The Yokosuka Line (横須賀線 Yokosuka-sen) is a rail line of JR East.
The line is 73.3 km long from Tokyo Station to Kurihama Station, is of 1,067 mm gauge and is double-tracked between Tokyo and Yokosuka. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km segment between Ōfuna Station and Kurihama Station, but because the trains on the Yokosuka Line depart from Tokyo Station, the entire route is commonly referred to as the Yokosuka Line.
It runs underground from Tokyo to Shinagawa (parallel to the Tōkaidō Main Line, the Yamanote Line and the Keihin-Tōhoku Line), then branches to the west along the Tōkaidō Shinkansen into the city of Kawasaki (this alignment, commonly called the Hinkaku Line (品鶴線 Hinkaku-sen), was originally built for freight usage - see below). It rejoins the Tōkaidō Main Line corridor near Tsurumi Station and follows the Tōkaidō Main Line to Ōfuna, where it branches off to the southeast toward stops on the Miura Peninsula.
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Hinkaku Line
The Hinkaku Line (品鶴線 Hinkaku-sen) was originally built to divert freight traffic from the busy Tōkaidō Main Line, providing an alternate route between Tokyo and Tsurumi. After a 1967 explosion, freight trains were banned from portions of the central Tokyo rail network, providing the impetus for the construction of the orbital Musashino Line. The new Musashino Line was connected to the Hinkaku Line roughly 6 km north of Tsurumi Station near Musashi-Kosugi, siphoning off nearly all freight traffic after its opening in 1975. This left a substantial chunk of the double-tracked, mostly grade-separated Hinkaku Line disused.
To reuse the line for passenger service, a new 6 km track was installed between Tsurumi Station and the Musashino Line, where it was connected to the now-disused portion of the Hinkaku Line. Two new stations were constructed: At Shin-Kawasaki, adjacent to the existing Nambu Line station of the same name, and at Nishi-Ōi. Another station is under construction at Musashi-Kosugi, which will provide a transfer to the Nambu Line as well as Tōkyū's Tōyoko and Meguro Lines. The limited number of stations along this route make the Yokosuka a de facto express route, with trains regularly attaining 120 km/h.
History
- On June 16, 1889, the line opened between Ōfuna and Yokosuka, with intermediate stations at Kamakura and Zushi.
- When line names were introduced on April 1, 1895 the line became part of the Tōkaidō Line.
- Taura station opened on May 1, 1904.
- On October 12, 1909 the line was renamed the Yokosuka Line.
- On August 12, 1914 the line was doubled between Zushi and a new signal box built at Numama, between Zushi and Taura. This double tracking continued with Ōfuna-Kamakura (September 13, 1916), Kamakura-Zushi (March 1917), and Numama-Taura (October 20, 1920). The last section between Taura and Yokosuka was doubled on December 25, 1924.
- On December 23, 1925 the line was electrified, and electric locomotives started running between Yokosuka and Tokyo.
- A temporary Kita-Kamakura station opened on May 20, 1927.
- Multiple Unit service commenced on March 15, 1930. The same year, on October 1, Kita-Kamakura became a permanent station.
- On April 1 1944, the line was extended to Kurihama with an intermediate station at Kinugasa.
- A temporary Sagami-Kanaya stop, serving a military base between Yokosuka and Kinugasa, opened in April 1945 and closed in August, following the end of the war.
- Higashi-Zushi station opened on April 1 1952.
- On June 16, 1968, some luggage on a Yokosuka Line up train exploded outside Ōfuna station, killing one and injuring 14.
- Freight service between Yokosuka and Kurihama ceased on October 1 1974.
- On October 1, 1976 a double track underground line, essentially part of the Yokosuka Line, opened between Tokyo and Shinagawa. Initially it was served by Rapid trains from the Sōbu Line. Exactly four years later, Yokosuka Line trains began running on dedicated tracks between Ōfuna and Tokyo (and beyond, on the aforementioned Sōbu Line). Shin-Kawasaki and Higashi-Totsuka stations opened and Hodogaya station became a Yokosuka Line-only stop.
- On February 1, 1984, freight services ceased between Yokosuka and Zushi.
- Nishi-Ōi station opened on April 2, 1986.
- Some weekend through trains from the Yokohama and Negishi Lines started running to Zushi on May 2, 1998; these ceased on March 15, 2008 to make way for Shōnan-Shinjuku Line trains.
- On September 30, 2000 an Autonomous decentralized Transport Operation control System (ATOS) came into effect between Tōkyō and Ōfuna.
- Shōnan-Shinjuku Line trains started using the line on December 1, 2001. They ceased to serve the Zushi-Kurihama segment following an October 16, 2004 timetable change.
- JR Freight ceased to run on the Taura-Zushi segment as a type 2 operator from May 1, 2006.
Trains
- Local trains make all stops along the Yokosuka Line. Most are 11-car trains with two first class "Green Cars". Some are used with 4-car trains between Zushi and Tokyo. In other section, 11-car and 4-car trains are used independently.
- Shōnan-Shinjuku Line trains use the Yokosuka Line between Nishi-Ōi and Zushi.
- Ohayō Liner and Home Liner commuter express trains stop at Tokyo, Shimbashi, Shinagawa, Ōfuna, Kamakura and Zushi.
- Narita Express trains stop at Tokyo, Shinagawa, Yokohama, and Ōfuna.
There are many through service trains (more frequent than trains for Tokyo) to the Sōbu Main Line for Tsudanuma, Chiba and Narutō, to the Narita Line for Narita Airport, to the Kashima Line for Kashima-Jingū, to the Sotobō Line for Kazusa-Ichinomiya, and to the Uchibō Line for Kimitsu. Up trains for Narita Airport Station are called Rapid Airport Narita, but the reverse trains are not.
Stations
Note that the Yokosuka Line does not pass through Kawasaki Station.
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