The Negishi Line (根岸線) is a main line run by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from Yokohama Station in Nishi Ward, Yokohama, through Negishi Station in Isogo Ward, to Ōfuna Station in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Between Yokohama and Ōmiya its trains run as one service with the Keihin-Tōhoku Line (京浜東北線).
History
The Yokohama section, now part of the Negishi Line, is part of the stretch where Japan's railways began. It opened in 1872 as part of the Tōkaidō Line. The Shinagawa to Yokohama line opened on 12 June 1872, and the first Yokohama station, now Sakuragichō, opened then. Freight service began on 15 September 1873. On 11 July 1887 the line was extended from Yokohama to Kōzu through Hodogaya, with a switchback at Yokohama. On 1 August 1898 a short-cut line that avoided Yokohama station opened between Kanagawa and Hodogaya. On 12 October 1909 the section from Kanagawa through Yokohama to Hodogaya was named a branch of the Tōkaidō Line. On 20 December 1914 Takashimachō station opened, and the Kanagawa to Takashimachō section was electrified for Keihin Line trains. On 15 August 1915 a second Yokohama station opened, and the branch started from Yokohama instead of Kanagawa. On 30 December 1915 the Yokohama to Sakuragichō section was electrified, and freight service there ended. On 15 October 1928 Yokohama station moved to a new site. On 26 January 1930 Keihin Line platforms were built at the new Yokohama station, and the route was changed.
In 1937 an extension from Sakuragichō to Kita-Kamakura was listed in the schedule of the Railway Construction Act. On 24 April 1951 a train caught fire at Sakuragichō station, in an accident known as the Sakuragichō accident. On 17 October 1956 the local fishing cooperative opposed the construction of the Negishi Line and the reclamation at Isogo and Sugita, and petitioned the National Railways. On 3 April 1957 the Sakuragichō to Ōfuna line, called the Ōdai line, was approved by the Railway Construction Council as a line to start building at once. On 5 July 1957 the Minister of Construction approved the Sakuragichō to Isogo section. On 14 January 1959 a ceremony to start construction was held at Ōgimachi Park in Naka Ward, Yokohama. Construction began in April 1959, though some sources give 23 May. On 23 March 1964 construction passed from the National Railways to the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation. On 19 May 1964 the Sakuragichō to Isogo section opened, with Kangai, Ishikawachō, Yamate, Negishi and Isogo stations. On 1 June 1964 freight service began between Sakuragichō and Isogo, after the Takashima Line was completed.
On 9 August 1966 the Minister approved the second phase, from Isogo to Ōfuna. Construction began on 21 August 1966. On 17 March 1970 the line was extended from Isogo to Yōkōdai, and Shin-Sugita and Yōkōdai stations opened. On 20 May 1970 a landslide hit the area between Shin-Sugita and Yōkōdai. A 103 series train ran onto the earth and derailed. 2 people were seriously or lightly injured, and some cars were scrapped. The line was restored within days. On 9 April 1973 the line was extended from Yōkōdai to Ōfuna, which completed the whole line. Kōnandai and Hongōdai stations opened. On 1 October 1973 freight service began between Isogo and Ōfuna.
On 29 January 1984 ATC was introduced. Freight service between Isogo and Ōfuna ended on 1 February 1984. On 1 April 1987 JR East took over the line when the national railways were split up and privatised. JR Freight became the second-class operator for the whole line, and freight service between Isogo and Ōfuna resumed. On 22 September 1988 the 205 series began running on trains that came through from the Yokohama Line. In summer 1989 the 103 series cars were air-conditioned, so all cars on the line became air-conditioned. On 7 May 1992 the 901 series began service, later renamed the 209 series. On 15 February 1993 the 209 series 0 sub-series mass-production cars began service. The last day of 103 series service was 13 March 1998. It had been planned for 12 March, but trains ran on 13 March because of disruption on 12 March.
On 4 July 1998 the Tokyo area transport management system (ATOS) began use. On 22 December 2007 the E233 series began service. On 15 March 2008 through running from the Yokohama Line area to Zushi Station on the Yokosuka Line ended. Sakuragichō to Isogo was transferred from the Railway Construction and Transport Agency to JR East on 1 July 2009, after the lease period ended. Track facilities in that section were transferred to JR East for payment. On 14 August 2009 D-ATC was introduced between Yokohama and Ōfuna. Isogo to Yōkōdai was transferred on 17 March 2010. Women-only cars were introduced on 19 April 2010. Yōkōdai to Ōfuna was transferred on 9 April 2013.
Other railways ran alongside the line. The Yokohama Electric Railway, a street tramway, opened from Kanagawa to Ōe-bashi on 15 July 1904. Its line from Ōe-bashi to Motomachi opened on 24 July 1905. The Yokohama city tram Sugita line opened on 5 December 1925, between Hachimanbashi and Seitenbashi, linking central Yokohama with Isogo and Sugita by tram. On 18 May 1928 the Tokyo Yokohama Electric Railway opened from Kanagawa to Takashima, and on 31 March 1932 from Takashimachō to Sakuragichō. On 1 July 1970 the city tram Honmoku line closed, which ended all city trams beside the Negishi Line. On 4 September 1976 the Yokohama City Subway (now the Blue Line) was extended from Isezaki-Chōjamachi to Yokohama, running beside the Negishi Line between Yokohama and Kannai. On 31 January 2004 the Tokyu Toyoko Line's section from Yokohama to Sakuragichō was abolished. On 1 February 2004 the Minatomirai Line opened from Yokohama to Motomachi-Chūkagai, with through running with the Tokyu Toyoko Line.
On 14 March 2026 one-man operation began on through trains to the Yokohama Line. On 1 July 2026 the railway changed from a branch office system to business headquarters, and the line moved from the Yokohama branch office's control to the Yokohama business headquarters.
See the live map and facts in the Data view →
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.