Seibu Railway
Seibu Railway Company, Ltd. (西武鉄道株式会社, Seibu Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha) is a conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Japan, with principal business areas in railways, tourism and real estate. Seibu's operations are concentrated in northwest Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture; the name "Seibu" is an abbreviation of "west Musashi," referring to the historic name for this area.
History
The original Seibu Railway was founded in 1894 and began service on the Kawagoe Railway line between Kokubunji and Kawagoe that December. In the following years, Seibu built and operated a number of other lines based around Shinjuku. In 1943, the company merged into the Musashino Railway company, which had been operating an Ikeburo - Hanno line since 1915. Musashino Railway renamed itself to Seibu Railway following the merger. The former Seibu network based around Shinjuku and the former Musashino network based around Ikebukuro remain operationally separated today.
On December 21 2005, Seibu Railway shareholders voted to remove control of the railroad from Kokudo Corporation and Yoshiaki Tsutsumi who received prison sentences in October for insider trading. The reorganization, completed in February 2006, created Seibu Holdings, Inc., to act as a holding company for both the railway and Prince Hotels. The largest shareholder is United States-based Cerberus Group with a 29.9% share of the new company.[1]
Railway Operations
Seibu's routes total 179.8 km. They fall into two separate groups. Tokorozawa Station is the crossing point of Ikebukuro Line and Shinjuku Line.
Seibu Railway is well known for its bright yellow colored trains. However, more recent trains have a blue colored line on a metalic body.
Ikebukuro Line Group
- Ikebukuro Line: Ikebukuro Station—Tokorozawa Station—Hanno Station—Agano Station (57.8 km) - offers direct "through-service" to Shin-kiba on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line via the Seibu Yurakucho Line
- Seibu Chichibu Line: Agano Station—Seibu Chichibu Station (19.0 km)
- Seibu Yurakucho Line: Nerima Station—Kotake Mukaihara Station (2.6 km) - connects the Ikebukuro Line and Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line
- Toshima Line: Nerima Station—Toshimaen Station (1.0 km)
- Sayama Line: Nishi Tokorozawa Station—Seibu Kyujo Station (4.2 km)
Shinjuku Line Group
- Shinjuku Line: Seibu Shinjuku Station–Tokorozawa Station–Hon Kawagoe Station (47.5 km)
- Seibu-en Line: Higashi Murayama Station—Seibu-en Station (2.4 km)
- Haijima Line: Kodaira Station—Haijima Station (14.3 km)
- Tamako Line: Kokubunji Station—Sayama Station—Seibu Yuenchi Station (9.2 km)
- Kokubunji Line: Higashi Murayama Station—Ogawa Station—Kokubunji Station (7.8 km)
- Ahina Line: Minami Otsuka Station—Ahina Station (3.2 km: Freight line, not presently operating)
- Tamagawa Line: Musashi-Sakai Station—Koremasa Station (8.0 km)
Affiliated companies
- Prince Hotels
- Saison Group
- Seibu Construction
- Seibu Department Stores
- Seibu Lions (baseball team)
- Seibu Real Estate
- Seibu Trading
References
- ^ The Japan Times (December 22 2005), Seibu Railway shareholders OK reorganizing plan. Retrieved December 22 2005.