Hello, train lovers!
This is Kapinotsuka.
Last time I talked about
Yamanote Line. This week I'd like to enlighten you about yet another railway in Tokyo area.
B Train Shorty That's right!
The Keihin-Tohoku Line, the one that's running alongside the Yamanote Line.
Let me show you the railroad network map here.
A bit sketchy, but it'll do.
General understanding is that Keihin-Tohoku line travels down through the inner-city district of Tokyo, starting from Omiya of Saitama prefecture all the way to Ofuna in Kanagawa prefecture.
It is one of the main transportation arteries in the Tokyo area, so to speak.
It runs literally side by side with the Yamanote Line in the areas between Tabata and Shinagawa stations, in a ding-dong contest of sorts, a scene all too familiar among great many commuters in Tokyo.
It is a scarcely known fact, however, that, technicallly,
no railway route actually exists that is named "Keihin-Tohoku Line." I will let the Keihin-Tohoku Line
come out in its true colors!! The orange colored part is the JR Tohoku Line,
the green part shows the JR Tokaido Line and
the blue part represents the JR Negishi Line.
No "Keihin-Tohoku Line", right?
Right!
The name "Keihin-Tohoku" is something like a generic term that is now used widely and rather loosely to refer to the whole line shown above.
But strictly speaking, it is the name of the train that is running on the route, NOT of the railway.
True, those pieces of information are quite useless in asking for directions in railway stations in Tokyo.
But I believe knowing things about Japanese trains that people in Japan rarely know gives you a pleasant, strangely superior feeling, doesn't it?
Here, let me introduce to you some of my favorite model trains of the Keihin-Tohoku, from KATO and TOMIX.
Hope you enjoyed it,
See you around, folks!
Kapinotsuka