. * Stations marked "o", "v", or "^" allow passing; stations marked"｜" do not.

History

The Chigasaki to Samukawa section was opened by the Sagami Railway (Sōtetsu) in 1921, primarily to haul gravel. The line was extended to Atsugi in 1926, and to Hashimoto in 1931. The line was nationalized in 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; the private Sagami Railway began operating the then , now the

Sagami Railway Main Line Sagami may refer to: * Sagami, an 11th-century ''waka'' poet *Sagami Province, an old province in Japan *Sagami River, a river in Kanagawa and Yamanashi *Sagami Bay, a bay south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū *Sagami Line The is a railwa ...

. A short branch to Nishi-Samukawa Station from Samukawa Station was closed in 1984, and freight services ceased in 1998. After privatization of

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 ...

(JNR) in 1987, the line was electrified in 1991. Before the JNR privatization, there were discussions to transfer the line to the Sagami Railway in order meet the expected demands of passenger traffic in the Tokyo and Yokohama suburbs. Because it had long been left as a non-electrified rural line, the cost to upgrade the line was beyond the ability of then financially constrained JNR; Sagami Railway, on the other hand, was running a profitable operation on its own line. However, the two companies did not agree on a deal, and plans to transfer the line were cancelled. Upon electrification, through services to the Yokohama Line began, using the new 205-500 series EMUs. The through service operation ended on 11 March 2022.

References

External links