Shibayama Railway

The is a third-sector railway company in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It operates Japan's shortest narrow-gauge railway line, the Shibayama Railway Line between Higashi-Narita Station and Shibayama-Chiyoda Station, largely underneath Narita International Airport.

The railway company was founded on May 1, 1981, and the construction of the line began in 1998. Although issues with land acquirement forced the line to be extended by 0.2 km (220 yards) in 2000, the line opened on October 27, 2002.

Although the Shibayama Railway Company is an independent operator, the line functionally resembles an extension of the Keisei Higashi-Narita Line. All services continue through the mentioned line to stations such as the Keisei Narita Station. Narita International Airport Corporation owns the majority stake in Shibayama Railway as of March 2019. The remainder is owned by others such as the Keisei Electric Railway.

History

Shibayama Railway was founded on May 1, 1981, and received an operating permit on June 24, 1988, to run the line between Seibijyō-Mae Station (later renamed to Shibayama-Chiyoda) and the Shibatetsu Narita Airport Station (now a part of Higashi-Narita Station). Initially, small train sets were planned to operate inside the line only, but in 1990, due to demands from the residents, the company applied for a permit to use regular trains; the permit was granted two days after application.会社概要
, Shibayama Railway In 1990, the railway applied for a permit to operate direct service with the Keisei Railway from Keisei Narita Station, which was approved in 1996."京成成田駅乗り入れ 「芝山鉄道」運輸省が認可”. ''千葉日報'' (千葉日報社). (14 April 1990) The Narita Shinkansen plan came to a permanent halt around this time, and the Keisei Electric Railway used the abandoned buildings for the plan to build a new line towards the terminal of Narita International Airport branching off from , which made the route from Keisei Narita Station to the old Narita International Airport station a new line named Keisei Higashi-Narita Line. The line began construction in 1998. However, the planned railway line was forced to be extended by a further due to problems with buying land in 2000. The name of the new station was chosen to be Shibayama-Chiyoda in the same year. The line opened for operation on October 27, 2002.

The construction of the railway was strongly demanded by Shibayama residents, the Transport Ministry, and the Narita Airport Authority, in order to appease residents of the area immediately east of Narita International Airport. The demand was made because the airport property cut off Shibayama's access to Narita City and points west.

There was a proposal to extend the line into Chiyoda until 1996. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has recommended an extension into central Shibayama Town.

Stations and operation

Although the Shibayama Railway is an independent operator, it functionally resembles an extension of the Keisei Higashi-Narita Line, as all trains provide through service to lines owned by Keisei. The line is operated using equipment and crew leased from Keisei. However, IC cards are not accepted on this route, unlike most railway lines operated by Keisei. Most Shibayama Railway trains provide local service to Keisei Narita Station past Higashi-Narita, and express trains operate during rush hours through the Keisei Line from Haneda Airport Terminal 1·2 Station. The fare between Higashi-Narita and Shibayama-Chiyoda costs 220 yen for adults and 110 yen for children.

Narita International Airport Corporation owns a 68.40% majority stake in Shibayama Railway as of March 2019. The remainder is owned by Keisei Electric Railway, Japan Airlines, the prefectural government, and others.

Line

The company operates a single line, the Shibayama Railway Line. The line connects and .

The Shibayama Railway advertises the line as the shortest railway line in Japan and gives out certificates for using the line. However, the Kurama-dera Cable is the shortest cable car line in Japan with a length of , and Seinō Railway operates the shortest freight-only railway line with an operational length of .

Rolling stock

The Shibayama Railway leases its rolling stock from the Keisei Electric Railway. The company has leased a Keisei 3500 series trainset since 2013. In 2022, the train's wrapping was changed to use red and green stripes, resembling the former 3600 series used on the line until 2013. During the time 3600 series was used by the Shibayama Railway, the train color was changed from Keisei's blue and red color scheme to red and green, the scheme used in the company's logo. This change was reverted when it was returned to Keisei.

References

External links

Company website (in Japanese)

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Railway lines in Japan
Railway companies of Japan
Airport rail links in Japan
Standard-gauge railways in Japan
Railway lines opened in 2002
Companies based in Chiba Prefecture
2002 establishments in Japan
Keisei Electric Railway
Japanese third-sector railway lines
1500 V DC railway electrification