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Tokyu Corporation

Japanese railway/real estate/retail conglomerate

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Tokyu Railways Company, Ltd.
Trade name Tokyu, Tōkyū Dentetsu, Tōkyō Kyūkō (before 2006), TKK (from Tokyo Kyuko Kabushikigaisha)
Native name 東急電鉄株式会社
Romanized name Tōkyū Dentetsu kabushiki gaisha
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryPrivate railroad
FoundedApril 25, 2019 (2019-04-25) (incorporation)
October 1, 2019 (2019-10-01) (effective reorganization)
FounderKeita Goto
HeadquartersShibuya First Place
8-16 Shinsenchō, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo , Japan
Area served Tokyo and Kanagawa
Key peopleHirofumi Nomoto (CEO)
ServicesPassenger railways
Other related services
OwnerTokyu Group
ParentTokyu Corporation
Websitewww.tokyu.co.jp/railway

Tokyu Corporation (東急株式会社, Tōkyū kabushiki-gaisha), a contraction of and formerly kyō Kyūkō Dentetsu kabushiki gaisha (行電鉄株式会社; "Tokyo Express Electric Railway Stock Company") until 2 September 2019, is a Japanese keiretsu or conglomerate headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. While a multinational corporation, its main operation is the Tokyu Railways Co., Ltd. (ja:東急電鉄株式会社, Tōkyū Dentetsu kabushiki gaisha), a wholly owned subsidiary operating railways in the Greater Tokyo Area.

01History

The oldest predecessor of company was the Musashi Electric Railway (武蔵電気鉄道, Musashi Denki Tetsudō), opened in 1908. The railway's operations were converted into a kabushiki gaisha (company) in 1910. Keita Gotō, now a notable Japanese industrialist, was appointed as the CEO in 1920 and he began a major expansion program.

The most important predecessor was first registered on September 2, 1922, as the Meguro-Kamata Electric Railway (目黒蒲田電鉄, Meguro-Kamata Dentetsu) and is related to the construction of Den-en-chōfu. It was originally founded by the developers of Den-en-chōfu). It was acquired by the Musashi Electric Railway in 1924, shortly before Musashi was renamed into the Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway (東京横浜電鉄, Tōkyō-Yokohama Dentetsu), also known as the Toyoko, in the same year.

After Musashi/Toyoko's acquisition, the Meguro-Kamata Electric Railway initially operated as a subsidiary of Toyoko. It was not until 16 October 1939 that both Toyoko and Meguro-Kamata Electric railways were formally merged and the new company took the Toyoko name.

In 1938, Toyoko established Toyoko Eiga [ja], possibly for competition with Ichizo Kobayashi's Toho Company. It became the Toei Company in 1951.

Toyoko took its current name on 1 May 1942, after the Japanese government compelled the company to acquire the Odawara Express Railway and the Keihin Electric Railway in 1943 to support Japan's efforts in Pacific War of World War II. In 1944 it also acquired the Keio Teito Electric Railway (which had merged with Odawara Express before in 1940).

In 1948, after the war, Tokyu divested the acquired companies, and the divested companies are now known as Odakyu Electric Railway, Keikyu Corporation, and Keio Corporation respectively. The 1943-48 era of Tokyu was colloquially known as Dai-Tokyu (lit. Great Tokyu).

Logo of the Meguro-Kamata Electric Railway
Logo of the Meguro-Kamata Electric Railway
Logo of the Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway
Logo of the Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway

02Tokyu lines

Line Symbol Route Length (km) Stations Year opened Max speed (km/h)
Tōyoko Shibuya , Yokohama 24.2 21 1926 110
Meguro Meguro , Hiyoshi 11.9 13 1923 110
Den-en-toshi Shibuya , Chūō-rinkan 31.5 27 1907 110
Ōimachi Ōimachi , Mizonokuchi 10.4 16 1927 85
Ikegami Gotanda , Kamata 10.9 15 1922 80
Setagaya Sangen-Jaya , Shimo-Takaido 5.0 10 1925 40
Tamagawa Kamata , Tamagawa 5.6 7 2000 80
Shin-yokohama Shin-yokohama , Hiyoshi 5.8 3 2023 100
Total (8 lines) 105.3 96

Tokyu also operates the Kodomonokuni Line and Minatomirai Line under contract with and on behalf of Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Company.

Former Tokyu logo
Former Tokyu logo

04Rolling stock

New Tokyu 2020 series ten-car EMUs and Tokyu 6020 series seven-car EMUs have entered service since early 2018.

Topological route map
Topological route map
Watch videos about Tokyu CorporationExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Tokyu Corporation, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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