Narita Rapid Railway

The nihongo|Narita New Rapid Line|成田新高速鉄道線|Narita Shin-Kōsoku Tetsudō-sen is a new rapid rail link under construction between Tokyo and Narita Airport. The whole line will be operated by Keisei Electric Railway, while some parts of the line are operated by other companies as well. The new service and the trains that will operate them are marketed by Keisei as the nihongo|New Skyliner|新型スカイライナー|"shingata sukairainā", replacing the existing "Skyliner" service.

The project involves the refurbishment of 32.3 km of existing track on the Hokusō Line, as well as the construction of 19.1 km of new track to Narita Airport, partly using disused rights-of-way originally planned for the cancelled Narita Shinkansen project. The total cost, according to the Narita Rapid Rail Access website, is estimated to be ¥1.26 trillion, or about US$10.7 billion. [cite news | last =| first = | coauthors = | title = Narita Rapid Railway | work = | pages = | language = Japanese | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.nra36.co.jp/project/index.html | accessdate = 2006-09-11]

When complete in 2010 (planned), trains will also utilize the Keisei Electric Railway's Main Line between Keisei Ueno and Keisei-Takasago. Trains are planned to run at a maximum speed of 160 km/h and could thus complete the run from Nippori to the airport in 36 minutes, 15 minutes faster than the current 51 minutes. Through services from Keisei-Takasago to Haneda Airport via the Toei Asakusa Line, the Keikyu Main Line and the Keikyu Airport Line are also planned, with the potential to connect the two airports around 65 minutes, as opposed to the current minimum of 106 minutes. [http://www.jiji.com/jc/v?p=ve_soc_airport080809j-02-h410&rel=y&g=tha]

There are also plans to build a spur from the Toei Asakusa Line to Tokyo Station, opening a (potentially) faster route from Tokyo Station to the airport through the Keisei Oshiage Line.

Basic data

*Length: 51.4 km / Approx. 31.9 mi.
*Operators::¹: Already operational.
*Gauge: 1435 mm / 4 ft. 8½ in. (Standard gauge, in contrast to the narrow gauge of most Japanese railways.)
*Double track from Keisei-Takasago to Narita New Town Kita; single track from Narita New Town Kita to Narita Airport
*Electric supply: Whole line (1500 V DC)

tations

* Keisei Takasago Station (connections to Ueno and Oshiage)
* Higashi-matsudo Station
* Shin-kamagaya Station
* Komuro Station
* Chiba New Town Chuo Station
* Inzai-makinohara Station
* Imba nihon-idai Station
* Narita New Town Kita Station
* Airport Terminal 2 Station
* Narita Airport Station

References

External links

* [http://www.nra36.co.jp/ Narita Rapid Rail Access Co. Ltd.]
* [http://www.new-skyliner.jp/ New Skyliner]