The Ueno-Tokyo Line (上野東京ライン) is the operating name for a set of through services run by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Trains on the Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line), Takasaki Line and Jōban Line run through Ueno Station in Taito, Tokyo, and Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, and link with the Tōkaidō Line.
History
The first railway track between Tokyo and Ueno was laid in 1925 for electric trains on the Tōhoku Line. These trains correspond to today's Keihin-Tōhoku Line. On 1 April 1928, under the Railway Ministry, the first train track of the Tōhoku Line was laid between Tokyo and Ueno. It began a middle-distance train line on that stretch. After the Second World War, the track was used for stabling trains and for empty and freight train runs. In July 1946 a special train for Allied forces, the Yankee Limited, became the first through train on the line. The Japanese National Railways (JNR) was formed in 1947, and during the 1954 to 1956 track work, Joban Line electric trains that normally turned back at Ueno ran on to Yūrakuchō in the mornings and evenings.
Trains did not run through to Tokyo Station for long. From March 1973 scheduled trains stopped running into Tokyo Station, because of land issues for the Tōhoku Shinkansen and cuts to the platforms at Tokyo Station. Special trains that started at Shinagawa for homeward travel ended at the end of 1975. On 31 January 1983 the last postal, luggage, empty and group trains that still ran through were stopped. The track was then cut between Kanda and Akihabara to free the land for the Shinkansen, so Tōhoku Line trains could no longer reach Tokyo Station. Inside JNR the track was often called the Tokyo–Ueno empty-train line.
The Tokyo to Ueno section of the Shinkansen opened on 20 June 1991. It was built over the old track bed, on piers that could be extended upward. Trains of the Tōhoku, Yamagata, Akita, Jōetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines run into Tokyo Station on this section. The Yamagata line began on 1 July 1992, the Akita line on 22 March 1997, and the Jōetsu and Hokuriku lines on 1 October 1997. For some years after the Shinkansen opened, no middle- or long-distance trains ran on the Tokyo to Ueno track beside the Yamanote and Keihin-Tōhoku lines. JR East, which inherited those lines from JNR, had long wanted through running. In February 1993 JR East studied extending Jōban, Tōhoku and Takasaki line trains to Tokyo Station and linking them with the Tōkaidō Line. The aims were to ease crowding at Ueno and to keep Jōban line passengers from leaving for the Jōban New Line, later the Tsukuba Express. Residents of the Kanda area strongly opposed the plan, and it did not move forward.
The 1999 transport ministry urban development survey put the cost of the work between Tokyo and Akihabara and at Ueno station at 300億円 (300 oku yen), plus costs for Akihabara station. Saitama Prefecture, which had asked for Utsunomiya and Takasaki line trains to reach Tokyo Station, watched the results closely. In report No. 18 of the Transport Policy Council in 2000, the line was named as one that should open by 2015. After this, JR East began serious study. On 27 March 2002 it announced a plan to build a new track between Tokyo and Akihabara, with a target of the end of fiscal 2009. The new track would sit on the raised viaduct above the old Tōhoku Shinkansen track bed, using the space reserved for supporting pillars. It was also decided that there would be no stations between Ueno and Tokyo, for cost and passenger flow reasons. The cost was first announced as 300億円, the same as the survey, and JR East said it would pay the whole cost from its own funds.
Opponents took the matter to court, and full construction was delayed by a long time. The plan to finish the environmental assessment in fiscal 2004 was overtaken by these delays, and the fiscal 2009 completion target was also postponed. The assessment report, submitted in September 2007, was rated satisfactory, with some parts rated mostly satisfactory. On 26 March 2008 JR East announced that work would start in May 2008 and finish in fiscal 2013. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on 30 May 2008. Reports said the cost would rise by 100億円 to 400億円. Work over the Shinkansen between Kanda and Tokyo was done at night, after the last Shinkansen train. Staff were ready to turn trains back at Ueno if an overhead wire was cut.
The Tōhoku earthquake (東北地方太平洋沖地震, the Great East Japan Earthquake) affected the work. On 12 April 2012 JR East changed part of the plan and aimed to open in fiscal 2014. In December 2013 it announced opening in March 2015. The line opened on 14 March 2015, close to the target year in report No. 18. The name Ueno-Tokyo Line was chosen on 9 December 2013. In 2014 the rail-fastening ceremony was held on 4 June, a public open day on 12 July, and test running began on 29 July. Crew training started on 1 August. The outline of the through services was announced on 30 October 2014, and the opening timetable on 19 December 2014. Through services on the linked lines have run since the opening.
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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.