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Odakyu Electric Railway

The , or OER, is a major private railway company in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its Romance car series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone.

The Odakyū Electric Railway forms the core of the Odakyū Group, which comprises 108 companies (as of October 2005), and also includes the Enoshima Electric Railway, Hakone Tozan Railway, Tachikawa Bus and Tokai Bus.

History

The 83 km line from Shinjuku to Odawara opened for service on April 1, 1927. Unlike the Odawara line, rarely were pre-WWII Japanese private railways constructed with double-track and fully electrified from the first day of operation. Two years later, April 1, 1929, the Enoshima Line was added.

The original full name of the railroad was , but this was often shortened to Odawara Kyūkō (Odawara Express). The abbreviation Odakyū was made popular by the title song of the 1929 movie Tokyo Kōshinkyoku and eventually became the official name of the railroad on March 1, 1941.

On May 1, 1942, Odakyū merged with the Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway company (now Tokyu Corporation), which controlled all private railway services west and south of Tokyo by the end of World War II. The company regained its independence on June 1, 1948, and it obtained a large of Hakone Tozan Railway stocks, instead of separating Keiō Inokashira Line for Keio Corporation. Odakyū restarted Non-stop Limited Express service between Shinjuku and Odawara in 1948. In 1950, Odakyū trains ran through to Hakone-Yumoto on Hakone Tozan Line. Odakyū uses narrow gauge (1,067 mm) tracks, but Hakone Tozan Railway is on standard gauge (1,435 mm), so one track of the section from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto (6.1 km) was changed to a dual gauge system. It operated the first Romance Car, 1710 series, for Limited Express in 1951.

After the 1950s, due to rapid Japanese economic growth, Odakyū was faced with an explosive increase of population along with its lines. Commuter passengers had to use very crowded trains every morning, and complained strongly with the delay of improvements from the railway company. Odakyū began construction on the - "Shinjuku Station Great Improvement Project" setting 5 lines and 10 platforms long enough for 10 standard commuter cars (Romance Cars excepted, they have 11 cars) with service on the Chiyoda Line, among others. Plans for a four-track system in 1964 were prevented by residents of Setagaya Ward in Tokyo, as such the system remains uncompleted. The Setagaya Residents' opposition set the stage for a long-term and remarkable case in the courts and legislature. Odakyū could not take main part of transport from Tama New Town Area, though Odakyu started the operation of Tama Line in 1974.

In the last ten years, Odakyū has been adding track in both directions from Izumi-Tamagawa Station, on Tama River, the border station of Tokyo, to just outside of Setagaya-Daita Station for expanding the availability of express trains, especially for morning commuter service. The lines between Setagaya-Daita and Higashi-Kitazawa Station are still under construction, however. Odakyū announced that the bottle-neck will be resolved by 2013.

Odakyū has shown its high potential technology for mass and rapid transport. It operates all sections of its lines as double (or more) tracks from the day service begins, except for a few rare instances. It sometimes is regarded as a bypass route for the Tōkaidō Main Line from Tokyo to western Kanagawa, also going out to further areas away from Tokyo, although not through Yokohama in wartime. The Romance Car 3000 series "SE" was tested at speeds of up to 145 km/h in 1957, achieving a world record for narrow gauge (1067 mm) lines at the time. These tests also provided important data on high-speed electric multiple units (EMU), which Japanese National Railways (JNR) used for its limited express EMUs, 151 series, and 0 Series Shinkansen introduced in the early 1960s.

Odakyū celebrated its 80th anniversary in April 2007. The 50th anniversary of the Romancecar was celebrated in September 2007.

Lines

Odakyū has three railway lines, and through service to four lines of other companies.

