Keisei Electric Railway

The Keisei Electric Railway Company, Ltd.[2] (stylized as K'SEI since 2001) is a major private railway in Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo, Japan. The name Keisei is the combination of the kanji 京 from Tokyo ()and 成 from Narita (), which the railway's main line connects. The combination uses different readings than the ones used in the city names. The railway's main line runs from Tokyo to Narita and the eastern suburb cities of Funabashi, Narashino, Yachiyo, and Sakura. Keisei runs an airport limited express train called the Skyliner from Ueno and Nippori to Narita International Airport.

Keisei Electric Railway Company, Ltd.
Native name
京成電鉄株式会社
Keisei Dentetsu kabushiki gaisha
Company typePublic KK
TYO: 9009
Nikkei 225 component
IndustryPrivate railroad
Founded30 June 1909; 115 years ago (1909-06-30)
HeadquartersYawata, Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan
Key people
Tsutomu Hanada (Chairman)
Toshiya Kobayashi [jp] (Representative Director & President)
Owners
Number of employees
1,728 (2019)[1]
SubsidiariesThe Oriental Land Company (22.06%)
Keisei Bus
Shin-Keisei Electric Railway
Hokuso Railway
Websitewww.keisei.co.jp
Keisei Electric Railway mon, introduced in 1964

In addition to its railway business, the Keisei Electric Railway Company owns large bus and taxi services and some real estate holdings. It owns a controlling share of the Oriental Land Company which owns and manages the Tokyo Disney Resort. Keisei is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 index.[3]

History

edit

Keisei was founded on June 30, 1909 and began services on November 3, 1912, initially operating local train service in eastern Tokyo. Its main line reached Narita in 1930 and Ueno in 1933.[4]

Originally a narrow gauge (1,372 mm or 4 ft 6 in Scotch gauge) operator, Keisei converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge in 1959. In 1960, Keisei began through service with the Toei Asakusa Line, the first interline through service arrangement in Japan.[4]

Skyliner service began in 1973 and started serving the airport in 1978, when the first Narita Airport Station opened (today's Higashi-Narita station). A new underground station was opened in 1991 to provide a more direct connection to terminal 1, and in 1992 service began to terminal 2.[4] On July 17, 2010, Skyliner switched its route to the newly built Narita Sky Access and reduced the travel time by 15 minutes.[5]

Future plans

edit

On 31 October 2023, Keisei announced plans to acquire its subsidiary Shin-Keisei Electric Railway.[6][7] The acquisition is expected to be completed by April 2025. Plans for the renaming of the existing Shin Keisei Line are expected to be revealed at a later date.

Lines

edit

Keisei operates 152.8 km (94.9 mi) of railway that consists of one trunk line named the Main Line and six branch lines.[1]

 
Map of Keisei Electric Railway
Line name Japanese Endpoints Distance Type1
Main Line 本線 Keisei-Ueno – Komaino Junction 67.2 km (41.8 mi) 1
Komaino Junction – Narita Airport Terminal 1 2.1 km (1.3 mi) 2
Oshiage Line 押上線 OshiageAoto 5.7 km (3.5 mi) 1
Chiba Line 千葉線 Keisei-TsudanumaChiba Chūō 12.9 km (8.0 mi) 1
Chihara Line 千原線 Chiba ChūōChiharadai 10.9 km (6.8 mi) 1
Higashi-Narita Line 東成田線 Keisei-NaritaHigashi-Narita 7.1 km (4.4 mi) 1
Kanamachi Line 金町線 Keisei-TakasagoKeisei-Kanamachi 2.5 km (1.6 mi) 1
Narita Airport Line
(Narita Sky Access)
成田空港線 Keisei-Takasago – Narita Airport Terminal 1 51.4 km (31.9 mi) 2
Overlap Keisei-Narita – Komaino Junction2 (6.0 km (3.7 mi)) 1
Narita Airport Terminal 2·3 – Narita Airport Terminal 13 (1.0 km (0.6 mi)) 2
Total 152.8 km (94.9 mi)
Projected lines (exp. 2029)
(Chihara Line extension) Chiharadai – Amaariki 8.2 km (5.1 mi) 1

Legend

  1. "Type" indicates the type of railway business under the Railway Business Act of Japan. Type 1 operator owns and operates the railway while Type 2 operator operates but does not owns the railway.
  2. This section is shared by the Main Line and the Higashi-Narita Line.
  3. This section is shared by the Main Line and the Narita Airport Line.

Subsidiaries

edit

Keisei Group includes:

Companies related to Keisei, although not a group member:

Rolling stock

edit

Limited express

edit

Commuter

edit

Former

edit

Limited express

edit

Commuter

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "KEISEI Group | IR/Corporate Information". KEISEI Group. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  2. ^ 京成電鉄株式会社, Keisei Dentetsu Kabushiki-gaisha
  3. ^ "Components - Nikkei Indexes". Retrieved 17 Mar 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "KEISEI Group | IR/Corporate Information". KEISEI Group. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  5. ^ "京成電鉄「成田スカイアクセス」開業にともない7月17日にダイヤ改正を実施" [Timetable Revisions to take place on Keisei Railway on 17 July for Opening of the Narita Airport Line]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). 28 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  6. ^ "京成電鉄、新京成電鉄を吸収合併へ2025年4月 現在の路線・駅は維持する方針" [Keisei Electric Railway will absorb the Shin-Keisei Electric Railway in April 2025; Plans made to maintain current routes and stations]. Chiba Nippo (in Japanese). 31 October 2023. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  7. ^ "新京成電鉄、解散・消滅へ - 京成電鉄が吸収合併、2025年実施予定" [Shin-Keisei Electric Railway to dissolve and disappear - Keisei Electric Railway will absorb the railway in the merger, scheduled to take place in 2025]. MyNavi Corporation (in Japanese). 31 October 2023. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h 私鉄車両編成表2021 [Private Railway Vehicle Organization Table 2021] (in Japanese). Japan: Kotsu Shimbunsha. 16 July 2021. ISBN 9784330032214.
edit