Kawasaki Municipal Subway

The nihongo|Kawasaki Longitudinal Rapid Railway|川崎縦貫高速鉄道|Kawasaki Jūkan Kōsoku Tetsudō is a planned subway line that will run from Shin-Yurigaoka to Musashi-Kosugi, and eventually to Kawasaki Station. The whole line will lie within the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The line will link the western and eastern parts of Kawasaki that are otherwise not well connected. As the railway line is planned by the city government of Kawasaki and will likely be operated by the Kawasaki City Transportation Bureau, it is commonly known as the nihongo|Kawasaki Municipal Subway|川崎市営地下鉄|Kawasaki Shiei Chikatetsu.

History

The plan first came up in the 1960s. In 1966, the Ministry of Transport (MOT, which is now the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) planned to make a subway between Daishigawara and Yurigaoka Stations.

In 1985, the MOT changed the plan to use the already existing Musashino South Line (freight), converting it to a passenger line. However the operator of the line, the Japanese National Railways, was not favorable to the plan, since the line was important as a freight line, while there was already the Nambu Line for passengers nearby.

Thus, a plan to build a new subway came up again. In 2001, the MOT planned to build a line between Shin-Yurigaoka and Kawasaki Stations, erasing the eastern segment from the 1966 plan. Instead, the line was planned to have through service to Keikyū Daishi Line after Kawasaki Station. The Kawasaki city government then divided the 2001 plan into two segments, the segment between Shin-Yurigaoka and Motosumiyoshi to be built first, the segment between Motosumiyoshi and Kawasaki to be extended later.

However because the Japanese economy was weak, in 2003 the city government announced a postponement of the subway's construction for five years. In 2005, they changed the plan to go through Musashi-Kosugi, rather than Motosumiyoshi, to make the line more profitable. They are now re-preparing the plan under that route to open by 2018.

2005 plan

Below is the data of the first phase segment, between Shin-Yurigaoka and Musashi-Kosugi.

Basic Data

*Length: 16.7 km / Approx. 10.4 mi. from Shin-Yurigaoka Station to Musashi-Kosugi Station
*Gauge: 1067 mm / 3 ft. 6 in.
*Stations: 11
*Double-track line: Whole line
*Electric supply: Whole line (1500 V DC)

tations

:¹: Scheduled to open the station within 2010.

ee also

* List of rapid transit systems

External links

* [http://www.city.kawasaki.jp/82/82tetudo/home/ Official website by Kawasaki City Transportation Bureau]