Nambu Line

Nambu Line 南武線
205-0 series EMU near Inadazutsumi bound for Kawasaki
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Tokyo, Kanagawa prefectures
Termini	Kawasaki Tachikawa
Stations	26 (main line), 3 (branch line)
Operation
Opened	1927
Owner	JR East
Rolling stock	205 series, 209 series
Technical
Line length	45.0 km (28.0 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Route map

The Nambu Line (南武線, Nanbu-sen^?) is a Japanese railway line which connects Tachikawa Station in Tachikawa, Tokyo and Kawasaki Station in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. For most of its length, it parallels the Tama River, the natural border between Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network. The name refers to the southern (南, nan^?) part of the ancient province of Musashi (武蔵^?) (now Tokyo and northern Kanagawa prefectures), through which the Nambu Line runs.

Basic data

• Operators, distances:
  • Total: 45.0 km (28.0 mi)
    • Passenger: 39.6 km (24.6 mi)
    • Freight: 39.4 km (24.5 mi)
  • East Japan Railway Company (JR East) (Services and tracks)
    • Kawasaki – Tachikawa: 35.5 km (22.1 mi)
    • Shitte – Hama-Kawasaki: 4.1 km (2.5 mi)
    • Shitte – Shin-Tsurumi Signal Station – Tsurumi: 5.4 km (3.4 mi) (no regular service)
  • Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight) (Services only)
    • Shitte – Tachikawa: 33.8 km (21.0 mi)
    • Shitte – Hama-Kawasaki: 4.1 km (2.5 mi)
    • Shitte – Shin-Tsurumi Signal Station: 1.5 km (0.9 mi)
• Stations: 29
  • Main line: 26
  • Branch line: 3
• Double-tracking: Kawasaki – Tachikawa
• Railway signalling: Automatic Block System

Station list

Main line

Rapid service trains (two trains per hour between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m) do not stop at Shitte, Yakō, Hirama, Mukaigawara, Tsudayama, Kuji and Shukugawara. All other trains except for some seasonal services are local trains, stopping at all stations.

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers	Location
		Between Stations	Total
Kawasaki	川崎	-	0.0	Tōkaidō Main Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line Keikyū Main Line, Keikyū Daishi Line (Keikyū Kawasaki)	Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki	Kanagawa
Shitte	尻手	1.7	1.7	Nambu Branch Line (for Hama-Kawasaki)	Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki
Yakō	矢向	0.9	2.6		Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama
Kashimada	鹿島田	1.5	4.1		Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki
Hirama	平間	1.2	5.3		Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki
Mukaigawara	向河原	1.3	6.6
Musashi-Kosugi	武蔵小杉	0.9	7.5	Yokosuka Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line Tōkyū Tōyoko Line, Tōkyū Meguro Line
Musashi-Nakahara	武蔵中原	1.7	9.2
Musashi-Shinjō	武蔵新城	1.3	10.5
Musashi-Mizonokuchi	武蔵溝ノ口	2.2	12.7	Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line (Mizonokuchi)	Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki
Tsudayama	津田山	1.2	13.9
Kuji	久地	1.0	14.9
Shukugawara	宿河原	1.3	16.2		Tama-ku, Kawasaki
Noborito	登戸	1.1	17.3	Odakyū Odawara Line
Nakanoshima	中野島	2.2	19.5
Inadazutsumi	稲田堤	1.3	20.8	Keiō Sagamihara Line (Keiō-Inadazutsumi)
Yanokuchi	矢野口	1.6	22.4		Inagi	Tokyo
Inagi-Naganuma	稲城長沼	1.7	24.1
Minami-Tama	南多摩	1.4	25.5	Seibu Tamagawa Line (Koremasa)
Fuchū-Hommachi	府中本町	2.4	27.9	Musashino Line	Fuchū
Bubaigawara	分倍河原	0.9	28.8	Keiō Line
Nishifu	西府	1.2	30.0
Yaho	谷保	1.6	31.6		Kunitachi
Yagawa	矢川	1.4	33.0
Nishi-Kunitachi	西国立	1.3	34.3		Tachikawa
Tachikawa	立川	1.2	35.5	Chūō Line, Ōme Line Tama Toshi Monorail Line (Tachikawa-Kita, Tachikawa-Minami)

Nambu Branch Line

• All stations are located in Kanagawa Prefecture.
• Trains can pass each other only at Kawasaki-Shinmachi.

