Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Kodomonokuni Line

Kodomonokuni Line
Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Y000 series EMU near Onda
Overview
Native name	こどもの国線
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Kanagawa Prefecture
Termini	Nagatsuta Kodomonokuni
Stations	3
Operation
Opened	1967
Owner	Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company
Operator(s)	Tokyu Corporation
Technical
Line length	3.4 km (2 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead catenary

The Kodomonokuni Line (こどもの国線, Kodomonokuni-sen) is a railway line in Kanagawa Prefecture owned by the Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company and operated by Tokyu Corporation.

Station list

All stations are located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Rolling stock

• Y000 series (since 1999)

All trains are based at Nagasuta Depot, accessed via a spur located before Onda Station.

Former rolling stock

• Tokyu 3000 series (from 1967 until 1975)
• Tokyu 3600 series (from 1975 until 1980)
• Tokyu 7200 series (sometimes substituted by Tokyu 5000 (original), 6000 (original) and 8000 series, from 1980 until 1993)
• Tokyu 7000 series (original) (from 1993 until 2000)

History

The line opened in April 1967, at the same time as its 'parent' station, Nagatsuta. It is a single track local line designed principally to cater for visitors to Kodomonokuni Theme Park (Children's Land) park. Consequently, the two-car trains are particularly busy during summer weekends and holidays.

The line originally was built and opened as a transportation link to the park (which opened in 1965) from the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line. The Children's Land Association (Shakai Fukushi Houjin Kodomonokuni Kyokai) owned the right-of-way and the Kodomonokuni Station, but the actual operation was contracted out to Tokyu Corporation.

In 1997, the line was sold to Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company (MMR), a joint venture of Tokyu Corporation, the Kanagawa prefectural government and the Yokohama city government. In 2000, an intermediate station, Onda, opened in Aoba-ku, Yokohama to reflect the changing role of this line as a commuter line. MMR today owns the right-of-way, Kodomonokuni and Onda stations and the rolling stock, but the actual operation continues to be contracted to Tōkyū.

Local residents along the train line have expressed an interest in getting the Kodomonokuni Line extended northward to meet the Odakyū Odawara Line at Tsurukawa; however the planning has not yet taken off because the proposed rail alignment, despite its short distance, involves two prefectures (Kanagawa, Tokyo) and three cities (Aoba-ku, Yokohama; Asao-ku, Kawasaki and Machida, Tokyo).

The travel time from Nagatsuta to Kodomonokuni is 7 minutes (with one stop at Onda). At both Kodomonokuni and Nagatsuta stations there are ticket machines for this line, but the Kodomonokuni Line shares Tōkyū platforms at Nagatsuta.

Trains depart every 20 minutes throughout the day (every 10 minutes between 8 and 9 a.m. both directions) and at weekends; however, services are more regular during morning and evening peak times, and during Golden Week.

External links

• Tokyu Corporation website (Japanese)
• Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company website (Japanese)

Mass transit in the Greater Tokyo Area
JR East lines passing through Central Tokyo	Short-distance Yamanote Keihin-Tōhoku - Negishi (Chūō-Sōbu) Local Mid-distance Utsunomiya (Tohoku Main) & Takasaki - Tokaido ■ Ueno-Tokyo Chuo Rapid Yokosuka - Sobu Rapid Joban Keiyo Kawagoe (Eastern Section) - Saikyo (Akabane) - Rinkai Shonan-Shinjuku
Tokyo Metro lines	Chiyoda Fukutoshin Ginza Hibiya Marunouchi Namboku Tōzai Yūrakuchō Hanzōmon
Toei subway lines	Asakusa Ōedo Mita Shinjuku
Yokohama Municipal	Blue Green
JR East lines in satellite cities or suburbs	Yokohama Musashino Nambu ■ Sagami ■ Hachiko - Kawagoe (Western Section) ■ Ryōmō Tsurumi Tohoku Direction ■ Karasuyama ■ Nikkō Chuo Direction ■ Chūō Main ■ Itsukaichi ■ Ōme Sobu Direction ■ Sōbu Main ■ Sotobō ■ Uchibō ■ Kururi ■ Tōgane Joban Direction ■ Mito ■ Narita Tokaido Direction ■ Itō ■ Gotemba (JR Central)
Keikyu	Keikyu Main Airport Daishi Kurihama Zushi
Keio	Keio Keio New Dōbutsuen Keibajō Sagamihara Takao Inokashira
Keisei	Keisei Main Chiba Chihara Higashi-Narita Kanamachi Oshiage Narita Sky Access
Odakyu	Odawara Enoshima Tama
Seibu	Ikebukuro lines ■ Ikebukuro ■ Sayama ■ Seibu Chichibu ■ Seibu Yūrakuchō ■ Toshima Shinjuku lines ■ Shinjuku ■ Haijima Kokubunji Seibu-en Tamagawa Tamako
Sotetsu	Sotetsu Main Izumino
Tobu	Skytree Kameido Daishi Isesaki Sano Koizumi Kiryū Nikkō Kinugawa Utsunomiya Urban Park Tōjō Ogose
Tokyu	Den-en-toshi Ikegami Meguro Oimachi Tokyu Tamagawa Toyoko Kodomonokuni
Other commuter rail lines	Hokusō Kantō Jōsō Ryūgasaki Nagareyama Rinkai Saitama Rapid Shibayama Shin-Keisei Tōyō Rapid Tsukuba Express Minatomirai 21
Monorails and light transit	Monorails Chiba Monorail Disney Resort Shōnan Monorail Tama Monorail Tokyo Monorail People movers New Shuttle Kanazawa Seaside Nippori-Toneri Seibu Yamaguchi Yūkarigaoka Yurikamome Trams Enoden Setagaya Arakawa
Hinterland	Chichibu Main Line Fujikyuko Line
Cable cars and aerial tramways	Ōyama Cable Car Hodosan Ropeway (Takao Tozan Railway Mitake Tozan Cable Car ) (Nokogiriyama Ropeway Mount Tsukuba Cable Car Mount Tsukuba Ropeway) Akechidaira Ropeway Ikaho Ropeway
Bus	Willer Express List of bus operating companies in Japan (east)
Public ferries	Tokyo-Wan Ferry Tokyo Cruise Ship Tokyo Mizube Line Keihin Ferry Boat The Port Service (Yokohama)
Major terminals	Rail Akihabara Chiba Hachiōji Ikebukuro Kita-Senju Mito Odawara Ōmiya Ōtemachi Shibuya Shinagawa Shinjuku Tachikawa Tokyo Ueno Yokohama Airports Haneda Narita Chofu Ibaraki Heliports Tokyo Heliport Camp Zama Ports Yokohama Tokyo
Miscellaneous	Shinkansen Smart cards Pasmo Suica Transportation in Greater Tokyo Rail transport in Japan List of named passenger trains of Japan List of through trains in Japan Tokyo subway rolling stock List of Toei Subway stations List of Tokyo Metro stations
Construction projects	Sōtetsu JR Link Line
Japan transit: Tokyo Osaka Nagoya Fukuoka Hakone Fuji Izu Hokkaido Sendai Niigata Toyama Nagano Okayama Hiroshima Shikoku Metro systems Shinkansen trams (list) aerial lifts (list)