Seibu Shinjuku Line

The Seibu Shinjuku Line (西武新宿線, Seibu-Shinjuku-sen) is a Japanese railway line owned by the private railway operator Seibu Railway, connecting Seibu Shinjuku Station in Shinjuku, Tokyo with Hon-Kawagoe Station in Kawagoe, Saitama.

The Shinjuku Line is one of two main lines of the Seibu Railway system along with the Ikebukuro Line. The two main lines cross at Tokorozawa Station in Tokorozawa, Saitama. The line serves the western suburbs of Tokyo, connecting them to Shinjuku and other areas of downtown Tokyo.

Description

A Seibu Railway train driver at Kami-Shakujii Station, May 2015

The line is mostly double-track, except for 1.1 km of single track between Wakita Junction and Hon-Kawagoe Station. While the section from Seibu-Shinjuku to Takadanobaba is elevated, the line runs at ground level through a suburban area until Saginomiya.

Trains

Five types of train service are operated on the line: Local, Semi Express, Express, Commuter Express, and Koedo limited express, as shown below. Limited Express trains use Seibu 10000 series EMUs, and a supplementary limited express ticket is required.

There are regular through operations to the Haijima Line and the Kokubunji Line. There are also occasional through services to Seibu-Kyūjō-mae Station in order to bring fans to the Seibu Dome for Saitama Seibu Lions baseball games. The Seibu Shinjuku Line is one of the few major commuter rail lines in Tokyo that does not have through service to the Tokyo Metro or Toei Subway network.

Stations

O: stop

|: pass

     L: Local (各停, Kakutei) stop at all stations, not shown

     SE: Semi Express (準急, Junkyū)

     E: Express (急行, Kyūkō)

     CE: Commuter Express (通勤急行, Tsūkin Kyūkō)

     LE: Koedo Limited Express (特急 "小江戸")

No.	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	SE	E	CE	LE	Transfers	Location
SS01	Seibu-Shinjuku	西武新宿	0.0	O	O	O	O	Yamanote Line (Shinjuku Station)	Shinjuku	Tokyo
SS02	Takadanobaba	高田馬場	2.0	O	O	O	O	Yamanote Line Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line (T-03)
SS03	Shimo-Ochiai	下落合	3.2	|	|	|	|
SS04	Nakai	中井	3.9	|	|	|	|
SS05	Araiyakushimae	新井薬師前	5.2	|	|	|	|		Nakano
SS06	Numabukuro	沼袋	6.1	|	|	|	|
SS07	Nogata	野方	7.1	|	|	|	|
SS08	Toritsukasei	都立家政	8.0	|	|	|	|
SS09	Saginomiya	鷺ノ宮	8.5	O	O	O	|
SS10	Shimo-Igusa	下井草	9.8	|	|	|	|		Suginami
SS11	Iogi	井荻	10.7	|	|	|	|
SS12	Kami-Igusa	上井草	11.7	|	|	|	|
SS13	Kami-Shakujii	上石神井	12.8	O	O	O	|		Nerima
SS14	Musashiseki	武蔵関	14.1	O	|	|	|
SS15	Higashi-Fushimi	東伏見	15.3	O	|	|	|		Nishitōkyō
SS16	Seibu-Yagisawa	西武柳沢	16.3	O	|	|	|
SS17	Tanashi	田無	17.6	O	O	O	|
SS18	Hanakoganei	花小金井	19.9	O	O	|	|		Kodaira
SS19	Kodaira	小平	22.6	O	O	|	|	Seibu Haijima Line
SS20	Kumegawa	久米川	24.6	O	O	|	|		Higashimurayama
SS21	Higashi-Murayama	東村山	26.0	O	O	O	O	Seibu Kokubunji Line Seibu Seibuen Line
SS22	Tokorozawa	所沢	28.9	O	O	O	O	Seibu Ikebukuro Line	Tokorozawa	Saitama
SS23	Kōkū-kōen	航空公園	30.5	O	O	|	|
SS24	Shin-Tokorozawa	新所沢	31.7	O	O	O	|
SS25	Iriso	入曽	35.6	O	O	|	|		Sayama
SS26	Sayamashi	狭山市	38.6	O	O	O	O
SS27	Shin-Sayama	新狭山	41.3	O	O	|	|
SS28	Minami-Ōtsuka	南大塚	43.9	O	O	|	|		Kawagoe
SS29	Hon-Kawagoe	本川越	47.5	O	O	O	O	Tobu Tojo Line (Kawagoeshi Station)

Rolling stock

A fleet of eight 10-car Seibu 40000 series EMUs is scheduled to be introduced from spring 2017, operating on the Seibu Ikebukuro, Seibu Shinjuku, and Seibu Haijima Lines.

History

The oldest section of the Shinjuku Line is between Higashi-Murayama Station and Hon-Kawagoe Station. This section was built by the Kawagoe Railway (川越鉄道, Kawagoe Tetsudō) to serve as a freight feeder for the Kōbu Railway (甲武鉄道, Kōbu Tetsudō) between Shinjuku and Tachikawa (now known as the Chūō Main Line). The initial Kawagoe Railway route opened between Kokubunji and Kumegawa in 1894; this portion is now known as the Seibu Kokubunji Line. Its northward extension to Kawagoe, the first part of what is now the Seibu Shinjuku Line, opened in 1895. Following several mergers and name changes between 1920 and 1922, the Kawagoe Railway became part of the Seibu Railway.

In 1927, Seibu Railway built its new dual track, electrified at 1,500 V DC, Murayama Line between Takadanobaba Station on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo and Higashi-Murayama Station to compete with Musashino Railway (武蔵野鉄道, Musashino Tetsudō) (present-day Seibu Ikebukuro Line) and the Japanese National Railways Chūō Main Line, the route being in the middle of the two. The rest of the line was electrified at the same time.

The Higashi-Murayama to Tokorozawa section was double-tracked between 1950 and 1958, with the Tokorozawa to Irimagawa section double-tracked between 1967 and 1975. The rest of the line (except for the section between the Wakita Junction and Hon-Kawagoe Station) was double-tracked between 1980 and 1991.

In 1952, a dual-track extension from Takadanobaba to Seibu-Shinjuku Station was completed. At this time the line was renamed the Shinjuku Line, integrating the Murayama Line and the northern section of the Kawagoe Line. The new Seibu-Shinjuku terminal was built as a temporary station, as Seibu planned to extend the line to the second floor of what is now known as Lumine Est on the east side of Shinjuku Station. This plan was later scrapped due to insufficient space to handle trains longer than six cars. Seibu-Shinjuku Station was expanded to include a high-rise hotel in 1977.

In the 1980s, Seibu drew up a plan to build an underground line for express trains between Seibu-Shinjuku and Kami-Shakujii, including a new underground station between Seibu-Shinjuku and the Metro Promenade. This plan was eventually abandoned due to costs and a decline in passenger ridership versus previous projections. Seibu was also a bidder to acquire the former JR freight terminal site in 1989, where they planned to build a new underground terminal; Takashimaya won the bid and constructed the Takashimaya Times Square complex on the site.

From the start of the revised timetable on 30 June 2012, the limited-stop Rapid Express (快速急行, kaisoku-kyūkō) services were abolished.

Station numbering was introduced on all Seibu Railway lines during fiscal 2012, with Seibu Shinjuku Line stations numbered prefixed with the letters "SS".

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia

External links

• Seibu Railway website (Japanese)