Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line Explained

Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line
Native Name:横浜市営地下鉄ブルーライン
Native Name Lang:ja
Linenumber:1 & 3
Type:Rapid transit
System:Yokohama Municipal Subway
Locale:Yokohama, Fujisawa
Stations:32
Routes:Line 1 (Shonandai–Kannai)
Line 3 (Kannai–Azamino)
Daily Ridership:513,897 (FY2014)
Owner:Yokohama City Transportation Bureau
Operator:Yokohama City Transportation Bureau
Depot:Kaminagaya, Nippa
Stock:3000 series
4000 series
Linelength: (Line 1: 19.7 km, Line 3: 20.7 km)
Tracks:2

The is a rapid transit line serving Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the longer of the two lines in the Yokohama Municipal Subway system operated by Yokohama City Transportation Bureau, and is the second-longest subway line in Japan at 40.4km (25.1miles) in length, surpassed only by the 40.7sp=usNaNsp=us long Toei Oedo Line in Tokyo. Unlike most metro lines in Japan, it uses third rail for power instead of overhead lines. It is the most recent newly built steel-wheel railway line in Japan to do so.

The Blue Line is divided into two operating segments: Line 3 from in Aoba-ku, Yokohama to, and Line 1 from Kannai to in Fujisawa. Local and rapid services operate continuously on both lines 1 and 3 as a single service.

Following the opening of the Green Line on 30 March 2008, the line was nicknamed the "Blue Line". The line color is blue and the line symbol used in the station numbering is B.

Operations

Rapid

Rapid trains stop at all stations from Shonandai to Totsuka, and from Nippa to Azamino. Between Totsuka and Nippa, they only stop at Kaminagaya, Kamiooka, Kannai, Sakuragicho, Yokohama, and Shin-Yokohama. Essentially, rapid trains stop at only interchange stations and Kaminagaya in this section.

Rapid services began operating on 18 July 2015.

Local

During the daytime, there are two trains that direct the Shonandai station-Azamino station between 30 minutes, Odoriba Station-Azamino station and the Shonandai station-Nippa station, each of which is operated by one.

About the interval train to the Odoriba station is usually the meeting of the fast at the Kaminagaya station, usually at the Nippa station departure and take the rapid connection with the Nippa station of the first train terminal. There are a lot of Azamino trains which depart from the Nippa station and Kaminagaya station with the garage mainly in the early morning and midnight although the whole train becomes usual time zone excluding daytime, and many trains drive directly between the station-Shonandai station.

Moreover, there is one connected to Shonandai at the Kaminagaya station on the end of the terminal by the train which goes to Kaminagaya on a weekday, six on a Saturday holiday, and the Azamino departure. Although Blue is mainly used in the direction curtain display of the vehicle and the guidance of the station campus, it is not necessarily united in case of green.

Station list

LineNo.StationJapaneseDistance (km)RapidTransfersLocationCountry represented
(during 2002 WC)
3B32Azaminoあざみ野0.0 Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line (DT16)Aoba-ku, Yokohama
B31Nakagawa中川1.5Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama
B30Center Kitaセンター北3.1 (Line 4, G05)
B29Center Minamiセンター南4.0 (Line 4, G04)
B28Nakamachidai仲町台6.3
B27Nippa新羽8.6Kōhoku-ku, Yokohama
B26Kita Shin-Yokohama北新横浜9.6||||-| B25|Shin-Yokohama|新横浜|align=right| 10.9|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●|||-| B24|Kishine-kōen|岸根公園|align=right| 12.5|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"||
B23Katakurachō片倉町13.7|||rowspan=3|Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama||-| B22|Mitsuzawa-kamichō|三ツ沢上町|align=right| 15.6|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"||
B21Mitsuzawa-shimochō三ツ沢下町16.5||||-| B20|Yokohama|横浜|align=right| 17.9|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●||rowspan=2|Nishi-ku, Yokohama||-| B19|Takashimachō|高島町|align=right| 18.8|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"||
B18Sakuragichō桜木町20.0 Negishi Line (JK11)Naka-ku, Yokohama
B17Kannai関内20.7 Negishi Line (JK10)
1
B16Isezakichōjamachi伊勢佐木長者町21.4||||-| B15|Bandōbashi|阪東橋|align=right| 22.3|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"||Minami-ku, Yokohama
B14Yoshinochō吉野町22.8||||-| B13|Maita|蒔田|align=right| 23.9|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"||
B12Gumyōji弘明寺25.0||||-| B11|Kami-Ōoka|上大岡|align=right| 26.6|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●| Keikyu Main Line (KK44)|rowspan=4|Kōnan-ku, Yokohama||-| B10|Kōnan-Chūō|港南中央|align=right| 27.7|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"||
B09Kaminagaya上永谷29.4
B08Shimonagaya下永谷30.7||||-| B07|Maioka|舞岡|align=right| 31.4|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"||||rowspan=2|Totsuka-ku, Yokohama||-| B06|Totsuka|戸塚|align=right| 33.0|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●|||-| B05|Odoriba|踊場|align=right| 34.7|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●||rowspan=4|Izumi-ku, Yokohama||-| B04|Nakada|中田|align=right| 35.6|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●|||-| B03|Tateba|立場|align=right| 36.7|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●|||-| B02|Shimoiida|下飯田|align=right| 38.8|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●|||- out of transfer sotetsu izumino line yumegaoka station

| B01|Shōnandai|湘南台|align=right| 40.4|style="background-color:#ebb; text-align:center;"|●||Fujisawa, Kanagawa||}

