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Saikyō Line
埼京線 |
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205 series EMU near Ikebukuro bound for Shin-Kiba |
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| Overview | |||
| Type | Heavy rail | ||
| Locale | Tokyo, Saitama prefectures | ||
| Termini | Ōsaki Ōmiya |
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| Stations | 19 | ||
| Operation | |||
| Opened | 1985 | ||
| Operator(s) | JR East | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 36.9 km (22.9 mi) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
| Electrification | 1,500 V DC overhead catenary | ||
| Operating speed | 100 km/h (62 mph) | ||
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The Saikyō Line (埼京線 Saikyō-sen) is a railway line between Ōsaki Station in Shinagawa, Tokyo, and Ōmiya Station in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It is a part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network. The line's name is an abbreviation of the two areas the line connects: 埼玉 (Saitama) and 東京 (Tōkyō).
At the northern end of the line, some trains continue beyond Ōmiya as far as Kawagoe on the Kawagoe Line; at the southern end of the line, many Saikyō Line trains continue onward beyond Ōsaki to Shin-Kiba on the Rinkai Line (operated by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit).
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The line runs parallel to the Yamanote Line between Ōsaki and Ikebukuro, where it is formally called the Yamanote Freight Line (山手貨物線), and to the Tōhoku Main Line between Akabane and Ōmiya, where it is unofficially called the Tohoku Secondary Line (東北別線). The portion between Ikebukuro and Akabane is officially known as the Akabane Line (赤羽線). For most purposes, JR refers to all of these as part of the "Saikyō Line" when being used for Saikyō Line services.[1]
There are three types of trains on the Saikyō Line: local (普通), rapid (快速) and commuter rapid (通勤快速). Between Akabane and Ōmiya, rapid trains stop only at Toda-Kōen, Musashi-Urawa and Yonohommachi, while Commuter Rapid trains, which run during rush hours, stop only at Musashi-Urawa. South of Akabane, as well as on the Kawagoe and Rinkai lines, all trains make all scheduled station stops.
Before the Saikyō Line, there were several attempts to improve commuter rail service between Saitama and Tokyo. One of the earliest, the Tokyo-Ōmiya Electric Railway (東京大宮電気鉄道 Tōkyō-Ōmiya Denki Tetsudō), was founded in 1928 but went bankrupt shortly thereafter due to rising land values in the area. Later, in 1968, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Transportation proposed to run the new Toei Mita Line to central Ōmiya.
Development of the Saikyō Line began as a Japanese National Railways effort to quell unrest in Saitama regarding the expansion of the Tōhoku and Jōetsu shinkansen. During the mid-1970s, local protesters staged sit-ins, demonstrations, and administrative actions to impede the building of the new high-speed lines north of Tokyo. JNR reached a settlement with the activists under which it would build a commuter line to serve these local communities, while being allowed to continue extending the Shinkansen.
The new line, tentatively called the "New Commuter Line" (通勤新線 Tsūkin Shinsen), was built between Ōmiya and Akabane. Through service to Ikebukuro via the existing Akabane Line began on September 30, 1985. The line was initially troubled by inadequate train control systems which could not keep pace with its frequency of service; however, these issues were worked out during the first month of service.
When the Tōhoku Main Line portion of the Saikyō Line was being built, the stations from Kita-Akabane to Kita-Yono were designated with numbers from 1 to 10; Kita-Akabane Station was known as "New Commuter Line Station No. 1." However, even after names were assigned, passengers complained that each station looked just like the next due to their identical construction. As a result, JNR, in an unusual move, assigned colors to those stations so that they could be told apart from one another.
In March 1986, the Saikyō Line began through service to Shinjuku via the Yamanote Freight Line, which had seen less use by freight services since the opening of the Musashino Line in 1973. Service to Shibuya and Ebisu did not begin until 1996, when new platforms were completed to accommodate passenger service. Service to Ōsaki and the Rinkai Line began in 2001.
The Saikyō Line has had a particularly severe problem of overcrowding during peak periods, especially during weekday mornings. The opening of the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line in 2004 and the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line in 2008, both of which parallel the Saikyō Line for part of its route, alleviated some of the worst crowding. Problems resulting from overcrowding have included a higher incidence of groping, as well as delays in train schedule caused by longer time taken at each station to pick up and drop off passengers. The Saikyō Line was notorious for having the highest reported number of groping-related incidents (known as chikan incidents) in the Greater Tokyo area.[2] This problem was directly addressed by introducing women-only passenger cars during rush hours, and indirectly addressed by reducing overcrowding problems as a whole.
The equipment used on the Saikyō line consists of 10-car 205 series EMU trains owned by JR East and based at Kawagoe Depot and 10-car TWR 70-000 series EMU trains owned by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit.
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