The story
The Sagami Railway was established in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, in January 1917, to transport gravel along the Sagami River valley. The first section, between Chigasaki and Samukawa, was opened in 1919, and the line was gradually extended to Hashimoto in 1931. Sagami Railway started direct operation to Hachiōji, but performance was sluggish during the economic depression, and an outflow disaster of Sagami River severely damaged its gravel pits in 1941. This led to Sagami Railway's eventual decision to become a subsidiary of Tōkyū in 1941.
The Jinchū Railway (神中鉄道) was established in Seya village (now, Seya-ku, Yokohama) in 1917 and opened its first section from Futamata-gawa to Atsugi in May 1926. Jinchū Railway extended to Yokohama Station in 1933, but its management faced financial difficulties, so the company also became a subsidiary of Tōkyū in 1939, prior to Sagami Railway. The two companies' rail lines were connected at Atsugi Station.
In April 1943, acknowledged by Tōkyū, Sagami Railway took over Jinchū Railway and named the two lines "Sagami Line" (original section) and "Jinchū Line" (acquired section). However, in June 1944 during World War II, the Sagami Line and its Nishi-Samukawa branch line were forcefully acquired by the government to use as a bypass between the Hachikō Line and Chūō Main Line in anticipation of airstrikes on heavy industrial facilities around the area. Sagami Line would never return to the hands of Sagami Railway. At the same time, Imperial Japanese Navy Atsugi Airport was opened, so the ridership and freight traffic increased sharply. As a result, Sagami Railway released all management and delegated it to Tōkyū. Under Tōkyū, the line gained electrification to increase the carrying capacity, and in 1944, all passenger lines were electrified.
In June 1947, Sagami Railway employees bought their own shares from Tōkyū and resolved the commission of the Jinchū Line (renamed as the "Tōkyū Atsugi Line" during Tōkyū's operation). Sagami Railway continued to develop the Jinchū/Atsugi Line, which became what is known today as the Sōtetsu Main Line. The whole line was fully double-tracked in 1951. In 1968, Sagami Railway began the construction of the Izumino Line. After completing the first extension of the Izumino Line in 1990, Sagami Railway was recognized as one of the "major private railway companies" (大手私鉄) in Japan by the Japan Private Railway Association, which gives Sagami Railway the qualification to participate in cabinet meetings and parliamentary hearings regarding public transportation policies.
In 1952, Sagami Railway purchased the 25,000 m2 of land around Yokohama Station's west entrance from Esso, and began to develop to attract department stores.
Through services to JR and Tōkyū
The Sōtetsu Shin-yokohama Line is an approximately 6 km link, which is constructed from Nishiya via Hazawa yokohama-kokudai to Shin-yokohama. This line enables through services between the JR East Saikyō Line and the Sōtetsu Main Line by late 2019, as well as between the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line, the Tōkyū Meguro Line and the Sōtetsu Main Line by March 2023. This project created a 12.7-kilometre (7.9 mi) railroad which allows residents and commuters alongside the Sōtetsu railway lines to better access the Tokyo Metropolis as well as Tokaido Shinkansen by interchanging at Shin-yokohama.
From Wikipedia’s article on Sagami Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4