Rolling stock

, the line is operated using a fleet of 37 six-car 3000 series EMUs based at Kaminagaya Depot.[1] The fleet is subdivided into eight first-batch 3000A series sets (numbered 24 to 31), seven-second-batch 3000N series sets (numbered 32 to 38), fourteen third-batch 3000R series sets (numbered 39 to 52), and eight fourth-batch 3000S series sets (numbered 53 to 60).

A fifth-batch 3000V series six-car set entered service on the line on 9 April 2017.[2]

The 4000 series began appearing in service on 2 May 2022.[4]

Former

  • 14 × 6-car EMUs (from December 1972 until November 2006)
  • 9 × 6-car EMUs (from 1984 until November 2006)

History

In 1965, construction of Line 1 and Line 3 began. The subway was inaugurated on 16 September 1972, when the long initial section of Line 1 opened between Kami-Ōoka and Isezakichōjamachi stations. On 4 September 1976, Line 1 was extended in both directions: and 2 stations to the southwest (from Kami-Ōoka to Kaminagaya), and and 1 station to the north (from Isezakichōjamachi to Kannai); the long initial section of Line 3 between Kannai and Yokohama also opened that same day and through services between Line 1 and Line 3 began.

On 14 March 1985, two extensions opened: a, 5 station extension of Line 3 from Yokohama to Shin-Yokohama, and a, 2 station extension of Line 1 from Kaminagaya to Maioka. Line 1 would be extended by one station to Totsuka (a distance of) on 27 August 1989; a temporary station was in operation at that location from 24 May 1987 until that date. The most recent extension of Line 3, a section from Shin-Yokohama to Azamino opened on 18 March 1993. The final section of Line 1 from Totsuka to Shōnandai opened on 28 August 1999.

From July 2015, limited-stop "Rapid" services were introduced on the line, with approximately two services operating per hour during the daytime off-peak. Journey times over the entire length of the line were reduced by up to 10 minutes from the 1 hour 7 minutes taken by all-stations services.[5] From 4 March 2017, the intervals between rapid trains was decreased to 20 minutes.

On 21 January 2020, Yokohama City and Kawasaki City announced the route and four new stations for the planned extension from Azamino to Shin-Yurigaoka Station on the Odakyū Odawara Line.[6] [7] Construction of this section is expected to complete by 2030. In June 2020, the Transportation Bureau started environmental impact asssesment procedures of the extension project.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: ja: 私鉄車両編成表 2016 . Private Railway Rolling Stock Formations – 2016 . Kotsu Shimbunsha . July 25, 2016 . Japan . ja . 81. 978-4-330-70116-5.
  2. ja: 4/9,横浜市交通局3000V形デビュー. April 9: Yokohama Municipal Subway 3000V series debut . . 57. 675 . 155 . Koyusha Co., Ltd. . Japan . ja . July 2017.
  3. Web site: 2021-12-13 . 横浜市営地下鉄ブルーラインに4000形を導入 . Yokohama Municipal Subway to introduce new 4000 series vehicles on the Blue Line . 2021-12-26 . Japan Railfan Magazine Online . Koyusha Co., Ltd. . ja.
  4. Web site: 2 May 2022 . 横浜市営地下鉄ブルーライン「4000形」2022年5月2日運行開始 . Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line "4000 type" starts operation on May 2, 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220502041430/https://www.hamakei.com/photoflash/7641/ . 2 May 2022 . 3 May 2022 . Hamakei Online.
  5. Web site: http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH2B4JDPH2BULOB01Z.html . ja:横浜市営地下鉄ブルーラインに快速 7月から . Rapid trains on Yokohama Subway Blue Line from July. February 12, 2015. Asahi Shimbun Digital . The Asahi Shimbun Company. Japan. ja. https://web.archive.org/web/20150211235553/http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH2B4JDPH2BULOB01Z.html. February 11, 2015. dead . February 14, 2015.
  6. Web site: 2020-01-21 . 横浜市営地下鉄ブルーラインの延伸「あざみ野~新百合ヶ丘」概略ルート・駅位置が決定しました! . 2023-03-20 . City of Yokohama.
  7. Web site: 川崎市:事業計画の概要 . 2023-03-20 . www.city.kawasaki.jp.
  8. Web site: 3号線延伸取組状況 . 2023-03-20 . www.city.yokohama.lg.jp . ja.