Saitama Rapid Railway Line

Saitama Rapid Railway
A Saitama Rapid Railway 2000 series EMU
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
Locale	Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture
Termini	Akabane-Iwabuchi Urawa-Misono
Stations	8
Website	s-rail.co.jp/index.html
Operation
Opened	28 March 2001
Owner	Saitama Railway Corporation
Depot(s)	Urawa-Misono
Technical
Line length
No. of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Minimum radius	248 m
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead line
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)

The Saitama Rapid Railway Line (埼玉高速鉄道線, Saitama Kōsoku Tetsudō sen) is a commuter railway line in Japan operated by the third sector operating company Saitama Railway Corporation. Funded by Saitama Prefecture, local municipal governments, and Tokyo Metro, it forms a continuation of the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, starting at Akabane-Iwabuchi Station in Tokyo and ending at Urawa-Misono Station in Saitama. It was completed on March 28, 2001, ahead of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which held several matches at the Saitama Stadium close to Urawa-Misono Station. Except for the Urawa-Misono Station, the rest of the line is underground.

Operations

Services inter-run over the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line to Meguro and the Tokyu Meguro Line to Hiyoshi in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Stations

Color	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)	Transfers	Location
N-19	Akabane-Iwabuchi	赤羽岩淵	0.0	Tokyo Metro Namboku Line (N-19, Direct) Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line, Takasaki Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line), Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Saikyō Line (Akabane Station)	Kita, Tokyo
	Kawaguchi-Motogō	川口元郷	2.4		Kawaguchi	Saitama Prefecture
	Minami-Hatogaya	南鳩ヶ谷	4.3
	Hatogaya	鳩ヶ谷	5.9
	Araijuku	新井宿	7.5
	Tozuka-angyō	戸塚安行	10.0
	Higashi-Kawaguchi	東川口	12.2	Musashino Line
	Urawa-Misono	浦和美園	14.6		Midori-ku, Saitama

Rolling stock

• Saitama Rapid Railway 2000 series 6-car EMUs
• Tokyo Metro 9000 series 6-car EMUs
• Tokyu 3000 series 6-car EMUs
• Tokyu 5080 series 6-car EMUs

Shareholders

As of 2013, the main shareholders in Saitama Railway Corporation are as follows.

Shareholder	Percentage
Saitama Prefecture	45.0
Tokyo Metro	19.4
City of Kawaguchi	18.7
City of Saitama	7.1

Ridership

Ridership figures for the line are as follows.

Fiscal year	Total passengers	Passengers/km day
2009	30.564 million	40,038
2010	31.051 million	40,770
2011	30.983 million	40,546

History

The third sector company, Saitama Railway Corporation, was established on 25 March 1992. The entire line from Akabane-Iwabuchi to Urawa-Misono opened on 28 March 2001. Through services to and from Hiyoshi on the Tokyu Meguro Line commenced on 22 June 2008.

Future developments

In the future, the line may be extended north from Urawa-Misono through Iwatsuki-ku, Saitama to Hasuda Station (in Hasuda, Saitama) on the JR East Utsunomiya Line, but financial problems have prevented construction of the extension.

See also

• List of rapid transit systems

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Saitama Prefectural Government information (Japanese)