The Keisei Chiba Line (千葉線) is a line run by Keisei Electric Railway (京成電鉄). It runs from Keisei Tsudanuma Station in Narashino city, Chiba Prefecture, to Chiba Chūō Station in Chūō ward, Chiba city.
History
The Chiba Line opened in 1921. Its Tsudanuma to Chiba section opened on 17 July 1921, at the same time as the main line's Funabashi to Tsudanuma section. This section was given priority over the main line's Tsudanuma to Narita section, so it opened sooner. The line was built to carry people to Chiba city, which became a city that year, and tourists to the Tokyo Bay coast. The sea was much closer to the line then. Bathers and people digging for clams came, and villas were built near Keisei Inage and Nishi-Tomado. On 8 March 1922 Chiba-kaigan Station (now Nishi-Tomado) opened. On 22 February 1923 Hama-kaigan Station (now Midoriidai) opened. On 24 July 1923 Shin-Chiba Station opened.
On 18 November 1931 Makuhari, Inage and Chiba stations were renamed Keisei Makuhari, Keisei Inage and Keisei Chiba. Before 1935, when the national railway (省線) was electrified to Chiba Station, the Keisei line had the lead in service frequency and passengers. After that electrification the two lines ran side by side between Tsudanuma and Makuhari, and rivalry was strong. According to Japanese Wikipedia, a directive told drivers to overtake any national railway train they met. After the war the occupation authorities (GHQ) banned racing on that section. On 1 April 1942 Hama-kaigan was renamed Teidai Kōgakubu-mae. On 20 February 1945 the whole line changed from tramway law to the Local Railway Act. On 7 July 1945 the Chiba air raid destroyed the Keisei Chiba station building.
On 1 April 1948 Teidai Kōgakubu-mae was renamed Kōgakubu-mae, and on 1 July 1951 it was renamed Kurosuna. On 21 April 1955 through running with the Shin-Keisei Line (新京成線, now the Keisei Matsudo Line) began. It ended on 1 September 1955. On 10 February 1958 the tracks between Shin-Chiba and Keisei Chiba moved to their present place under the post-war city-planning land readjustment. The national railway's Motochiba Station moved about 400 m south, and Keisei Chiba station moved to the site of the present Chiba Chūō Station. The opening was temporary, because the station buildings were not finished. On 14 June 1958 the four-storey Keisei Chiba station building was completed, with one floor underground. It had the only escalator in the prefecture at that time. On 10 October 1959 the gauge changed from 1372 mm to 1435 mm.
On 17 December 1966 the elevated line from Shin-Chiba to Keisei Chiba was completed, but it ran as single track for the time being. On 1 April 1967 Chiba-kaigan was renamed Nishi-Tomado. On 24 June 1967 the Shin-Chiba to Keisei Chiba section became double track. On 1 December 1967 the national railway's Chiba-ekimae Station opened, and it is now Keisei Chiba Station. On 1 October 1971 Kurosuna was renamed Midoriidai.
In 1972 the Sōbu Rapid Line opened between Tokyo and Tsudanuma. In 1981 the four-track section was extended to Chiba, and in 1990 the Keiyo Line (京葉線), built on the sea side, opened to Tokyo Station. Keisei Chiba was then squeezed between two JR lines to central Tokyo and Chiba, and the number of trains through to the main line was cut sharply. On 1 April 1987 Keisei Chiba station was renamed Chiba Chūō, and the national railway's Chiba-ekimae Station was renamed Keisei Chiba. On 7 August 1991 Keisei Makuhari-Hongō Station opened. On 1 April 1992 through running began with the Chiba Express Railway (千葉急行電鉄). On 1 October 1998 Keisei took over that line, which became the Chihara Line (千原線).
From 2006 access to Matsudo and Kamagaya was strengthened. Through running with the Shin-Keisei Line restarted on 10 December 2006. Shin-Keisei cars run onto the Chiba Line only, not onto the Chihara Line, but this gave a new route to Chiba. The 1955 through running had lasted only about four months. On 8 September 2010 heavy rain from a tropical depression that had been Typhoon No. 9 caused a landslide between Kemigawa and Keisei Inage, and the Chiba and Chihara lines were suspended all day. On 11 March 2011 the Chiba and Chihara lines were suspended after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. On 14 March 2011 Tokyo Electric Power began rolling blackouts because of the shortage of electricity, and through running with the Shin-Keisei Line was suspended from that day. On 11 and 12 April 2011 a large earthquake, thought to be an aftershock of the Tohoku quake, caused a temporary suspension. On 27 June 2011 through running partly resumed, and it fully resumed on 10 September 2011.
On 20 October 2019 Keisei Travel Service ran a Skyliner Mystery Tour with an AE type Skyliner. The route ran from Keisei Ueno through Takasago depot, Yahiro and Chiba Chūō, and back to Keisei Ueno. It was the first time an AE type train entered the Chiba Line. On 26 November 2022 four-car trains returned after four years.
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Written by an AI from the line'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.