Odakyū lines


Lines	Sections	Length (km)	Stations	Oparated date	Minutes by Ltd. Exp./Express (in normal)
Odawara Line	Shinjuku - Odawara	82.5	47	April 1, 1927	68-81 / 92 (fastest Ltd Exp. is 63)
Enoshima Line	Sagami-Ōno - Katase-Enoshima	27.4	17	April 1, 1929	30-32 / 34 (fastest Ltd Exp. is 26)
Tama Line	Shin-Yurigaoka - Karakida	10.6	8	June 1, 1974 (in part) March 27, 1990 (full)	11-12 / 13
Total	3 lines	120.5	80

Not including the connecting branch between Odawara Line and JR-Central Gotenba Line near Shin-Matsuda Station.
Odakyū operated the Mukōgaoka-Yūen Monorail Line, between Mukōgaoka-Yūen and Mukōgaoka-Yūen-Seimon (1.1 km, 2 stations), from 1966 to 2001, using a Lockheed Corporation style monorail system.

Through lines

Some Odakyū trains from the Tama Line (and a little of Odawara Line, from Hon-Atsugi Station) continue on to the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line and Jōban Line (Yoyogi-Uehara Station - Ayase Station - Toride Station). This service was started in 1978, between Hon-Atsugi and Abiko Station, on Jōban Line.
Some Odakyū trains continue on to the Hakone Tozan Line (Odawara Station - Hakone-Yumoto Station), from 1950.
Limited Express Asagiri uses the connect branch to JR Central Gotenba Line from 1955. Now, it runs between Shinjuku and Numazu Station 8 times on a day.

Train classification

(As of March 15, 2008 timetable revision)


Color	Classification	Japanese	Runs between	Line(s)
	Limited Express	特急	Shinjuku, Kita-Senju, and Shin-Kiba to Hakone-Yumoto, Katase-Enoshima, Karakida or Numazu	Odakyu Odawara, Enoshima, Tama, Hakone Tozan, JR Central Gotenba, and Tokyo Metro Chiyoda and Yūrakuchō Lines
orange	Rapid Express	快速急行	Shinjuku to Fujisawa (one service on weekdays to Katase-Enoshima) or Odawara	Odakyū Odawara and Enoshima Lines
red	Express	急行	Shinjuku to Odawara, Katase-Enoshima or Karakida	Odakyū Odawara, Enoshima, and Tama Lines
hotpink	Tama Express	多摩急行	Toride, Abiko or Ayase and Karakida via Yoyogi-Uehara	Odakyū Odawara, Tama, Tokyo Metro Chiyoda, and JR East Jōban Lines
green	Semi Express	準急	Shinjuku to Hon-Atsugi (Odawara)	Odakyū Odawara Line
sky blue	Sectional Semi Express	区間準急	Shinjuku to Karakida, Mukogaoka-Yuen or Hon-Atsugi	Odakyū Odawara and Tama Lines
blue	Local	各駅停車	in all sections, includes to/from Hakone-Yumoto on Hakone Tozan Line (occasionally between Odawara and Shin-Matsuda)	Odakyū Odawara, Enoshima, Tama, and Hakone Tozan Lines

"Limited Express" services require a supplementary surcharge, and use the Romancecar trains.

Limited Express service

Shinjuku Station Route

Commuter service is shown in each lines pages.

Station	in Japanese	km	Super Hakone	Hakone	Sagami	Asagiri	Enoshima	Homeway	Lines
Shinjuku	新宿	0.0	S	S	S	S	S	S	Odakyū Odawara Line
Mukōgaoka-Yūen	向ヶ丘遊園	15.8	/	S*	S*	/	/	/
Shin-Yurigaoka	新百合ヶ丘	21.5	/	S*	S*	/	S	S*
Machida	町田	30.8	/	S	S	S	/	S*
Sagami-Ōno	相模大野	32.3	/	S*	S*	/	S	S*
Hon-Atsugi	本厚木	45.4	/	S*	S	S		S
Hadano	秦野	61.7	/	S*	S*	/		S
Shin-Matsuda	新松田	71.8	/	S*	S*			/
Odawara	小田原	82.5	S	S	S			S
Hakone-Yumoto	箱根湯本	88.6	S	S				S	Hakone Tozan Line
Yamato	大和	39.9					S	S	Odakyū Enoshima Line
Fujisawa	藤沢	55.4					S	S
Katase-Enoshima	片瀬江ノ島	59.9					S	S
Odakyū Nagayama	小田急永山	28.3						S	Odakyū Tama Line
Odakyū Tama-Center	小田急多摩センター	30.6						S
Karakida	唐木田	32.1						S
Matsuda	松田	71.8				S			JR Central Gotenba Line
Suruga-Oyama	駿河小山	86.2				S*
Gotenba	御殿場	97.1				S
Susono	裾野	112.3				S
Numazu	沼津	121.8				S

