Toden Arakawa Line

The line grew out of the network built by the Ōji Electric Tramway (王子電気軌道), also called Ōden (王電), a company that combined electricity supply with tram and bus operation. Founded on 19 April 1910, it opened its first tramway section, between Asukayama and Ōtsuka, on 20 August 1911. A second-stage line followed, and on 1 April 1913 the section from Minowa (today's Minowabashi) to Asukayama-shita (today's Kajiwara) opened, extending the tramway to about 7.3 kilometres; the Asukayama-shita–Sakaechō stretch opened later the same year, on 31 October 1913.

The Ōji–Asukayama section opened on 17 April 1915. On 12 November 1925 the Ōtsuka-ekimae–Kishibojinmae and Sakaechō–Ōji sections opened, and through running began between the Minowa–Ōji and Ōji–Ōtsuka-ekimae sections. The route towards Waseda was extended in stages: Kishibojinmae to Omokagebashi on 25 December 1928, Omokagebashi to a provisional Waseda terminus on 30 March 1930, and on to Waseda itself on 17 January 1932. On the line from Ōji-ekimae to Akabane, the Kamiyabashi–Akabane section had opened on 15 December 1927.

Controls on electricity and transport ended the Ōji Electric Tramway in 1942. The company was liquidated on 1 February that year, and its electric-lighting business was merged into Kantō Electric Distribution (関東配電) in the same year. The former Ōji lines later ran as Toden Route 27 (Minowabashi–Akabane) and Route 32 (Arakawa-shakomae–Waseda).

At its peak the Toden network ran forty routes, centred on Tokyo's twenty-three special wards. Faced with worsening road congestion in the 1960s, the cost of building the Toei subway, and pressure to cut loss-making public services, the metropolitan government began abolishing Toden lines from 1967. Under the first financial-reconstruction plan, the routes that make up today's Arakawa Line were themselves slated for closure — Route 27 in fiscal 1970 and Route 32 in fiscal 1971.

These routes were spared because roughly nine-tenths of their length ran on dedicated right-of-way rather than in the street, so they caused little traffic disruption, and because buses on the chronically congested parallel roads could not easily replace them; strong support from residents along the line reinforced the case for keeping it. By the time most Toden lines had been abolished, on 12 November 1972, only the Ōji-ekimae–Akabane portion of Route 27 had been cut, as it could be replaced by bus service. Permanent retention of the remaining section was decided in 1974, and on 1 October that year Routes 27 and 32 were merged into a single Minowabashi–Waseda service under the unified name "Arakawa Line".

One-man operation with single cars, the driver handling fares and announcements alone, was introduced from 1 October 1977 and extended to all trains the following April. On the formal register the route had long been recorded as four separate lines — the Mikawashima, Arakawa, Takinogawa and Waseda lines — and these were only consolidated under the single name "Arakawa Line" in the fiscal 1995 edition of the official Railway Directory. In 2017 the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation decided to give the line a nickname to raise ridership and revitalise the corridor; eight candidates were narrowed down by public vote, and on 28 April 2017 the choice of "Tokyo Sakura Tram" was announced. Station numbering with the route symbol SA was introduced from late November that year. The line carries fewer passengers today than it did in the 1970s. Its route passes sites such as Asukayama Park and the Arakawa amusement park.

30 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

• Arakawa-itchumae荒川一中前
• Arakawa-kuyakushomae荒川区役所前
• Arakawa-nanachome荒川七丁目
• Arakawa-nichome荒川二丁目
• Arakawa-shakomae荒川車庫前
• Arakawa-yuenchimae荒川遊園地前
• Asukayama飛鳥山
• Gakushuinshita学習院下
• Higashi-ikebukuro-yonchome東池袋四丁目
• Higashi-ogu-sanchome東尾久三丁目
• Kajiwara梶原
• Kishibojimmae鬼子母神前
• Koshinzuka庚申塚
• Kumanomae熊野前
• Machiya-ekimae町屋駅前
• Machiya-nichome町屋二丁目
• Minowabashi三ノ輪橋
• Miyanomae宮ノ前
• Mukohara向原
• Nishigahara-yonchome西ヶ原四丁目
• Odai (Tokyo)小台
• Oji-ekimae王子駅前
• Omokagebashi面影橋
• Otsuka-ekimae大塚駅前
• Sakaecho (Tokyo)栄町
• Shin-koshinzuka新庚申塚
• Sugamoshinden巣鴨新田
• Takinogawa-itchome滝野川一丁目
• Toden-zoshigaya都電雑司ヶ谷
• Waseda (Toei)早稲田

• 191019 April: the Ōji Electric Tramway company is founded.
• 191120 August: the Ōji Electric Tramway opens the line's first section, Asukayama–Ōtsuka.
• 19131 April: the Minowa (now Minowabashi)–Asukayama-shita (now Kajiwara) section opens, extending the line to about 7.3 km; Asukayama-shita–Sakaechō follows on 31 October.
• 191517 April: the Ōji–Asukayama section opens.
• 192512 November: the Ōtsuka-ekimae–Kishibojinmae and Sakaechō–Ōji sections open, and through running begins between the Minowa–Ōji and Ōji–Ōtsuka-ekimae sections.
• 192715 December: the Kamiyabashi–Akabane branch (later part of Route 27) opens.
• 192825 December: the Kishibojinmae–Omokagebashi section opens.
• 193030 March: the Omokagebashi–(provisional) Waseda section opens.
• 193217 January: the section from the provisional Waseda terminus to Waseda opens.
• 19421 February: under electricity and transport controls, the Ōji Electric Tramway company is liquidated.
• 19431 July: with the creation of the Tokyo Metropolis the network becomes the Tokyo Metropolitan tram (Toden).
• 1967The metropolitan government begins successively abolishing Toden tram lines amid 1960s road congestion and subway-construction costs.
• 197212 November: by this date most Toden lines have been abolished; of the routes that form today's line, only the Ōji-ekimae–Akabane portion of Route 27 has been cut, as it can be replaced by bus.
• 19741 October: permanent retention having been decided, Routes 27 and 32 are merged into a single Minowabashi–Waseda service and the unified name "Arakawa Line" is established.
• 19771 October: single-car one-man operation begins, extended to all trains from 1 April 1978.
• 201728 April: the line is given the nickname "Tokyo Sakura Tram"; station numbering with route symbol SA follows from late November.