General information

08 October, 2022

Shonan-Shinjuku Line and its rivals

Shonan-Shinjuku Line Map (General)

Shonan-Shinjuku Line is a major railway service in Tokyo, operated by JR East. Like Thameslink in London, Shonan-Shinjuku Line offers services from north to south and vice versa, going through the centre of the capital. It was first commenced in late-2001, and soon expanded again and again. Today, it is regarded as one of the most important and successful railway network in Japan.



Shonan-Shinjuku Line Map (Technical)

Technically, Shonan-Shinjuku Line is not registered on an official document. It consists of several existing lines as shown above. Before the Shonan-Shinjuku Line was launched, almost of all services on those lines started or terminated at Tokyo or Ueno, and all passengers had to take another train to continue their journeys. Shonan-Shinjuku Line, which provides direct services between them, made train journeys in the Greater Tokyo Area far more convenient and less troublesome than ever before.


E231 series for Shonan-Shinjuku Line

As JR East launched the Shonan-Shinjuku Line, rivals had to reconsider their strategies. To be specific, Tokyu and Odakyu have been working hard to win the competition against JR East, many of which have also been successful.


5000 series on Tokyu Toyoko Line

Tokyu Toyoko Line competes with Shonan-Shinjuku Line between Yokohama and Shibuya. Toyoko Line had been served by stopping and express services until March 2001, but Tokyu introduced a faster one (limited express). Tokyu has also been in competition with JR East between Yokohama and Shinjuku or even Ikebukuro since 2013, when through-services of Toyoko Line and Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line started. Tables below show their performance. Both Tokyu and JR East offer their fast services every 15 minutes.

Yokohama - Shibuya
Journey timeSingle fare
 JR East 25-28 minutes400 yen
 Tokyu 27 minutes280 yen

Yokohama - Shinjuku*
Journey timeSingle fare
 JR East 30-33 minutes570 yen
 Tokyu 34 minutes450 yen

*Shinjuku station of JR East and Shinjuku-sanchome station of Tokyo Metro.

Yokohama - Ikebukuro
Journey timeSingle fare
 JR East 36-42 minutes650 yen
 Tokyu 41 minutes480 yen

The tables show that fastest services of Shonan-Shinjuku Line are slightly faster than Tokyu's limited express, but fares are quite different. No wonder why many passengers from Yokohama prefer Tokyu to JR East.


Odakyu 3000 series

Odakyu also competes with Shonan-Shinjuku Line between Fujisawa and Shinjuku as well as Odawara and Shinjuku. Odakyu has been providing Romancecar services, which are even faster but expensive. Thus, the company introduced Shonan Express between Fujisawa and Shinjuku in 2002, which does not require any additional ticket. It was rearranged to Rapid Express in 2004, and most people prefer Odakyu to JR East.

Fujisawa - Shinjuku
Journey timeSingle fareFrequency
 JR East 49 minutes 900 yen2 per hour
 Odakyu 57 minutes600 yen3 per hour

Odawara - Shinjuku
Journey timeSingle fareFrequency
 JR East 77 minutes1,520 yen1 per hour
 Odakyu 89 minutes900 yen3 per hour

It is even clearer than the JR-Tokyu competition that Odakyu takes longer but way cheaper than Shonan-Shinjuku Line. A return journey between Odawara and Shinjuku via Odakyu saves more than 1,200 yen, enough to have a wonderful lunch at a restaurant in Tokyo.


Tokyu and Odakyu provide cheaper services, but it does not mean at all that Shonan-Shinjuku Line is useless, as not all passengers can use an alternative option to JR East. In addition, if there had been no Shonan-Shinjuku Line, neither private railways would have changed their timetables with fast and reasonable train services. It might be a rare example of successful competition that is beneficial for railway users.

4 comments:

  1. Isn't this a direct copy of the SRS model pioneered by JR West? At least they designated it as a 'line' which gives some idea about where it runs, even if there is no real dedicated trackage for it...

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    1. I am sorry, but I am not sure what does SRS stand for. Does it mean Special Rapid Service?
      The name of "Shonan-Shinjuku LINE" is a kind of a nickname, and it looks like JR East likes this kind of stuff, like Ueno-Tokyo Line. Though there is no evidence I can show you at present, Shonan-Shinjuku Line might be inspired by JR West's Special Rapid services.

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  2. Yes, perhaps I should say the two services share similar operating characteristics and environments.

    That being said the JR East naming scheme is much more sensible, the SRS is very obtuse in that it's almost a named service where the name *is* the service (but what is it the special rapid of?)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!
      As you said, the two services are indeed quite similar to each other. I think JR West's naming is OK, as they often say special rapid of "Kyoto Line" or "Kobe Line" etc. In my opinion, Shonan-Shinjuku Line is also fine, but Ueno-Tokyo Line does not always fit. It is a matter of taste, though!

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