The Tsurumi Line (鶴見線) is a main line run by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from Tsurumi Station in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, to Ōgimachi Station in Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. It also has a branch from Asano to Umishibaura and a branch from Musashi-Shiraishi to Ōkawa.
History
The Tsurumi Rinkō Railway (鶴見臨港鉄道) was founded in 1924 by the Asano group, with Asano Sōichirō as president. On 10 March 1926 freight lines opened from Hamakawasaki to Benten-bashi and from the Ōkawa branch point to Ōkawa. Stations opened at Benten-bashi, Asano, Anzen-chō, Musashi-Shiraishi and Ōkawa, and trains ran into the government Hamakawasaki station. On 10 April 1926 the Sekiyu branch opened, with Sekiyu station, later renamed Hamaanzen. On 18 August 1928 the line was extended from Hamakawasaki to Ōgimachi. On 14 March 1929 Watada station opened between Asano and Hamakawasaki.
On 28 October 1930 the whole line was electrified, and the section from the temporary Tsurumi station to Benten-bashi opened. On 10 June 1932 the Asano to Shin-Shibaura section opened, after the line bought a private siding of Shibaura Seisakusho, now Toshiba. On 23 December 1934 a connection opened to the government Tsurumi station, so Tsurumi Line trains could run into it. On 1 November 1940 the Shin-Shibaura to Umishibaura branch was extended as a passenger line, and Umishibaura station opened.
On 25 December 1938 passenger service between Anzen-dōri and Sekiyu ended, and Anzen-bashi stop closed. On 1 July 1943 the Tsurumi Rinkō Railway was designated a wartime-purchase private railway and nationalised as the Tsurumi Line. Several stops were upgraded to stations and renamed then, including Anzen-dōri, which became Anzen, and Sekiyu, which became Hamaanzen. Air raids damaged Asano station on 15 April 1945, and the Umishibaura branch stopped running. On 1 August 1945 air raids stopped the Ōkawa branch. The Umishibaura branch was restored on 9 February 1948. On 1 May 1948 the overhead line voltage was raised from 600 V to 1,500 V. The Ōkawa branch was restored on 9 February 1950.
On 1 March 1971 all stations except Tsurumi became unstaffed. In 1972 the 72 series began running. Platforms at Kokudō and Asano were altered so that 20 m cars could enter, except on the Ōkawa branch, but the platforms were not lengthened, so trains ran with at most 3 cars. On 12 March 1979 a local train from Tsurumi bound for Ōgimachi derailed on a bridge crossing the Tōkaidō Line before Kokudō station. An oncoming train also derailed, and 1 person was injured. On 4 December 1979 the 101 series began service. 103 series cars were newly built for the Chūō-Sōbu local line, and the 101 series cars they freed up were moved to the Tsurumi Line. The last run of the 72 series was on 20 January 1980.
On 15 November 1982 the Asano to Tsurumi-kawaguchi freight branch was abolished, and its track stayed as a siding until 31 October 1986. Freight service between Asano and Shin-Shibaura also ended. On 1 November 1986 the Anzen to Hamaanzen freight branch was abolished, but its track remained. 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 freight routes. On 2 August 1990 the 103 series began service. Farewell runs for the 101 series were held on 4, 9 and 10 May 1992. On 11 May 1992, after the farewell runs, 101 series cars ran only in the morning rush hour. On 15 March 1996 the last Kumoha 12 cars on the Ōkawa branch ended service. On 16 March 1996 103 series cars began running on the Ōkawa branch. Because the Ōkawa branch platform at Musashi-Shiraishi was removed, through trains from Tsurumi were added, and Ōkawa branch trains passed Musashi-Shiraishi without stopping. On 1 October 1996 the whole line came under JR East's Yokohama branch office.
On 13 and 14 December 2003 the last 101 series cars, which had run on the Nambu branch, held a farewell run on this line, and the 101 series was fully retired. On 25 August 2004 the 205 series began service. On 17 December 2005 a 103 series train was taken out of service after a fault at Tsurumi-Ono the day before, which ended its service in practice. On 17 March 2006 the 103 series ended service officially. On 30 and 31 October 2010 a special train ran the whole line to mark 80 years of passenger service. From 1 October 2011 to 9 January 2012 a day pass called the Burari Tsurumi Line Pass was sold, allowing unlimited rides for a day on the Tsurumi Line, the Nanbu Line branch and some other sections. On 24 December 2023 the E131 series began service. On 16 March 2024 the E131 series was fully introduced, the 205 series ended scheduled service, and one-man operation began across the whole line. On 1 July 2026 the railway changed from a branch office system to business headquarters, and the whole line moved from the Yokohama branch to the Kawasaki business headquarters.
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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.