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Electric Multiple Unit Type 7500 series
The Hokusō Line (北総線, Hokusō-sen
?) is a commuter rail line of Hokusō Railway that runs between Keisei-Takasago Station in Katsushika,
Tokyo and Inba-Nihon-Idai Station in Inba Village, Chiba.
In 2010, the extension line called Keisei Narita New Rapid Line will reach Narita Airport Station, making
the line a new link between Tokyo and Narita Airport.
Basic
data
- Operator: Hokusō Railway
- Length: 32.3 km
- Possession:
- Hokusō Railway between Keisei-Takasago and Komuro 19.8 km
Category-1
- Chiba New Town Railway between Komuro and Inba-Nihon-Idai
11.5 km Category-3 (Hokusō Category-2)
- Gauge:
1435 mm
- Stations: 15
- Track: Double
- Power: Electric (1500 V DC)
- Block system: Automatic (ATS Type
1)
- Maximum speed at service: 105 km/h,
upgrading to 160 km/h for Narita Rapid.
History
Western
part
The line was planned as a railway access to Chiba New Town.
Initially planned by a committee of the then Ministry
of Transport, the route was numbered "Line 1", the northern
extension of Tokyo
Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) Line 1 (present Asakusa
Line) to Komuro area of Chiba New Town. In 1979 the first phase
section between Kita-Hatsutomi and Komuro opened.
Through operation via Shin-Keisei Line to Matsudo began,
on temporal basis until the second phase section connects the town
directly to the Keisei and Asakusa
Line network.
The second phase line to Keisei-Takasago on Main Line
opened in 1991 and through operaion began. In the following year
Shin-Keisei made Shin-Kamagaya Station for connection, and
abandoned the temporal route.
Eastern
Part
The section east of Komuro was initially the eastern end of a
once planned Chiba Prefectural Railway (千葉県営鉄道, Chiba Ken'ei Tetsudō
?), a part of Line 10 (Shinjuku
Line). The line was to be built from Motoyawata via Komuro to
palarell to the line above, then to terminate at present Inba-Nihon-Idai. The first
section between Komuro and Chiba New Town Chūō was
opened in 1984, the operations were commissioned to the present
Hokusō Railway.
- March 9, 1979: Hokusō Line (first phase) of
Hokusō Development Railway (北総開発鉄道, Hokusō Kaihatsu Tetsudō
?) Kita-Hatsutomi - Komuro. Through
operation via Shin-Keisei Line to Matsudo as
temporal basis
- March 19, 1984: Chiba New Town Line (千葉ニュータウン線, Chiba
Nyūtaun sen
?) of Housing and Urban
Development Corporation (住宅・都市整備公団, Jūtaku
Toshi Seibi Kōdan
?) (HUDC onwards) Komuro - Chiba New Town Chūō
- April 1, 1987: On the section of Komuro - Chiba New Town Chūō,
Hokusō Development Railway became the Category-2 Railway Business
operator, while HUDC became Category-3 Railway Business.[1]
Simultaneously, the entire stretch was renamed to Hokusō
Kōdan Line (北総・公団線
?, lit. Hokusō and the Corporation
Line)
- March 31, 1991: Hokusō Line (phase 2) Keisei-Takasago - Shin-Kamagaya. Through operations
by four parties (Hokusō, Keisei Electric Railway, Tokyo
Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei), Keihin Electric Express
Railway (Keikyū) began.
- July 4, 1992: Shin-Keisei opened Shin-Kamagaya Station. Through
operation to Shin-Keisei terminated. The section of Kita-Hatsutomi
- Shin-Kamagaya abandoned
- April 1, 1995: Chiba New Town Chūō - Inzai-Makinohara, as
Hokusō Cat-2, HUDC Cat-3
- 1999: HUDC reorganized to the Urban
Development Corporation (都市基盤整備公団, Toshi
Kiban Seibi Kōdan
?) (HDC onwards), continued state of
Cat-3 of the line
- July 22, 2000: Inzai-Makinohara - Inba-Nihon-Idai, as Hokusō
Cat-2, HDC Cat-3. Present stretch completed
- July 1, 2004 Railway properties of HDC transferred to
Chiba New Town Railway (千葉ニュータウン鉄道, Chiba
Nyūtaun Tetsudō
?)[2],
renamed whole line to Hokusō Line
- ^
On the commencement of the Railway Business Act (鉄道事業法, Tetsudō Jigyō Hō
?), Act No. 92 of 1986) for the
privatization of the Japan National
Railways
- ^
Due to re-organization of HDC
Operation
Most trains are Locals but a few rapid trains are opeerated in
morning and evening hours.
- Local (普通Futsū
?) (L)
- Stops at all stations. All day. Through to Keisei Electric Railway
(Keisei) Main
Line and Oshiage Line, Tokyo
Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) Asakusa
Line, Keihin Electric Express
Railway (Keikyū) Main, Airport, Kurihama lines.
- Express (急行,
Kyūkō
?) (Ex)
- Evening, down from Keisei line
- Limited Express (特急,
Tokkyū
?) (LE)
- Morning, up toward Keisei line
Stations
Extension to Narita
Airport
Before the turn of the century, long after abandonment of Narita
Shinkansen, routes of rapid transit to Narita Airport had long been discussed. For
a utilisation of partially completed tracks of the Shinkansen, JR
East and Keisei lines to Narita Airport were realized. A
much faster line had long been needed, and for that purpose the
first priority was the Keisei - Hokusō route. In 2001 a new Cat-3
entity, Narita Rapid Rail Access (成田高速鉄道アクセス, Narita
Kōsoku Tetsudō Access
?) commenced building of new line
connecting Inba-Nihon-Idai to the junction to Narita Airport Rapid
Railway (成田空港高速鉄道, Narita Kūkō Kōsoku
Tetsudō
?) which is a Cat-3 company of existing
access railways, tracks of Narita Shinkansen to be. The express
trains will be operated by Keisei as a Cat-2 operator with maximum
speed at 160 km/h, the fastest in Japanese private railway
together with Hokuetsu Express, which enables 34-minute
travel of Nippori - Narita Airport. Probable
completion in 2010 is announced.
External
links
References and footnotes
- ^
On the commencement of the Railway Business Act (鉄道事業法, Tetsudō Jigyō Hō
?), Act No. 92 of 1986) for the
privatization of the Japan National
Railways
- ^
Due to re-organization of HDC
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