The Seibu Ikebukuro Line (西武池袋線, Seibu Ikebukuro-sen) is a railway line of the Japanese private railway operator Seibu Railway. It originates at Ikebukuro Station, a large railway junction in north-western Tokyo, extending to northwest suburbs as far as Tokorozawa, Saitama, and nominally terminates at Agano Station.
The Seibu Chichibu Line from Agano to Seibu-Chichibu Station is an extension. The operation is largely divided into two sections: from Ikebukuro to Hannō Station and from Hannō to Seibu-Chichibu Station.
The section from Hannō to Seibu-Chichibu is single track, but every station except for Higashi-Hanno has passing loops, and trains may pass each other at any stop. There is also a passing loop inside a tunnel where the signal controls bi-directional operation. The rest of all the lines is double track with 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) track gauge.
Branch lines
The Ikebukuro Line has three branches with through operation, apart from the Seibu Chichibu Line.
Through trains are operated daily during off-peak hours. Special Limited Express "Dome" services are occasionally operated for baseball games of the Saitama Seibu Lions.[3][4]
Line data
Tracks:
4-track: Nerima to Shakujii-kōen (4.6 km (2.9 mi))[5]
2-track: Ikebukuro to Nerima (6.0 km (3.7 mi)), Shakujii-kōen to Hannō (33.1 km (20.6 mi)), Kita-Hannō rail yard to Musashigaoka Rail yard (1.5 km (0.93 mi))
1-track: the remainder
Service pattern
Abbreviations here are for the table below, not formally used.
Local (各停, Kakutei)
Stops at all stations. The longest operations are Ikebukuro to Hannō, through to Seibu Kyūjō-mae on Sayama Line, through to Toshimaen on Toshima Line. Also through from Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line to Kotesashi and Hannō. Major sections of service are from: Ikebukuro to Toshima-en and Hōya; from Shin-Kiba on Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line to Hōya, Kiyose and Kotesashi and from Motomachi-Chūkagai on the Minatomirai Line to Shakujii-kōen, Hōya, and Hannō.[6][7]
Semi-Express (準急, Junkyū) (SE)
Operated all day. Longest from Ikebukuro to Hannō and Seibu Kyūjō-mae. Through from Yūrakuchō Line to Hannō.
Commuter Semi-Express (通勤準急, Tsūkin Junkyū) (CSE)
Morning hours only, one direction up from Kotesashi to Ikebukuro.[8]
Rapid (快速, Kaisoku) (Ra)
Morning and evening hours to/from Ikebukuro, daytime through to Yūrakuchō Line. Longest to Hannō (seasonally one service a day to Seibu-Chichibu) and Seibu Kyūjō-mae.
Commuter Express (通勤急行, Tsūkin Kyūkō) (CE)
Morning hours only, one direction up from Hannō to Ikebukuro.
Trains named Musashi (むさし), from Ikebukuro to Hannō *,[Note 1] and Chichibu (ちちぶ), from Ikebukuro to Seibu-Chichibu, with supplementary limited express charge.
Stations
Hannō Station in August 2009
Local services are not shown, as they stop at all stations.
O: stop; |: pass; ↑: pass (services run in one direction, towards Ikebukuro only); *: limited stop; ↓: boarding only towards Ikebukuro, alighting only towards Tokorozawa (weekdays)
The line opened 15 April 1915 as the Musashino Line (武蔵野線, Musashino-sen) (separate from the Musashino Line currently operated by JR East), by the then Musashino Railway (武蔵野鉄道, Musashino Tetsudō), the predecessor of the present Seibu Railway with the first section from Ikebukuro to Hannō. In 1922, electrification began in three stages from Ikebukuro, until reaching Hannō in 1925. In the late 1920s, a second track was added from Ikebukuro to Hōya Station, and in 1929 the line was extended to Agano Station, the present nominal end. On 25 March 1952, the line was renamed to the Ikebukuro line, and throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the 2-track section was extended in stages until reaching Kasanui yard in 1969.[citation needed]
In 1969, the Seibu Chichibu Line was completed to Seibu-Chichibu Station to begin through operation from Ikebukuro; in 1989, bypass tracks were laid to the Chichibu Railway Main Line; and in 1998, through service via Seibu Yurakucho Line of Seibu to the Tokyo Metro's Yurakucho Line began to Shinkiba Station.[citation needed]
In 2001, a second track of 350 m was built to complete the double-track section from Ikebukuro to Hannō. At the same time, the elevated 4-track section from Nerima-Takanodai to Nakamurabashi opened. This elevated 4-track section was extended to Nerima in 2003.[citation needed]
Station numbering was introduced on all Seibu Railway lines during fiscal 2012, with Seibu Ikebukuro Line stations numbered prefixed with the letters "SI".[10]
^西武線全駅で駅ナンバリングを導入します [Station numbering to be introduced at all Seibu stations] (PDF). News Release (in Japanese). Japan: Seibu Railway. 23 February 2012. Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
^東急5050系が西武鉄道池袋線で営業運転開始 [Tokyu 5050 series enters service on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line]. RM News (in Japanese). Japan: Neko Publishing. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
^池袋線が東急東横線、横浜高速みなとみらい線との相互直通運転を開始します。 [Inter-running to commence between Ikebukuro Line and Tokyu Toyoko and Minatomirai Lines] (PDF). News Release (in Japanese). Seibu Railway. 24 July 2012. Archived from the original(PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
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