When "Shin-Keisei" becomes "Keisei"

Shin-Keisei Electric Railway will be dissolved and merged with Keisei on 1 April 2025. The companies have announced that Shin-Keisei line, connecting Matsudo and Tsudanuma stations in Chiba Prefecture, will be renamed Keisei Matsudo line on the same day. This article summarises relevant documents published by those two companies and describe what will happen in less than less than three months.

The Shin-Keisei line opened in 1947, reusing facilities of the Railway and Shipping Section of the Imperial Japanese Army. Since the line was initially constructed as part of a military exercise, the route is winding. In fact, the railway is 26.5 km (16.5 miles) long while it is less than 16 km (10 miles) as the crow flies. The entire train journey takes 42 minutes while driving a car takes around 30 minutes (even without using a motorway, but when there is no heavy traffic jam). As the name suggests, Shin-Keisei has been part of the Keisei group for decades though Shin-Keisei had not been Keisei's subsidiary until 2022.

According to a document, Keisei's board of directors officially decided in October 2023 to take Shin-Keisei and relevant subsidiaries over to make their businesses more efficient, and it was approved by the authorities in June 2024.

Passengers are likely to find a few changes. As mentioned above, the railway will be rebranded. Station numbers will be changed from SL01 (Matsudo) - SL24 (Keisei-Tsudanuma) to KS66 (Shin-Tsudanuma) - KS88 (Matsudo). Note that not only will alphabets be changed but also the order of the number will be reversed.

Timetables will be mostly unchanged including through-services to and from Keisei Chiba line. Fares will also remain unchanged, meaning that those using both Shin-Keisei and Keisei lines at the same time might feel it expensive (as always).

The other good news is that trains will gradually be repainted red and blue like other Keisei trains. Shin-Keisei has been notorious for painting its trains obnoxiously vivid, but probably a few daily users will one day miss the pink trains.