Tokyu Railways Co., Ltd. (東急電鉄) is a railway and tramway company with its head office in Shibuya, Tokyo. It runs lines in south-west Tokyo and eastern Kanagawa Prefecture. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company Tokyu Corporation (東急株式会社).
History
The company's roots lie in Denen Toshi Co. (田園都市株式会社), founded in September 1918. Shibusawa Eiichi set it up to build an ideal residential area called Denen Toshi, or Garden City. In September 1922 its railway division was split off as a subsidiary, Meguro Kamata Electric Railway (目黒蒲田電鉄). The railway linked the new housing land with the state railway lines, now JR lines. In March 1923 the Meguro to Marubo section opened. On 1 November 1923 the full Meguro to Kamata line opened. It was called the Mekama Line (目蒲線). The Great Kanto Earthquake struck on 1 September 1923. The Senzoku Denen Toshi housing lots suffered almost no damage.
On 2 October 1922 Gojo Keita, a former railway official, became a managing director of Meguro Kamata. He also ran the Musashi Electric Railway, which had not yet opened. In October 1924 that company was renamed Tokyo Yokohama Electric Railway (東京横浜電鉄). On 14 February 1926 it opened a line from Marubo-Tamagawa to Kanagawa, and through trains ran from Meguro to Kanagawa. On 28 August 1927 it opened the Shibuya to Marubo-Tamagawa section. The route was called the Tōyoko Line (東横線). The line was finished from Shibuya to Sakuragicho on 31 March 1932. The company also brought schools to its lines. For example, Tokyo Institute of Technology moved from Kuramae to Ōokayama in 1924, after the earthquake.
On 1 October 1934 Meguro Kamata merged Ikegami Electric Railway, which ran the Ikegami Line (池上線). On 24 December 1936 Gojo Keita became president of both railway companies. On 1 April 1938 Tokyo Yokohama merged Tamagawa Electric Railway. On 1 October 1939 Meguro Kamata merged Tokyo Yokohama. On 16 October 1939 the merged company was renamed Tokyo Yokohama Electric Railway again. By November 1941 the group had bought more than 30 other companies. On 1 May 1942 Odakyu and Keihin Electric Railway were merged into Tokyo Kyuko Electric Railway. On 19 February 1944 Gojo resigned as president to become Minister of Transport. On 31 May 1944 the company absorbed Keio Electric Railway. This period was called the Dai-Tokyu (Greater Tokyu) era.
After the war, the Antimonopoly Act and a law on excessive concentration of economic power came into force. Railways were exempt. The company still faced heavy costs from air raid damage along its lines and from the lines it had merged in. In 1947 it gave up most of its shares in group companies such as Sagami Railway. In August 1947 Gojo Keita was designated for the purge from public office. On 1 May 1948 the department store business was split off as Tōyoko Department Store. On 1 June 1948 Odakyu, Keihin Kyuko Electric Railway (Keikyu) and Keio Teito Electric Railway were set up as separate companies. The Shibuya and Meguro branches stayed as Tokyo Kyuko Electric Railway. On 16 May 1949 the company was relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Gojo Keita was cleared of the purge in August 1951. On 19 January 1953 the company announced a development plan for the Jōsei-minami area, now Tama Den-en Toshi. The plan was proposed by Gojo Keita, and the area was built along Ōyama Kaido, now National Route 246. On 6 May 1954 Gojo Noboru, son of Gojo Keita, became president. On 11 October 1963 the Oizumi Line (大井町線) was renamed Den-en-toshi Line (田園都市線). On 29 August 1964 the Tōyoko Line began through service with the Hibiya Line of the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (now Tokyo Metro). In April 1966 the Den-en-toshi Line was extended from Mizonokuchi to Nagatsuda. On 7 April 1977 the Shin-Tamagawa Line opened from Shibuya to Futakotamagawa-en. On 12 August 1979 all trains began running through to the Hanzomon Line of the same authority. On 9 April 1984 the Den-en-toshi Line was completed to Chuo-Rinkan.
In March 1988 work began on a four-track section of the Tōyoko Line to ease crowding. Gojo Noboru died in March 1989. Under the group's collective leadership that followed, the group had more than 500 companies at its peak. After the bubble economy burst from 1990, the group's size became a burden and its results fell. In October 1991 the bus business was split off as Tokyu Bus (東急バス). In 1998 Tokyu told its member companies that firms unable to stand on their own could not stay in the group. About 220 companies remained. On 30 January 2004 the Yokohama to Sakuragicho section of the Tōyoko Line closed. On 1 February 2004 the Minatomirai Line opened, and through service began with the Tōyoko Line. On 22 June 2008 the Meguro Line was extended to Hiyoshi.
On 16 March 2013 the Shibuya to Daikanyama section of the Tōyoko Line went underground. Through service began to the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line, and the through service with the Hibiya Line ended. On 25 April 2019 the company set up a preparatory company for a company split. On 2 September 2019 Tokyo Kyuko Electric Railway was renamed Tokyu Corporation, and the preparatory company was renamed Tokyu Railways Co., Ltd. On 1 October 2019 the rail business of Tokyu Corporation was transferred to Tokyu Railways, and its head office moved to Jinpucho in Shibuya. In 2022 the company marked 100 years since Meguro Kamata was founded. On 22 March 2020 platform doors or fixed platform screens were in place at all Tokyu stations except the Setagaya Line (世田谷線) and the Kodomo-no-kuni Line (こどもの国線). Japanese Wikipedia says this was the first among large private railways to do so. On 18 March 2023 the Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line (東急新横浜線) opened. The Tōyoko and Meguro lines began through service to the Sotetsu Main Line and Izumino Line by way of the new line. On 30 September 2024 an improper practice came to light in wheel-axle assembly work contracted to Sogo Sharyo, in which inspection data were replaced. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) carried out a special safety audit. On 30 October 2024 MLIT ordered improvements. On 31 January 2025 Tokyu reported its improvement measures to the ministry.
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Written by an AI from the company's history on Japanese Wikipedia, nothing else, and checked by a program for dates and numbers that are not in those facts. It can still be wrong. Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; this text is shared under the same licence.
