The Ikegami Line (池上線) is a railway run by Tokyu Railways (東急電鉄). It runs between Gotanda Station in Shinagawa, Tokyo, and Kamata Station in Ōta, Tokyo.
History
The Ikegami Line was opened by the Ikegami Electric Railway (池上電気鉄道) to carry worshippers to the Ikegami Honmonji temple. The first section, from Kamata to Ikegami, opened on 6 October 1922. It is the earliest-opened section of the Tokyu lines that still operate. The line reached Yukigaya on 4 May 1923. In 1926 Keio University Ground-mae Station (now Chidori-chō) opened on 6 August. Chōfu-Ōtsuka Station opened on 19 August 1927. The line reached Kiriyagaya on 28 August 1927, and the section from Kiriyagaya to Ōsaki-Hirokōji opened on 9 October 1927. The line was completed on 17 June 1928, when the section from Ōsaki-Hirokōji to Gotanda opened.
The company came under the Tokyo Kawasaki group and opened a branch called the Okusawa line in 1928. On 1 June 1933 Yukigaya station was merged with Chōfu-Ōtsuka and renamed Yukigaya-Ōtsuka. On 1 October 1934 Ikegami Electric Railway was absorbed by Meguro Kamata Electric Railway. The line was said to have been bought in 1934 by Meguro Kamata Electric Railway (目黒蒲田電鉄), a predecessor of Tokyu, to stop a plan that would have run the line toward Kokubunji on the Chūō Line and cut into its own development land. The branch was closed in 1935 because it was not profitable. On 1 January 1936 Higashi-Chōfu was renamed Kugahara, and Keio University Ground-mae was renamed Chidori-chō. On 25 July 1945 Kiriyagaya station was suspended, and it was abolished on 12 August 1953. On 1 May 1951 Hatagaoka station was moved to the crossing with the Ōimachi Line and merged with Hatanodai station.
From 15 December 1953 some trains ran as three-car sets between Gotanda and Yukigaya-Ōtsuka. From 1 April 1956 all trains ran as three-car sets. On 10 August 1957 the overhead line voltage was raised from 600 V to 1500 V. In-car alarm equipment, the forerunner of ATS, was introduced on 1 December 1963. In the 1960s Tokyu planned a new Sengakuji Line (泉岳寺線) to link Sengakuji with Kiriyagaya, which would have reopened Kiriyagaya station. The plan was dropped in January 1965, when Tokyu chose to run through trains with the Teito Rapid Transit Authority's Hanzōmon Line instead. Nagahara station went underground on 9 June 1968. ATS (Tokyu ATS) was introduced on 1 April 1970, which completed ATS across all Tokyu railway lines.
A hit song also titled Ikegami Line (池上線) was released in 1976 and spread the line's name across Japan. Its lyrics seemed to suggest that the trains were old and in poor condition, and Tokyu issued comments denying this. Most cars then were the older first-generation 3000 series, which included pre-war Deha 3450 type cars, and some had been in service for more than 40 years. On 9 May 1984 air-conditioned 7200 series cars began running on the line. Platforms at Ōsaki-Hirokōji, Tokoshi-Ginza and Chidori-chō were lengthened for them. On 9 March 1989 the first-generation 3000 series was withdrawn, except for one reserve set. From the next day the line used only stainless steel 7200 and 7600 series cars. Ebara-Nakanobu station went underground on 19 March 1989. On 18 August 1989 the grade separation between Tokoshi-Ginza and Hatanodai was completed and slow running there was lifted, which gave a speed-up of about one minute across the whole line.
On 30 January 1993 1000N' series cars transferred from the Meguro Line (目蒲線) began service. On 15 March 1993 the 1000N' series began service as the first new cars for the line in 63 years. In March 1995 the 7700 series began service on the line, and in October 1995 the 7200 series ended service on it. On 15 May 1997 a trial of TASC, a system Japanese Wikipedia names, began. One-man operation started on 16 March 1998 as a trial. From 29 April 1998 it became full one-man operation, and conductors were gradually removed from trains.
For the 80th anniversary of the line, special trains ran on 16 December 2007. One of them was named Meikyoku Ikegami-gō (名曲池上線号), recognising the song's role in spreading the name. On 25 December 2007 the second-generation 7000 series began service, the first new cars for the line in 14 years. On 10 May 2014 the 1000 series 1500 sub-series began service. In 2017 Shinagawa and Ōta launched a 'Seikatsu Meisho' project to revitalise the areas along the line. On 9 October 2017 a 90th anniversary event made rides on the line free for that day with a one-day pass. On 23 and 24 November 2018 the 'Ikegami Line Whole-Line Festival' was held at all stations on the line, the first such event in the Tokyo area. On 20 March 2025 Gotanda station began using platform doors, the first on the Ikegami and Tokyu Tamagawa lines.
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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.