The Yokosuka Line (Japanese: 横須賀線, Hepburn: Yokosuka-sen) is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with Kurihama in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km (14.9 mi) segment between Ōfuna and Kurihama stations, but the entire route is commonly referred to as the Yokosuka Line by JR East for passenger service.
The Yokosuka Line runs underground between Tokyo and 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, technically known as the Hinkaku Line (Japanese: 品鶴線, Japanese pronunciation: [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 along the original Yokosuka Line toward the Miura Peninsula.
Yokosuka Line local trains make all stops. Most trains have 11 cars, with two of those being Green (first class) cars. Other trains between Tokyo and Zushi are made up of 15 cars—an 11-car set joined to a 4-car set. (Due to shorter platform length at stations south of Zushi, only 11-car trains are operated to Kurihama.) Some day-time trains operate between Zushi and Kurihama and these trains are made up of 4-car set without Green Cars.
Shōnan-Shinjuku Line trains enter or exit the Yokosuka Line at Nishi-Ōi. Utsunomiya–Yokosuka Line through services make all stops on the Yokosuka Line between Nishi-Ōi and Zushi, while Takasaki–Tōkaidō Line through services operate Rapid service within the Yokosuka Line, between Nishi-Ōi and Ōfuna, skipping Nishi-Ōi, Shin-Kawasaki, Hodogaya and Higashi-Totsuka.
For information on the Narita Express and other limited express services, see their respective articles.
The Yokosuka Line has through service onto the Sōbu Line to Chiba and beyond. Some trains travel as far as:
The section between Yokosuka and Kurihama is single-tracked; trains can only pass one another at Kinugasa and Kurihama stations.
Local trains stop at all stations, from Tokyo to Kurihama. Meanwhile, Shōnan–Shinjuku Line (Utsunomiya–Yokosuka Line) stop at all stations between Nishi-Ōi and Zushi.
Shōnan–Shinjuku Line (Takasaki–Tōkaidō Line) operate Rapid service on the Yokosuka Line.
Legends:
Yokosuka Line (through service to the Sōbu Rapid Line)
Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through service
The Yokosuka Line was constructed in response to the request to the Cabinet by the Navy and the Army, dated June 22, 1886, citing the lack of ground transportation to Yokosuka, one of the most important military bases in the country. On April 22, 1887 the Cabinet ordered the Government Railways to build the line with the budget diverted from the fund for the Tōkaidō Line construction. After the survey from July to December 1887, the construction of the railway between Ōfuna and Yokosuka started in January 1888 and completed in June 1889 spending 408,480 yen in total. The operation of the line started on June 16, 1889.[3]
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 (3.7 mi) 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.
In order to put the line back into passenger service, a new 6 km (3.7 mi) 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: one (Shin-Kawasaki) adjacent to the existing Kashimada Station on the Nambu Line in 1980 and another at Nishi-Ōi in 1986. Musashi-Kosugi Station, the third station in this section opened in 2010 and provides a transfer to the Nambu Line as well as the Tōkyū Tōyoko and Meguro lines.
