The Keisei Main Line (京成本線) is a railway run by Keisei Electric Railway (京成電鉄). It runs from Keisei Ueno Station in Taito, Tokyo, through Keisei Funabashi Station in Funabashi, to Narita Airport Station in Narita, Chiba Prefecture.
History
The line did not start at Keisei Ueno. When it opened, its starting point was Oshiage Station, on what is now the Oshiage Line. The first section ran from Makigane (now Keisei Takasago) to Iyoda (now Edogawa). It opened on 3 November 1912. Makigane was renamed Takasago on 26 June 1913. On 30 August 1914 the line was extended from Edogawa to Ichikawa Nitta (now Ichikawa Mama). The line reached Nakayama (now Keisei Nakayama) on 3 November 1915. It reached Funabashi (now Keisei Funabashi) on 30 December 1916. Later the company took over a licence held by the Tsukuba High-Speed Electric Railway, and when Nippori Station opened the starting point was moved toward today's Keisei Ueno.
Kaijin Station opened on 25 October 1919. On 17 July 1921 the line was extended from Funabashi to Tsudanuma. On 9 December 1926 it reached Shishui. On 24 December 1926 it reached a provisional station called Narita Hanasakichō. The line opened to Narita (now Keisei Narita) on 25 April 1930, and the provisional station closed. On 18 November 1931 a group of stations, including Takasago, Nakayama, Funabashi and Narita, were renamed with 'Keisei' in front of their names. On 19 December 1931 the Nippori to Aoto section opened. Keisei Koiwa Station opened on 15 May 1932. On 10 December 1933 the line opened between Ueno Park (now Keisei Ueno) and Nippori.
Yahata Station closed on 15 August 1942. In October 1943 the stations Kanneiji-zaka, Dōkanyama-dōri and Nishi-Senju were suspended. In 1944 the line from Ueno Park to Narita was named the Main Line, and the section from Oshiage to Aoto was named the Oshiage Line. On 20 February 1945 the whole line changed from a tramway under the Tramway Act to a railway under the Local Railway Act. Ueno Park to Nippori was suspended on 10 June 1945 and resumed on 1 October 1945, while Museum Zoo and Kanneiji-zaka stayed closed. Kanneiji-zaka reopened on 1 November 1946. On 28 February 1947 the suspended Dōkanyama-dōri and Nishi-Senju stations were abolished. On 21 August 1947 Kanneiji-zaka was suspended again.
On 1 April 1948 Ichikawa Kōnodai was renamed Kōnodai, and Yatsu Kaigan was renamed Yatsu Yūen. Hanawa was renamed Funabashi Keiba on 5 July 1950. Sōgo was renamed Sōgo Sandō on 1 July 1951. On 23 February 1953 Kanneiji-zaka was abolished. On 1 May 1953 Ueno Park was renamed Keisei Ueno. On 1 September 1953 the temporary Nakayama Keiba station became permanent, and Higashi-Nakayama Station opened. Yachiyodai Station opened on 20 March 1956. The track was changed to standard gauge (1435 mm) section by section from 14 October 1959, starting between Sōgo Sandō and Narita. The last section, Keisei Ueno to Nippori, changed on 30 November 1959, which completed the change.
On 1 December 1963 Funabashi Keiba station was renamed Center Keibajō-mae. Katsutadai Station opened on 1 May 1968. On 25 August 1970 the crossing with National Route 6 between Ohanachaya and Aoto was elevated. On 16 June 1973 the Keisei Ueno to Nippori section was suspended for remodelling of Keisei Ueno Station, which was completed in July 1976. Service resumed on 16 December 1973. The Skyliner service began on 30 December 1973. On 21 May 1978, when New Tokyo International Airport opened, the line opened from Keisei Narita to Narita Airport (now Higashi-Narita). Eucalyptusgaoka Station opened on 1 November 1982. The section from Aoto to Keisei Takasago was made four tracks on 12 August 1985.
On 1 April 1987 Kasai Station was renamed Keisei Nishi-Funabashi, and Center Keibajō-mae was renamed Funabashi Keiba. On 19 March 1991 the section from Komaino Junction to Narita Airport opened. The track there is owned by the Narita Airport High-Speed Railway. Airport Terminal 2 Building station opened on 3 December 1992. On 1 April 1994 the route from Sōgo Sandō to Narita was changed, and Kōzunomori Station opened. Museum Zoo station between Keisei Ueno and Nippori was suspended on 1 April 1997 and abolished on 1 April 2004. On 25 November 2006 the double-track elevated section between Kaijin and Funabashi Keiba was completed, and Keisei Funabashi and Daijingūshita stations were elevated. On 3 October 2009 the down line at Nippori was elevated, with up trains on the first floor and down trains on the third floor. On 14 November 2009 the platforms at Airport Terminal 2 Building became an island platform, and the Komaino signal station to Airport Terminal 2 was made double track.
On 5 July 2010 through running between the Main Line and the Kanamachi Line ended, in a timetable change linked to the elevation of the Keisei Takasago area on the Kanamachi Line. On 17 July 2010 the Narita Sky Access Line opened. Most Skyliner and Keikyu Airport Line through trains to Haneda Airport then used the Narita Sky Access Line. Most Toei Asakusa Line through trains from the Main Line were changed to run to and from Nishi-Magome. The Oshiage Line express was abolished, and City Liner and Access Express services were introduced. On 11 March 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake (東日本大震災) struck, and through services and the Skyliner, City Liner and Evening Liner were suspended. Service resumed on 12 March, but through running to the Keikyu Line was stopped until 13 March, because the Keikyu Line was closed between Sengakuji and Shinagawa. Track was found to be deformed between Eucalyptusgaoka and Keisei Usui, and trains ran slowly there. On 14 March rolling blackouts by Tokyo Electric Power Company were carried out because of the power shortage after the earthquake, and services were suspended again. Through running resumed in March, and the Skyliner, Morning Liner and Evening Liner resumed on 16 March. A large earthquake, thought to be an aftershock, on 11 April suspended those trains for a day. City Liner service resumed between Keisei Ueno and Keisei Narita on 10 September 2011. Slow running between Eucalyptusgaoka and Keisei Usui was lifted on 23 December 2011. On 16 October 2013 Typhoon No. 26 caused a landslide next to platform 1 at Keisei Narita, and service between Sōgo Sandō and Narita Airport and Shibayama Chiyoda was suspended all day. On 7 June 2014 the section from Keisei Takasago to Yachiyodai was changed from the No. 1 ATS to C-ATS, and the whole line then used C-ATS.
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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.