The Setagaya Line (世田谷線) is a street tram line run by Tokyu Electric Railway (東急電鉄). It runs from Sangenjaya Station to Shimotakaido Station in Setagaya ward, Tokyo.
History
The line began as the Shimotakaido Line (下高井戸線), a branch of the Tamagawa Electric Railway (玉川電気鉄道, known as the Tama-den (玉電)). On 18 January 1925 the Sangenjaya to Setagaya section opened. On 1 May 1925 the rest of the line, from Setagaya to Shimotakaido, opened. On 10 March 1938 the Tamagawa Electric Railway was merged into Tokyo Yokohama Electric Railway (東京横浜電鉄), a predecessor of Tokyu, and it became the Tamagawa Line (玉川線). That is why the line is still sometimes called the Tama-den, the old short name of the Tamagawa Line.
On 11 May 1969 the Tamagawa Line section from Shibuya to Futakotamagawa-en was closed. The remaining Shimotakaido Line was renamed the Setagaya Line. Most of the line ran on newly built track, and Japanese Wikipedia says the failure to build a parallel road helped it avoid closure. The Tamagawa Line's Ōhashi depot could no longer be used, so a new depot was built near Kamimachi station. Stations whose names had the Tama-den prefix were renamed. From 1969 until the New Tamagawa Line opened in 1977, the line was isolated and did not connect with other Tokyu lines.
On 11 November 1992 Sangenjaya station was moved about 170 m towards Shimotakaido, to make way for redevelopment in front of the station. Sangenjaya and Nishi-Taishidō are now only 0.3 km apart. The timetable change that day was the first in 23 and a half years, since the one of 11 May 1969. On 11 July 1999 300 series low-floor cars began service, and the platforms were raised to remove the steps. The raising was done for barrier-free access. It was done at all stations on 10 February 2001, after the last train, on the eve of all cars becoming 300 series. The first 300 series cars (301F to 306F) had steps like the old cars, but these were filled in when the platforms were raised.
On 1 April 2000 a fan group, the Setagaya Line Supporters Club (世田谷線サポーターズクラブ), was set up. From May 2001 the line planted flowers beside the track in a project called Setagaya Line Flowering. Planting goes on one or two times a year, with the aim of making the view from the train more pleasant. It is planned to reach Shimotakaido. Weeds such as horsetail grow naturally on some sections. They are cut during track work only if they grow high enough to affect trains, and the line does not try to remove them completely.
From 2011 the Setagaya Line held joint events with the Toei Arakawa Line (都電荒川線). The first was Happy on the Yellow Train! in November 2011. In 2013 all stations were given LED lighting.
On 25 March 2019 the line switched the power for its trains and stations to 100% renewable energy, so it ran with zero net CO2 emissions. The Tohoku Electric Power plan was used. Japanese Wikipedia says running all-day trains on 100% renewable electricity was the first such effort in Japan. From 14 April 2023 the line began updating its train information displays. The automatic announcements changed to a synthetic voice from ReadSpeaker, and English announcements were added.
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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.