[Greater Tokyo Area] ? => Tsurumi Line - passenger and freight traffic

[The passenger]

Hello all together,

first of all I'm new here and I'm also glad, that I've found a possiblity to discuss railway topics about trains in Japan. In my home country Germany, it's hard to find reliable informations about the actual railway scene in Japan. So many thanks in advance for your hospitability.

In spring I'm going to visit Tokyo again and as a modern railway enthusiast there'll be plenty of interesting spots to visit. After browsing again the JR East map the yellow painted Tsurumi Line with its branches made me curious. Wikipedia told, that currently E205-1100 three car-EMUs are on use on the Tsurumi Line. Is this still the actual state of operation? Wikipedia also told, that freight trains will also be in operation. Are there any strict schedules/timetables for these freight trains? On which routes are they running? What loco classes are in use?

What I've found out after checking out the area via google maps, that most of the area where Tsurumi Line operates are industrial or harbour sites. Timetables on the branches - mostly on the Okawa branch - are out of any intervalls with only a few departures every day. Are there any alternative modes of transport to go around?

 

Thanks a lot in advance for any information which may be helpful.

 

Regards

The Passenger [Jakob]

Germany

[Sacto1985]

This line primarily serves employees of the various heavy industries in that area. Be aware, though that the Umi-Shibaura branch stations serve the Toshiba factory there, and I do worry you might not be exactly welcome there since Shin-Shibaura and Umi-Shibaura Stations are essentially entrances to the factory itself.

[TheNicofabi]

The whole Freight part is a mistery to me aswell still... also yes the 205-1100 is still the active running train (hard to get as a model now thou)

[kvp]

You will be welcommed, just unable to leave the station platforms. This might mean a few hours of meditation as the timetables are following shift changes in the factories served. Freight is a rare thing lately as most of it was moved to the roads. One station got a nice public park attached as you could only return from there by rail and spending several hours standing on an empty platform with no traffic at all is not a really nice experience so they added a park.

 

ps: jumping down onto the rails and walking out of the artificial islands along the tracks is also foridden and could be dangerous

[miyakoji]

Hi Jakob, welcome to the forum :)

[westfalen]

I went to Umi-Shibaura in 1991 but I stayed on the same train and came straight back, of course back then it was a single car KuMoHa 12 on the branch shuttle from Asano.

 

There are coal trains that run down the Ogimachi branch to an unloading terminal just beyond the last station, DE10 diesels take over from electric locos at the yard near Hama-Kawasaki.  The line from there to Shitte is good for watching freight trains which are very frequent, I spent two or three hours there with a couple of Japanese railfans at Kawasaki-Shinmachi station in 2014.

 

The freight trains do indeed run to a timetable just as strict as the passenger service, even down to local trip workings or shunt trains .  There is a freight timetable that comes out once a year in March/April that contains all the freight timetables including private railways and also has diagrams of yards, depot loco allocations and loco diagrams, all in Japanese of course but once you work out the station names a timetable is a timetable in any language and the translator app on a smart phone takes care of the rest.  It should be in most book shops with a reasonable selection of railway books, the Shosen Book Tower in Akihabara is on that definitely stocks it.

Edited February 12, 2017 by westfalen

[Khaul]

Hi Jakob,

 

I think the best way to check timetables in Japan is through http://www.hyperdia.com/en/. It shows prices, transfer times and all. According to Hyperdia services are very frequent in the rush hours, with trains every 5min in the main line up to Hama-Kawasaki plus other trains servicing the branches. Things do get quite during the day, but you still get a train to Hama-Kawasaki every 20min. This station is the transfer to the Nambu branch line, and that's the place to see frequent freight services. Most are related to the Tokyo freight terminal to the North. Apparently the Tsurumi line still has some petroleum and coal traffic, but it used to have a lot more.

 

Even more obscure than the Tsurumi line is the Takashima freight line from Tsurumi to Sakuragicho. 

 

Cheers,

 

Pablo

[Nick_Burman]

 Apparently the Tsurumi line still has some petroleum and coal traffic, but it used to have a lot more.

 

 

Toshiba at Umi-Shibaura is still rail connected and (very) occasionally dispatches a transformer by rail.

 

Cheers NB

[Jcarlton]

I did up a Flikr album of my trip to the Tsrurumi Line back in 2009.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jccarlton/albums/72157678492766601