Otaki Line
| Status | Operational |
|---|---|
| Owner | Lamtsu Metro |
| Locale | Southern Joban, Shuto Prefecture |
| Termini | Lamtsu (Until 2023)
Ginza Otaki (De jure) Fukaaura Yokohama Shima |
| Stations | 5 |
| Type | Metro |
|---|---|
| Operator(s) | Lamtsu Metro Shimakyu (Through Services) |
| Depot(s) | Fukaaura Depot |
| Rolling stock | Modified Beijing Subway Stock |
| Opened | 1955 |
|---|---|
| Closed | 2023 (To Lamtsu) |
| Line Length | 4km |
|---|---|
| Track gauge | 1435mm |
| Electrification | 1500V DC |
| Operating speed | 60km/h (Shared section with Ginza Line) 80km/h |
The Otaki Line is a metro line owned and operated by Lamtsu Metro and with through services operated by Shimakyu railway. It runs from Otaki to Ginza (As of 2023, Otaki Line trains all terminate at Ginza as the platforms at Lamtsu are too short) It runs underground for it's entire length, and is a sub-surface line, running under a few different roads. It shares it's tracks with the Ginza Line from Ginza to Yurakucho.
Stations
| Name | JP | Between | Distance | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Through service through/from:
Nishi-Fukaaura on the Fukaaura Line Yokohama on the Sakura Main Line | ||||
| Otaki-Koen | 大滝公園 | - | 0.0 | Fukaaura Line |
| Rokuban-Machi | 六番街 | 0.7 | 0.7 | |
| Yurakucho | 有楽 | 0.8 | 1.5 | Yurakucho Line |
| Chikatetsu-Nishiyurakucho | 地下鉄西有楽町 | 0.7 | 2.2 | Ginza Line |
| Ginza | 銀座 | 0.9 | 3.1 | Ginza Line |
History
The Otaki Line was opened in 1955 by Shimakyu Railway, running their mainline trains into the Ginza financial district. At the time, Otaki was a sleepy residential town, with the trip to Misato requiring a transfer to the Tram network. Therefore, in order to connect to the financial and administrative districts of Lamtsu, the Otaki Line was constructed to Ginza Station, being the first subway line in Lamtsu and one of the earliest railways in Lamtsu. Although MCR is often credited with being the first railway company in Lamtsu, many other companies ran their Main Lines into Lamtsu, just not into the Central districts. The Sakura Railway company for example ended it's line at Otaki as well.
The Fukaaura Line, which is effectively an extension of the Otaki Line, has cross-platform transfer with the Namboku Line at Fukaaura. The line shares it's line code (line 3) with the Otaki Line. All Otaki Line trains continue to Fukaaura, so some passengers from the Namboku Line change trains at Fukaaura if they are heading for Ginza
The Otaki Line platforms at Otaki were left untouched when Shimakyu rebuilt their Mainline terminus at Otaki to falicitate the extension to Misato, thus the Otaki Line station became "Otaki-Koen", and the Shima New Line was built to continue allowing through service onto the Otaki Line.
In 2012 the Otaki and Ginza Line upgrading project began, which was supposed to lengthen the platforms and cars from 125m to 200m, to accomodate the 10-car trains run by Shimakyu and the 8 car trains run by Azusa Dentetsu. Only 3 stations had the platform length required to accomodate these trains: Yurakucho, Ginza, and Otaki-Koen. This led to crowding problems on Express trains on the line that skipped Rokuban-Machi and Chikatetsu-Nishiyurakucho, as well as frequency issues. Therefore, Lamtsu Metro has been lengthening the platforms of the lines. This will also help with crowding on the metro lines themselves, as the trains are currently running with 5 car (25m, so effectively 6-car) lengths.