Narita Line

The name of the track of East Japan Railway Company. It consists of 75.4 km between Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, Narita and Matsugishi, 32.9 km between Narita and Abiko, and 10.8 km between Narita and Narita Airport. Of these, the 8.7 km between the Narita Line junction and Narita Airport is a Type 2 open line that rents facilities from another company and uses the tracks of the Narita Airport Rapid Transit Line. Only the 13.1 km between Sakura and Narita is double tracked and fully electrified. It runs along the south bank of the Tone River, and cities such as Narita and Sawara are located along the line, transporting passengers on pilgrimages to Naritasan Shinshoji Temple. In addition, the Sakura-Narita and Abiko-Narita sections are heavily residential as they are on the outskirts of the Tokyo metropolitan area, and commuter transport accounts for a large proportion of the area. After it began serving Narita Airport in March 1991, it also plays a major role as an airport access railway linking the greater Tokyo area with Narita International Airport. The Sakura-Narita-Sawara section was opened by Narita Railway in 1897-1898 (Meiji 30-31), and the Abiko-Narita section in 1901 (Meiji 34). In 1920 (Taisho 9), the line was nationalized and became the Narita Line. The Sawara-Matsugishi section opened in 1932-1933. Trains enter the Sobu Main Line from Sakura and Matsugishi, and direct trains run to Chiba and Choshi, respectively, and between Abiko and Narita, in addition to section services, direct trains also run from Ueno via the Joban Line. However, after 1926 (Taisho 15), when Keisei Electric Tramway (now Keisei Electric Railway) opened a direct connection between Tokyo and Narita, the majority of pilgrims to Narita moved away from the Narita Line. However, the Narita Line still played a major role in transporting groups of Narita devotees from all over the country, and in 1968 (Showa 43), the Sakura-Narita section was electrified to accommodate the increase in pilgrims following the completion of the new main hall in conjunction with the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of Shinshoji Temple, and in 1973 the Abiko-Narita section was also electrified, and the following year the Narita-Matsugishi section was also electrified. In 1987, with the privatization of the Japanese National Railways, the line became part of East Japan Railway Company.

[Eiichi Aoki and Ryo Aoki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

東日本旅客鉄道の線路名称。千葉県、佐倉―成田―松岸間75.4キロメートルおよび成田―我孫子(あびこ)間32.9キロメートル、成田―成田空港間10.8キロメートルよりなる。このうち成田線分岐点―成田空港間8.7キロメートルは他社の施設を借りて事業を行う第2種開業線であり、成田空港高速鉄道の線路を使用している。佐倉―成田間13.1キロメートルのみ複線、全線直流電化。利根(とね)川南岸地域を走り、沿線に成田、佐原などの都市があって、成田山新勝寺(しんしょうじ)への参詣(さんけい)客輸送を担う。また、佐倉―成田間と我孫子―成田間では東京大都市圏の外縁地帯として住宅化が著しく、通勤輸送の比重が高い。1991年（平成3）3月の成田空港乗り入れ後は、首都圏と成田国際空港を結ぶ空港アクセス鉄道としての役割も大きい。佐倉―成田―佐原間は1897～1898年（明治30～31）、我孫子―成田間は1901年（明治34）、いずれも成田鉄道によって開業し、1920年（大正9）国有化されて成田線となった。佐原―松岸間は1932～1933年に開業した。佐倉と松岸から総武本線に乗り入れて、それぞれ千葉方面や銚子(ちょうし)へ列車の直通運転が行われ、我孫子―成田間では区間運転とともに常磐(じょうばん)線を経由して上野からの直通列車も走る。しかし、1926年（大正15）以降、京成電気軌道（現、京成電鉄）が東京―成田間を直結すると、成田参詣客の主流は成田線からは離れた。とはいえ、全国の成田講の団体輸送などに成田線の役割は大きく、1968年（昭和43）の新勝寺開基1300年祭にあわせた新本堂の落成とこれに伴う参詣客の増加に対処して、佐倉―成田間が電化され、さらに1973年に我孫子―成田間、翌年に成田―松岸間も電化された。1987年、日本国有鉄道の分割民営化で、東日本旅客鉄道に所属。

［青木栄一・青木　亮］

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