marks	trains
"S"	stopped
"S*"	partly stopped or passed
"/"	passed

"Asagiri" runs on the connecting branch line just before Shin-Matsuda from Shinjuku, and stops at Matsuda on Gotenba Line. Matsuda and Shin-Matsuda are treated as one station.
"Homeway" runs only evening every day, after 18:00 from Shinjuku. There is no service to Shinjuku.

Tokyo Metro Route

Commuter service is shown in each lines pages.

Station	in Japanese	km	Metro Homeway	Metro Hakone	Metro Sagami	Bay Resort	Lines
Shin-Kiba	新木場					S	Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line
Toyosu	豊洲					S	Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line
Kita-Senju	北千住	0.0	S	S	S		Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line
Ōtemachi	大手町	9.9	S	S	S
Kasumigaseki	霞ヶ関	12.1	S	S	S	S
Omote-Sandō	表参道	16.2	S	S	S	S
Yoyogi-Uehara	代々木上原	19.3	(/)	(/)	(/)	(/)
Yoyogi-Uehara	代々木上原	19.3	(/)	(/)	(/)	(/)	Odakyū Odawara Line
Seijōgakuen-Mae	成城学園前	27.4	S*	/	S*	S
Shin-Yurigaoka	新百合ヶ丘	37.3	S*	/	S*	S
Machida	町田	46.6	S	S	S	S
Hon-Atsugi	本厚木	61.2	S	/	S	S
Odawara	小田原	98.3		S
Odawara	小田原	98.3		S			Hakone Tozan Line
Hakone-Yumoto	箱根湯本	104.4		S			Hakone Tozan Line
Odakyū Nagayama	小田急永山	44.1	S				Odakyū Tama Line
Odakyū Tama-Center	小田急多摩センター	46.4	S
Karakida	唐木田	47.9	S

At Yoyogi-Uehara, all trains stop, but don't treat passenger service. Odakyū and Tokyo Metro change their operating staff at the station.
On weekday, "Metro Sagami" runs once from Hon-Atsugi to Kita-Senju in morning. And "Metro Homeway" runs three times in evening, twice from Hon-Atsugi to Kita-Senju, and the other once, from Ōtemachi to Hon-Atsugi.
On weekends and holidays, "Metro Hakone" runs between Kita-Senju and Hakone-Yumoto four times. "Metro Sagami" (once in morning) and "Metro Homeway" (once in night) also in service between Kita-Senju to Hon-Atsugi.
About once or twice in month, Metro Sagami and Metro Homeway are changed to "Bay Resort", between Shin-Kiba and Hon-Atsugi. It runs on the connection line between Yūrakuchō Line and Chiyoda Line in Tokyo Metro sections.

Rolling stock

Active

Romancecar sets

Commuter sets

Odakyū railway on the computer

The Odakyū Railway has been included in several Japanese language train simulator programs as well as the English language Microsoft Train Simulator program. Microsoft Train Simulator includes the railway's Odawara and Hakone Tozan lines, collectively referred to as the "Tokyo-Hakone" route. You can drive two of the trains that travel on the line; the 2000 series commuter trainset and the 7000 series "LSE" Romance Car trainset. Several "activities", or scenarios, are included.

Various Odakyū addins are available for the BVE Train Simulator, a freeware cab view train simulator for Microsoft Windows.