Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line

Tōkyū 5000 series trainset

View from Futako-Tamagawa Station

The Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line (東急田園都市線, Tōkyū Den'entoshi-sen^?) is a major commuter train service connecting Shibuya, Tokyo to Yamato, Kanagawa. The service is operated by the private Tokyu Corporation. The end stations are Chūō-Rinkan to the West and Shibuya to the east, where the same trains continue on the Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line.

History

Prewar predecessors

On March 6, 1907, the Tamagawa Electric Railway (Tamaden) opened the first section of the Tamagawa Line tramway (not to be confused with today's Tōkyū Tamagawa Line) between Shibuya and what is now Futako-Tamagawa. Two branch lines opened from the Tamagawa Line: the Kinuta Line (March 1, 1924) from Futako-Tamagawa to Kinuta, and the Setagaya Line (January 18, 1925) from Sangenjaya.

Tamaden was acquired by the Tokyo Yokohama Electric Railway (now Tokyu) on April 1, 1938. In addition to its principal Tokyo-Yokohama line, TYER also operated the Mizonokuchi Line from Futako-Tamagawa (called Futako-Tamagawa-en) to Mizonokuchi from July 15, 1927. The Tamagawa Line provided a further connection past Futako-Tamagawa to Shibuya. On July 1, 1943, this section was integrated with the Ōimachi Line running from Ōimachi in southwest Tokyo to Futako-Tamagawa-en.

Tama Den-En-Toshi Plan

Before 1945, the Tama Hills southwest of Mizonokuchi were largely forested, occupied by small villages along the Oyama Route (now Route 246 and training bases for the Imperial Japanese Army. After Japan was defeated in World War II, many Japanese farmers migrated to the area from the lost territory of Manchukuo in China.

In 1953, at which time about 20,000 people lived in the area, Tokyu Group president Keita Goto unveiled a "new town" planning scheme called the South-Western Area Development Plan. He envisioned new railway and freeway infrastructure (the latter being realized as the Tōmei Expressway) and large, clean houses for commuters working in Tokyo. Tokyu started accepting new residents in this Tama Den-En-Toshi ("Garden City") Plan area in 1959.

In accordance with this plan, the Ōimachi Line was renamed the Den-en-toshi Line on October 11, 1963 and officially extended to Nagatsuta on April 1, 1968.

From the 1970s onward, the population of the area increased rapidly. The towns were viewed as cultural and sophisticated, and attracted many new residents. While Tokyu Group's housing construction project is almost complete, other developers still push forward with the construction of apartmants and houses. There are now about 550,000 residences along the line, excluding the section from Shibuya to Mizonokuchi which was already urbanized prior to the plan. This makes the area the largest "new town" developed by the Japanese private sector.

Development of the line

On May 11, 1969, the former Tamagawa Line and Kinuta Line were closed for the construction of a new underground Shin-Tamagawa Line. Tokyu provided substitute bus service during the interim. The new line began service on April 7, 1977 between Shibuya and Futako-Tamagawa: through service with the Den-en-toshi Line began on November 16, 1977.

On August 12, 1979, the section from Ōimachi to Futako-Tamagawa was separated and named the Ōimachi Line again, thus restoring its original name and route. This coincided with the inauguration of through services from the Den-en-toshi Line via the Eidan Hanzōmon subway Line (now Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line) and the Shin-Tamagawa Line.

The line was completed in its present form on April 9, 1984, when sections between Tsukimino and Chūō-Rinkan were opened. The Shin-Tamagawa Line officially became part of the Den-en-toshi Line on August 6, 2000.

Through service was extended beyond Suitengu-mae to Oshiage on March 19, 2003, allowing through service with the Tōbu Isesaki Line and Tōbu Nikkō Line.

During FY 2007, Tokyu plans to expand the line to four tracks from Futako-Tamagawa to Mizonokuchi. Almost all trains of the Ōimachi line are planned to run through this section to Mizonokuchi.

Stations

Legend

• Stations served by express trains are in bold
• Stations with a "+" are served by express trains on public holidays
• Semi-Express runs only in weekdays' morning, from Nagatsuta to Shibuya and Hanzomon Line
• Local trains call at all stations

External link

• Location data on Google Maps and Earth

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