Saikyō Line

     Saikyō Line

Saikyō Line E233 series EMU set 101 approaching Yonohommachi Station, July 2013
Overview
Native name 埼京線
Type Commuter rail
Locale Tokyo, Saitama prefectures
Termini Ōsaki
Ōmiya
Stations 19
Operation
Opening 1985
Owner JR East
Depot(s) Kawagoe (Minami-Furuya)
Rolling stock 205 series, E233-7000 series, TWR 70-000 series EMUs
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 (60 mph)
Route map

The Saikyō Line (埼京線 Saikyō-sen) is a Japanese railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Ōsaki Station in Shinagawa, Tokyo, and Ōmiya Station in Saitama Prefecture. The line's name is an abbreviation of the two areas the line connects: Saitama (埼玉) and Tōkyō (東京).

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). Beside the link that connects the Saikyō and Rinkai lines is the JR East Tokyo General Rolling Stock Centre that stores the rolling stock for the Yamanote Line and other types of rolling stock.

Basic data

Saikyo Line stations

Route

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 as an alternate route to the Tōhoku Main Line between Akabane and Ōmiya, where it is unofficially called the Tohoku Honsen Secondary Line (東北本線支線). 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]

Service

There are three types of trains on the Saikyō Line: all-stations "Local" (各駅停車 Kakueki-Teisha), "Rapid" (快速 kaisoku), and "Commuter Rapid" (通勤快速 tsūkin kaisoku). 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. Between Akabane and Ikebukuro, as well as on the Kawagoe and Rinkai lines, all trains stop at all stations. Between Ikebukuro and Osaki on the Yamanote Freight Line, all trains run limited-stop in both directions, with the Yamanote Line providing all-stations service.[2]

Station list

Line
name		 Color Station Japanese Distance (km) Rapid Comm.
Rapid		 Transfers Location
Between
stations		 Total
  Through service to Shin-Kiba via the Rinkai Line
Yamanote Line   Ōsaki 大崎 - from
Shinagawa
2.0		 from
Ōsaki
0.0		 ● ● Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Yamanote Line
Rinkai Line (through service)		 Shinagawa Tokyo
  Ebisu 恵比寿 3.6 5.6 3.6 ● ● Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Yamanote Line
Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-02)		 Shibuya
  Shibuya 渋谷 1.6 7.2 5.2 ● ● Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Yamanote Line
Keiō Inokashira Line
Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line, Tōkyū Tōyoko Line
Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (G-01), Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line (N-01), Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line (F-16)
  Shinjuku 新宿 3.4 10.6 8.6 ● ● Chūō Line (Rapid), Chūō-Sōbu Line, Yamanote Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line
Keiō Line, Keiō New Line
Odakyū Odawara Line
Seibu Shinjuku Line (Seibu-Shinjuku)
Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-08)
Toei Shinjuku Line (S-01), Toei Ōedo Line (E-27, Shinjuku-Nishiguchi: E-01)
Shinjuku
  Ikebukuro 池袋 4.8 15.4 13.4 ● ● Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Yamanote Line
Seibu Ikebukuro Line
Tōbu Tōjō Line
Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-25), Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line (Y-09), Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line (F-09)		 Toshima
Akabane Line from
Ikebukuro
0.0
  Itabashi 板橋 1.8 1.8 15.2 ● ● Toei Mita Line (Shin-Itabashi: I-17)
Tōbu Tōjō Line (Shimo-Itabashi)		 Itabashi
  Jūjō 十条 1.7 3.5 16.9 ● ●   Kita
  Akabane 赤羽 2.0 5.5 18.9 ● ● Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line), Takasaki Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line
Tōhoku Main Line (branch) from
Akabane
0.0
  Kita-Akabane 北赤羽 1.5 1.5 20.4 ｜ ｜  
  Ukima-Funado 浮間舟渡 1.6 3.1 22.0 ｜ ｜  
  Toda-Kōen 戸田公園 2.4 5.5 24.4 ● ｜   Toda Saitama
  Toda 戸田 1.3 6.8 25.7 ｜ ｜  
  Kita-Toda 北戸田 1.4 8.2 27.1 ｜ ｜  
  Musashi-Urawa 武蔵浦和 2.4 10.6 29.5 ● ● Musashino Line Minami-ku, Saitama
  Naka-Urawa 中浦和 1.2 11.8 30.7 ｜ ｜  
  Minami-Yono 南与野 1.7 13.5 32.4 ｜ ｜   Chūō-ku, Saitama
  Yonohommachi 与野本町 1.6 15.1 34.0 ● ｜  
  Kita-Yono 北与野 1.1 16.2 35.1 ｜ ｜  
  Ōmiya 大宮 1.8 18.0 36.9 ● ● Kawagoe Line (some through services), Tohoku Shinkansen, Yamagata Shinkansen, Akita Shinkansen, Joetsu Shinkansen, Hokuriku Shinkansen, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Tohoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line), Takasaki Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line
Tobu Noda Line
New Shuttle		 Ōmiya-ku, Saitama
  Through service to Kawagoe on the Kawagoe Line

