Opening of the Tokyu and Sotetsu Shin-Yokohama Lines
Image: Tunnel opening heading from Hiyoshi to Shin-Yokohama
On Saturday, March 18, 2023, the Tokyu and Sotetsu Shin-Yokohama Lines opened. This connected Shonandai and Hiyoshi, and through mutual through-service with the Tokyu Meguro Line and Toei Mita Line, it not only links directly to Mita but also places Onarimon (near the Shiba-Kyoritsu Campus) on a single line, connecting the campuses of ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ through a massive railway network.
The Shin-Yokohama Line branches off from Nishiya on the Sotetsu Main Line, passing through Hazawa Yokohama-kokudai (which opened earlier in November 2019) and Shin-Yokohama to reach Hiyoshi. It is composed of the Sotetsu Shin-Yokohama Line to the west and the Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line to the east, with Shin-Yokohama as the boundary.
The tracks coming underground from Shin-Yokohama pass once beneath the Toyoko Line to reach Shin-Tsunashima station located under Tsunashima-kaido, then emerge above ground flanking the Meguro Line storage tracks to connect to Hiyoshi. From there, the route splits into two systems: the Toyoko Line and the Meguro Line. The Toyoko Line route connects to the Tobu Tojo Line via the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line, while the Meguro Line route has mutual through-service with the Toei Mita Line and Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, with the Namboku Line further connecting to the Saitama Railway Line. The diverse destinations displayed on the Hiyoshi platforms and the sight of various subway and private railway cars intermingling have gained even more members starting this spring. Furthermore, regarding through-service from Sotetsu to Tokyu, the operational systems are clearly divided: the Sotetsu Main Line from Ebina connects to the Meguro Line, and the Izumino Line from Shonandai connects to the Toyoko Line.
In the 201st issue of "Juku," a public relations magazine for ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ students and parents published a quarter-century ago in November 1996, a cover feature was titled "Improving the Convenience of the Transportation Network Surrounding the University."
During this era, large-scale construction was underway around Den-en-chofu Station, even cutting into retaining walls. The old, short green trains of the "Mekama Line" ran parallel to the Toyoko Line, but a major project was in progress to move this underground, split the system at Tamagawa (then Tamagawaguen) Station to create the Meguro Line toward the city center, and quadruple the tracks of the Toyoko Line between Hiyoshi and Den-en-chofu to create a new route to the city center. The Meguro Line was born in 2000 when construction reached Musashi-Kosugi, and mutual through-service with the Mita and Namboku Lines began, bringing a revolutionary change to transportation access between Mita and Hiyoshi. Furthermore, Hiyoshi and Musashi-Kosugi were connected in 2008. This marked the arrival of the era when trains bound for Hiyoshi would appear on the platforms of Mita Station.
Meanwhile, the nearest station to the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), established in 1990, was Shonandai on the Odakyu Enoshima Line. However, the Sotetsu Izumino Line and the Yokohama City Subway Blue Line were undergoing extension work toward this point. With the opening scheduled for spring 1997, major renovation work to transform Shonandai Station into a large terminal station where three lines converge was nearing completion. Furthermore, the route connecting Hiyoshi and the Sotetsu Line was described as a "highly anticipated planned line." After a quarter-century, that plan has finally come to fruition.
(Yasuhiko Takano, Director, Administrative Affairs Office)
*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.