The Yokohama Line is a Japanese railway line of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) connecting Higashi-Kanagawa Station in Yokohama, Kanagawa and Hachiōji Station in Hachiōji, Tokyo. The line forms part of what JR East refers to as the "Tokyo Mega Loop" around Tokyo, consisting of the Keiyo Line, Musashino Line, Nambu Line, and Yokohama Line. The line's name comes from the section between Nagatsuta and Higashi-Kanagawa that runs through the city of Yokohama. Nicknamed the Hama-sen (浜線) by locals, the line serves commuters in the southwestern suburbs of Tokyo and northeastern suburbs of Yokohama.

History

The line was opened by the private Yokohama Railway (横浜鉄道) on 23 September 1908 and leased to the government in 1910. The line was nationalized on 1 October 1917. The Higashi-Kanagawa to Haramachida (now Machida) section was electrified on 1 October 1932, with the Haramachida to Hachiōji section electrified on 14 April 1941. The Higashi-Kanagawa to Kozukue section was double-tracked by 1968, extended to Aihara by 1980, and completed to Hachiōji on 6 March 1988. Through service trains from the Sagami Line began on 16 March 1991, when that line was fully electrified. Station numbering was introduced on 20 August 2016 with stations being assigned station numbers between JH13 and JH32. Numbers increase towards in the westbound direction towards Hachioji. Through service operation from the Sagami Line onto the Yokohama Line ended on 11 March 2022.

Operation

Despite the line's name, only approximately half of all trains run as far as Yokohama Station. Rapid (快速) trains operate every 20 minutes during the daytime.

Stations

Rolling stock

Local and Rapid services

Former

Sagami Line through services 8-car 205 series EMU trains were introduced in 1988. In these sets, the second car from the Higashi-Kanagawa end had six pairs of doors on each side to allow rapid boarding and disembarking during peak periods. The last 205 series set on the Yokohama Line ran on 23 August 2014.