Rolling stock

The equipment used on the Saikyō Line consists of 10-car 205 series electric multiple unit (EMU) trains owned by JR East and based at Kawagoe Depot[3] and 10-car TWR 70-000 series EMU trains owned by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit and based at Yashio Depot.

The first of a fleet of 31 new 10-car E233-7000 series sets were introduced on Saikyō Line, Kawagoe Line, and Rinkai Line services between Kawagoe and Shin-Kiba from 30 June 2013, displacing the fleet of 205 series EMUs.[4][5] As of February 2015, 205 series set 28 remains in service while the E233-7000 series fleet undergoes modifications.[6]

Before the establishment of the Saikyo Line, rolling stock used on the Akabane Line included:

History

The Akabane line opened on 1 March 1885 as a segment of the Nippon Railway Shinagawa Line. The company was nationalized in 1906. Electric services on the line began in 1909. From 1972 to 1985, the line was the known as the Akabane Line after being a branch of Yamanote Line.

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 Akabane Line name disappeared from daily use from this time. The Saikyo 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.

Saikyo Line and Tohoku Shinkansen

On 3 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.[2] Freight services on the former Akabane Line ended in 1999. Services southward to Shibuya and Ebisu did not begin until 16 March 1996, when new platforms were completed to accommodate passenger service.[2] Through services to Ōsaki and the Rinkai Line began on 1 December 2002.[2]

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.[7] This problem was directly addressed by introducing women-only passenger cars during rush hours, and indirectly addressed by reducing overcrowding problems as a whole.

References

  1. ↑ JR Timetable, December 2008 issue
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 首都圏鉄道完全ガイド　主要JR路線編 [Tokyo Area Complete Railway Guide - Major JR Lines]. Japan: Futabasha. 6 December 2013. p. 75-86. ISBN 978-4-575-45414-7.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 JR電車編成表 2012冬 [JR EMU Formations - Winter 2012]. Japan: JRR. October 2011. p. 66. ISBN 978-4-330-25611-5.
  4. ↑ 秋田新幹線用車両と埼京線・横浜線用車両の新造について [Akita Shinkansen, Saikyo Line, and Yokohama Line new train details] (PDF) (in Japanese). JR East. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  5. ↑ 新型車両で快適に　埼京・川越線、３０日から導入 [Comfortable new trains to be introduced on Saikyo/Kawagoe Line from 30th] (in Japanese). Japan: The Saitama Shimbun. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  6. ↑ JR通勤電車 最新事情 [Latest Situation of JR Commuter Trains]. Japan Railfan Magazine (in Japanese) (Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd.) 55 (648): p.16. April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Worst for Chikan in Tokyo is Saikyo Line" Yomiuri Shimbun, 2005-02-08, retrieved 2006-06-19

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