Yokohama Line (横浜線): History & Facts

History

The line began on 23 September 1908 as a private railway, the Yokohama Railway (Yokohama Tetsudō). Its founding purpose was freight: to carry raw silk produced around Hachiōji and the Kōshin region down to the Port of Yokohama. At opening the route ran from Higashi-Kanagawa to Hachiōji and was measured at 26.4 miles; when distance posting changed from miles to metric in 1930, the figure was restated as 42.6 km. The Railway Agency leased the line on 1 April 1910, and it was nationalised on 1 October 1917, becoming the government's Yokohama Line. In its early decades the line was also used for trials: a standard-gauge conversion trial was run on the Haramachida (now Machida)–Hashimoto section in 1917, and electrification trials were carried out here, partly as preparation for electrifying the Tōkaidō Main Line.

Electric-train operation came in stages. On 1 October 1932 electric trains began running between Higashi-Kanagawa and Haramachida, and through service to Sakuragichō began at the same time. The Haramachida–Hachiōji section was electrified in April 1941, completing electrification of the whole line, and Sagamihara Station opened the same month. The Japan National Railways (JNR) era opened on 1 June 1949, and the line became the JNR Yokohama Line.

When the Tōkaidō Shinkansen opened on 1 October 1964, Shin-Yokohama Station was created at the point where the new high-speed line crossed the Yokohama Line, and the Yokohama Line also came to serve as a feeder linking the Yokohama area to the Shinkansen. From the late 1960s, suburban development along the route and the opening of universities drove ridership up. To add capacity, double-tracking work proceeded in stages from 1967; the Higashi-Kanagawa to Kozukue section was double-tracked by 1968 and the work was extended to Aihara by 1980. Full double-tracking of the entire line was completed on 6 March 1988, with the final Aihara–Hachiōji section. Although a suburban route, the Yokohama Line was already one of the few profitable lines in the JNR era, because its many junctions with Tokyo's radial railways drew large numbers of short-distance transfer passengers.

A JR East E233-6000 series set H017 on a local service entering Aihara Station on the Yokohama Line.MaedaAkihiko · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Following the 1 April 1987 division and privatisation of JNR, operations passed to JR East; Japan Freight Railway (JR Freight) became the second-type operator over the Nagatsuta–Hachiōji section, while freight operation on the Higashi-Kanagawa–Nagatsuta section was discontinued. Rapid (Kaisoku) service was introduced on 13 March 1988, and its daytime frequency was increased in December 1994. Through service from the Sagami Line began on 16 March 1991 when that line was fully electrified — an effective revival of an earlier connection — and ran until 11 March 2022; it ended with the timetable revision of 12 March 2022.

The 72 series gave way to the 103 series, which operated from 2 October 1972 until it ended revenue service on 26 February 1989. The 205 series, introduced in 1988, ran its final Yokohama Line service on 23 August 2014; to relieve congestion, its 8-car sets included a six-door car (the second car from the Higashi-Kanagawa end), allowing faster boarding and alighting at peak times. Since 16 February 2014, the line's local and rapid services have been operated by E233-6000 series 8-car EMUs. Station numbering was introduced on 20 August 2016, assigning station numbers JH13 through JH32, which increase westbound toward Hachiōji. JR East groups the Yokohama Line, together with the parallel Nambu Line and the Musashino and Keiyō lines, as part of what it calls the "Tokyo Mega Loop" of orbital routes around Tokyo, a designation set out in its "Group Management Vision 2020," announced on 31 March 2008. Today only roughly half of the line's trains run through to Yokohama Station via the Keihin–Tōhoku Line, most of those terminating at Sakuragichō via the Negishi Line; Rapid trains run about every 20 minutes during the daytime.

Stations on this line

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

Timeline

190823 September: the line opens between Higashi-Kanagawa and Hachiōji (26.4 miles, restated as 42.6 km after the 1930 metric conversion), built by the private Yokohama Railway to carry raw silk from Hachiōji and the Kōshin region to the Port of Yokohama.
19101 April: the Railway Agency leases the line.
19171 October: the line is nationalised and becomes the government's Yokohama Line. (A standard-gauge conversion trial was run on the Haramachida–Hashimoto section earlier in 1917.)
1930Distance posting changes from miles to metric; the Higashi-Kanagawa–Hachiōji length is restated as 42.6 km.
19321 October: electric trains begin running on the Higashi-Kanagawa–Haramachida (now Machida) section, and through service to Sakuragichō begins.
1941April: the Haramachida–Hachiōji section is electrified, completing electrification of the whole line; Sagamihara Station opens.
19491 June: Japan National Railways (JNR) is founded; the line becomes the JNR Yokohama Line.
19641 October: the Tōkaidō Shinkansen opens and Shin-Yokohama Station is created where it crosses the Yokohama Line, which becomes a Shinkansen feeder.
1968The Higashi-Kanagawa–Kozukue section is double-tracked (double-tracking proceeded in stages from 1967).
19722 October: the 103 series enters service on the line.
19871 April: JNR is privatised; operations pass to JR East, and JR Freight becomes the second-type operator over the Nagatsuta–Hachiōji section.
19886 March: the Aihara–Hachiōji section is double-tracked, completing full double-tracking of the line. 13 March: Rapid service begins. 22 September: the 205 series enters service.
198926 February: the 103 series ends revenue service on the line.
199116 March: through service from the Sagami Line begins after that line is fully electrified.
1994December: daytime Rapid frequency is increased.
200831 March: JR East's 'Group Management Vision 2020' designates the Yokohama Line part of the 'Tokyo Mega Loop' of orbital routes around Tokyo.
201416 February: E233-6000 series 8-car EMUs enter revenue service. 23 August: the 205 series runs its final service on the line.
201620 August: station numbering is introduced, assigning JH13 to JH32, increasing westbound toward Hachiōji.
2022Through service with the Sagami Line (Hashimoto–Hachiōji) ends: the last through trains run on 11 March, and the service is discontinued in the 12 March timetable revision.