Shinjuku Station

Shinjuku Station (新宿駅; -eki) is the main train station in the western city centre of Tokyo, Japan. Located in the commercial centre of Shinjuku ward (although the southern part extends into Shibuya ward) it is served by a multitude of JR, private and underground (subway) lines. Shinjuku Station is used by an average of 3.22 million people per day, making it the busiest train station in the world. It is also the second-largest (after Nagoya Station) when measured by area. It serves as the main connecting hub for rail traffic between central Tokyo and its western suburbs. It is also the Tokyo terminal for Odakyu’s high-speed service to Odawara, Enoshima and Hakone. The station is located at 35.690302° N 139.700539° E. Shinjuku is served by the following lines: - Yamanote Line (JR) - Chūō Line (JR) - Shonan-Shinjuku Line (JR) - Saikyō Line (JR) - Narita Express (JR) - Odakyū Electric Railway - Keio Electric Railway Keio Line - Seibu Line (from Seibu-Shinjuku station) - Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (Tokyo Metro subway) - Toei Shinjuku Line (Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation subway) - Toei Ōedo Line (Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation subway) Additionally, Shinjuku Station is connected by underground passages to: - Nishi-shinjuku Station (Metro Marunouchi Line) - Shinjuku-nishiguchi Station (Toei Oedo Line) - Shinjuku-sanchome Station (Metro Marunouchi Line and Toei Shinjuku Line) - Tochomae Station (Toei Oedo Line) There have been plans at various points in history to connect Shinjuku into the Shinkansen network. Originally, the station was slated to be the southern terminus of the Joetsu Shinkansen line to Niigata. This plan was eventually scrapped, but an area was reserved underneath the station for Shinkansen platforms. In the future, the Chuo Shinkansen may bring high-speed rail service to Shinjuku. Shinjuku Station History Shinjuku Station opened in 1885 as a stop on Japan Railway’s Akabane-Shinagawa line (now part of the Yamanote Line). Shinjuku was still a quiet community at the time and the station was not heavily trafficked at first. The opening of the Chuo Line (1889), Keio Line (1915) and Odakyu Line (1923) led to increasing traffic through the station. Subway service began in 1959. In August 1967, a freight train carrying jet fuel bound for the U.S. air base in Tachikawa derailed and caught fire on the Chuo Rapid tracks. The station was a major site for student protests in 1968 and 1969, the height of civil unrest in postwar Japan. See also:Shinjuku Shinjuku Gyoen - National Garden Shinjuku Map Shinjuku Ni-Chome Shinjuku Station (Article uses content from Wikipedia article and used under the GNU Free Documentation License) |