Kokubunji Station (国分寺駅) is run by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Seibu Railway. The JR line served is the Chūō Line (Rapid). It opened on 11 April 1889.
History
Kokubunji Station (国分寺駅) opened on 11 April 1889, together with the Kōbu Railway (甲武鉄道) line between Shinjuku and Tachikawa. It handled passengers and freight from the start. On 21 December 1894 the Kawagoe Railway (川越鉄道) opened; this is today's Seibu Kokubunji Line. On 1 October 1906 the Kōbu Railway was nationalised. On 12 October 1909 the line was named the Chūō East Line, which later became the Chūō Line. On 20 November 1920 double-track electrification was completed to this station and electric trains began running.
On 1 December 1921 the Shimogawara Line closed to passengers and its track became a siding inside the station. On 6 April 1928 the Tamako Railway (later the Seibu Tamako Line) opened. On 15 October 1928 the double track between Kokubunji and Kunitachi was completed. On 5 March 1929 that section was electrified. On 16 June 1931 the Kokubunji engine depot closed. On 12 March 1940 the Tamako Railway merged into the Musashino Railway. On 1 October 1944 passenger service on the Shimogawara Line was suspended. On 22 September 1945 the Musashino Railway merged with the old Seibu Railway. On 15 November 1946 the company was renamed Seibu Railway. On 24 April 1947 the Shimogawara Line resumed passenger service.
On 1 June 1949 the Japanese National Railways (JNR) was formed. On 1 July 1952 freight service began on the Shimogawara Line between here and Kitafuchū. On 1 December 1956 the JNR south station building was completed and opened. On 1 April 1973 the Shimogawara Line was closed between here, Kitafuchū and Tokyo Racecourse-mae when the Musashino Line opened. On 20 September 1976 freight handling at the JNR station ended.
In 1986 work began to rebuild the JNR station, which would add platforms and tracks, a station building on an elevated structure, and a new station building complex. On 1 April 1987 the JNR station became part of JR East. On 1 December 1988 the JR platforms were rebuilt with more tracks, and the elevated station building was completed. On 1 March 1989 the station building Marui Kokubunji L (丸井・国分寺エル) was completed. On 30 July 1992 automatic ticket gates were installed at the JR station. On 10 April 1993 the Ōme Special Rapid (青梅特快) began to stop here, so all Special Rapid trains now stop. The Commuter Special Rapid also began to stop here.
On 15 June 1994 the section between Kunitachi and Tachikawa was electrified, and some trains from Shinjuku and Iidamachi began to run through Kokubunji without stopping. On 18 November 2001 Suica became usable on JR. On 23 March 2002 Narita Express trains began running from Takao, and one Narita Airport train started stopping here. On 12 March 2003 the Seibu Kokubunji Line began regular through service from here to Shin-Tokorozawa; On 25 October 2013 the station building Kokubunji L was renamed Serio Kokubunji. On 4 March 2017 the JR platform jingle was changed to Densha Gokko (電車ごっこ). On 2 March 2021 and 12 March 2021 platform doors came into use on Seibu platforms. On 16 March 2024 the Narita Express service to the Chūō Rapid Line ended, and no limited express train stops here now.
See all 51 dated events in the Data view →
Written by an AI from this station's own sourced facts (the dated events in the Data view), nothing else, and checked by a program for dates and numbers that are not in those facts. It can still be wrong. Found a mistake? . Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; this text is shared under the same licence.