The Tokaido Line (東海道線, Tōkaidō-sen) is a rapid transit line in Limaru, operated by Emmaru Railways. The line runs from Flower Hill station on the Isle of Pelle to either Twyford station in Chiatung or Manseibashi station on Enshima. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the Tokaido Line is shown using the colour "coffee" (in fact, saddle brown) and its stations are given numbers with the prefix "TK".
Overview
The Tokaido Line is unusual as it is the only rail line classified as a metro that does not use any metro tracks. Tokaido Line trains through run onto the Quay Line to Pelle Junction and Pier Head, and onto mainlines in the northeast towards Takarazaki. The Tokaido Line tracks are also used by outbound trains from Emmaru Katsuragi station to places in the east and southeast such as King's Cross.
Services
The Tokaido Line is one of the few lines which express services run: trains regularly skip Emmaru West, Kyobashi, Kingston Park, Shinsei, and Otaki stations. It is also one of the two lines with double-length trains, the other being the Chiatung Line. This is due to the line's low frequency, with an average of 12 minutes between two services of the same speed and destination.
The Tokaido Line is also a branched line: the line is split into the Twyford and Manseibashi branches. All express trains terminate at Twyford, while local trains terminate at both termini.
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Stations
Trains stop at stations marked "●", do not stop at those marked "｜", and do not pass through those marked "-".
| No. | Station Name | Japanese | Local | Express | Manseibashi | Transfers | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TK9 | Flower Hill | 花の丘 | ● | ● | ● | Quay Line Marina Express Cotton Line |
Lipan |
| TK10 | Emmaru West | 西円丸 | ● | ｜ | ● | Entetsu | |
| TK11 | Emmaru Central | 円丸中央 | ● | ● | ● | Namboku Line Emmaru Line |
Entetsu |
| TK12 | Emmaru East | 東円丸 | ● | ● | ● | Entetsu | |
| TK13 | Gojo | 五条 | ● | ｜ | ● | Entetsu | |
| TK14 | Kyobashi | tba | ● | ｜ | ● | Entetsu | |
| TK15 | Kingston Park | tba | ● | ● | ● | Entetsu | |
| TK17 | Shinsei | 新西 | ● | ｜ | ● | Entetsu | |
| TK18 | Mizuna | 水名 | ● | ● | ● | Entetsu | |
| TK19 | Hokuyo | tba | ● | ● | - | Hanon Line | Entetsu |
| TK20 | Otaki | 大多喜 | ● | ● | - | Hanon Line | Entetsu |
| TK22 | Minagi | tba | ● | ● | - | Hanon Line Tennoji Line |
Entetsu |
| TK24 | Twyford | tba | ● | ● | - | Tozai Line Shyrr Line |
Entetsu |
| TK32 | Toyosato | 豊郷 | - | - | ● | Hanon Line | Entetsu, LURC |
| TK33 | Ankora | - | - | ● | Lexington Metro | ||
| TK34 | Howard | ハワード | - | - | ● | Hanon Line | Lexington Metro |
| TK35 | McPherson | マクファーソン | - | - | ● | Lexington Metro | |
| TK36 | Union | ユニオン | - | - | ● | Hanon Line | Lexington Metro |
| TK37 | Washington Heights | ワシントンハイツ | - | - | ● | Lexington Metro | |
| TK38 | Liberty Road | リバティロード | - | - | ● | - | Lexington Metro |
| TK39 | Manseibashi | 万世橋 | - | - | ● | Emmaru Line Shichirigahama Railway |
Koigawa Railways |
Rolling Stock
Present
Trains are currently 4-car formations of 10-meter-long carriages.
- Emmaru Railways
Former
Lore
The Tokaido Line was opened on 18 September 1887 by Koigawa Railways between the now-defunct Sanjo station and Kamihama East station (now Hokuyo station). It ran a half-hourly service using 10 series steam locomotives and rakes, carrying passengers and freight along the coast of Yokohama.
In 1899, the Shichirigahama line was also built, complete with the branch line from Union to Manseibashi. The 20 series steam locomotives and rakes were introduced this year.
The line was soon expanded northwards to Otaki in 1901. In the south, the booming business of Washington Railways caused Koigawa Railways to abandon Sanjo station and extend the line westwards to Washington Grand Central, the WR's main station, in 1906. The 30 series steam locomotives and rakes were introduced this year.
World War 1 came, and this put a halt to any line expansions that were planned.
The next expansion came in 1922 when the line was expanded to Twyford where it met up with the Llywelyn Pineapple Company's narrow gauge line. This was also the year where another line from Union to Toyosato was built, letting trains run from Flower Hill to Manseibashi. As the Twyford branch was unprofitable, all trains would be routed via Manseibashi from 1923 onwards till 1989.
In 1937, the 60 series electric multiple units were introduced, replacing all the existing 10, 20, and 30 series steam trains. Being a slow line and right by the coast, the Tokaido Line was electrified using a third rail.
In 1960, with the opening of Kotoha station, Emmaru Railways began to run a mainline service called the "Tohoku Line" from Hon-Madokashi to Kotoha using Class C7 trains. This line used the Tokaido Line tracks between Hon-Madokashi and Kamihama Mizuna District stations.
The service pattern did not change until 1986, when Koigawa Railways' financial difficulties after the Great Depression finally caught on with them. Together with the Tennoji Line, they sold the two lines to Emmaru Railways for 500 million emeralds. Emmaru Railways decided to merge the Tohoku and Tokaido Lines, forming the current service pattern.
The change of operators also meant a change in rolling stock. The ageing 60 series and most Class C7 trains were swapped out for brand-new Class C13 trains, except for the morning Tohoku Line service, which continued to use the Class C7 until their retirement in 2001. The Class C13 were futuristic trains of their time, containing LCD panels which displayed advertisements and train information. However, they were of a 2+2 formation, which made decoupling easy, but their center cabs meant that half the cab cars were useless.
In 2009, the new C28 stock was purchased from EndeRails to augment the C13 stock. As the Tokaido Line did not have platform screen doors, these trains had wider doors and larger door intervals to reduce wait time and increase comfort. Unlike the C13 stock, these trains were also dual-mode to enable long-distance running.
As the years rolled on, the third rail mainline began to pose a problem. Most main line trains were only powered by a pantograph, which is incompatible with third rails. This made Entetsu re-electrify the line in 2020 with an electric catenary and phase out the C13 stock. As the C13 stock were still fairly new, most cars were sold back to the Shafterlands to be refurbished and used on rural services, with one train, 13605-13606+13607-13608, relegated to crew transportation and rescue work on the Tozai Line. This train would eventually find itself in the Limaru Transport Museum as a locomotive to haul even older cars on museum runs, with its own interior refreshed for visitors.
The 11-year old C28 stock was then replaced by the new C307 stock due to a new requirement within Entetsu for all trains to be platform door-compatible. in 2023, with the C28 stocks fully relegated to long distance commuter services with no platform doors. While the shortening of car ends to fit standards was considered, the unique single-part build of the cab ends meant that the fronts of cab cars would need to be completely discarded, and the bogies would need to be replaced. Ultimately, buying new trains was considered a more cost-effective option. However, a significant number of trailers would still be kept as part of the C307 consist.
However, the C307 stock was extremely prone to breakdowns, causing Entetsu to relegate some of the C28 stock back to the Tokaido Line. This meant that a large refurbishment of the C28 had to take place, such as moving the door positions to be compatible with platform doors. The Class C307, in turn, were used for spare parts for other trains, with one unit in static display at the Transport Museum.