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers	Location
		Between Stations	Total
Shitte	尻手	-	0.0	Nambu Line (main line), Nambu Line (freight branch)	Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki
Hatchōnawate	八丁畷	1.1	1.1	Keikyū Main Line Tōkaidō Main Line freight branch (for Tsurumi)	Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki
Kawasaki-Shinmachi	川崎新町	0.9	2.0
Hama-Kawasaki	浜川崎	2.1	4.1	Tsurumi Line, Tōkaidō Main Line freight branch (for Kawasaki Freight Terminal)

Freight branch

The "Shitte crossover" (尻手短絡線, Shitte-tanraku-sen^?) connects Shitte Station and Shin-Tsurumi Yard on the Tōkaidō Main Line (Hinkaku Line) and the Musashino Line. Freight trains operating between Tokyo Freight Terminal and northern Japan operate on both branch lines.

Former branches

• Yakō – Kawasaki-Gashi: opened 1927, closed 1972
• Mukaigawara – Shin-Tsurumi Yard: opened 1929, closed 1973

History

The private Nambu Railway opened the line in five phases between 1927 and 1930 (freight branches are omitted)^[1]:

• March 27, 1927: Kawasaki – Noborito
• November 1, 1927: Noborito – Ōmaru (near Minami-Tama)
• December 11, 1928: Ōmaru – Bubaigawara (then called Yashikibun)
• December 11, 1929: Bubaigawara – Tachikawa
• March 25, 1930: Shitte – Hama-Kawasaki

Passenger trains used electric multiple units from the beginning. Major freight was initially gravel from the Tama River. When the railway reached Tachikawa and made connection with the Ōme Electric Railway, limestone became one of main freight. The railway was controlled by Asano zaibatsu, which was enabled by the railway to transport limestone from its own quarry in Western Tokyo to its cement plant in Kawasaki without using the government railways.^[2]

On April 1, 1944, the railway was forcibly purchased by the imperial government and became the Nambu Line of Japanese Government Railways. After the end of World War II, there were several movements to denationalize the line, but the line had been a part of the Japanese National Railways until its privatization in 1987.^[2]

The postwar sprawl of the Tokyo urban area turned the most of the farmlands along the Nambu Line into residential areas and multiplied the passenger traffic on the line. On the other hand, freight traffic has been reduced after the opening of the Musashino Line in parallel to the Nambu Line in 1976 and the discontinuance of the limestone freight in 1998, except for the Nambu Branchline, which is a part of main freight route.^[2]

Rapid services between Kawasaki and Noborito with stops at Musashi-Kosugi and Musashi-Mizonokuchi started on December 15, 1969, but were discontinued by the timetable revision on October 2, 1978.^[3] After 33 years, rapid services between Kawasaki and Tachikawa with more stops started on April 9, 2011, postponed from originally scheduled March 12 due to the earthquake in Tōhoku on March 11.^[4]

Rolling stock

Rolling stock used on the Nambu Line

Current

The current EMU fleet used on Nambu Line services is based at Nakahara Depot.

• 205-0 series 6-car EMUs (since March 1989)
• 205-1200 series 6-car EMUs (since 2004)
• Two 209 series 6-car EMUs (since April 1993)
• Two 205-1000 series 2-car EMUs (Nambu Branch Line services, since August 2002)

Previously used

• 72 series 4/6-car EMUs (from 1963 until 1978)
• 101 series 4/6-car EMUs (from 1969 until January 1991)
• 103 series 6-car EMUs (from 1982 until December 2004)
• 101 series 2-car EMUs (Nambu Branchline services, until November 2003)

References

1. ^ Ishino, Tetsu et al. (eds.) (1998) (in Japanese). Teishajō Hensen Daijiten - Kokutetsu JR Hen. Tokyo: JTB Corporation. pp. 65-69, vol. II. ISBN 4533029809. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Harada, Katsumasa (1999) (in Japanese). Nanbu-sen Ima Mukashi. Kawasaki: Tamagawa Shinbunsha. ISBN 4-924882-28-3. 
3. ^ "南武線に33年ぶりの「快速」" (in Japanese). Town News. October 1, 2010. http://www.townnews.co.jp/0206/2010/10/01/71075.html. Retrieved April 9, 2011. 
4. ^ "ＪＲ南武線快速ようやく運行スタート、旧国鉄時代以来３３年ぶり". Kanagawa Shinbun. April 9, 2011. http://news.kanaloco.jp/localnews/article/1104090029/. Retrieved April 9, 2011. 

External links

Media related to Nambu Line at Wikimedia Commons

• Stations of the Nambu Line (JR East) (Japanese)