Nagare Railway started its operation on November 7, 1913 as Nagareyama Light Railway (762mm gauge) with the investment of 116 people in Nagareyama town. It is a line of total 6 stations and 5.7km from Mabashi station of Joban slow line to Nagareyama station. To visit from Tokyo, you can go to Mabashi without transferring to Tokyo Subway Chiyoda Line (Abiko, Toride, Kashiwa). You can enjoy the nearest local train line from Tokyo. The lower left picture is “blue sky” entering Mabashi station, and the right hand side is Joban Rapid Line passing by. |
In 1924, the gauge was changed from 762mm to 1,067mm in order to start direct freight car operation with the Joban Line. After that, the Army’s Grain and Tortoises Depot was completed southwest of the present Heiwadai Station, and the line was converted from a civilian railway to a military railway. In 1949 (postwar), electrification was completed, and the railway purchased 1,500 VDC electricity from the Japan National Railways and started operation with three electric trains. Nagareyama Dentetsu was the only electrified private railway at that time that did not have a substation. |
The company name was changed to Nagareyama Electric Railway on June 20, 1967. In July of the same year, Koganejoji was upgraded to a train exchange station, and the number of trains was increased from 32 each up and down to 46 each up and down. In 1978, 18 cars were transferred from Seibu Railway, and each train was given a different color, and nicknamed “Ryusei” (orange), “Ryuma – Aozora” (blue), “Ginga” (silver), “Wakaba” (young grass), “Nanohana” (yellow) and “Akagi” (red). In 1984, the direct handling of freight cars with JNR was discontinued. In 1990, the Nishi-Hirai substation started operation. In August 2008, the company name was changed to Nagare Tetsu and the line name was changed to Nagareyama Line. |
Transfer of rolling stock from Seibu Railway
The rolling stock of Ryutetsu is transferred from Seibu Railway. Its class-A train transportation is handled by Series 101 within the Seibu Line. The EF65 belonging to the Shin-Tsurumi engine section was in charge between Shin-Akitsu and Koshigaya freight terminal on the JR line, and the DE10 belonging to the Shin-Tsurumi engine section was in charge between Koshigaya freight terminal and Umabashi, and the Series 2000 of Nagare-Tetsu was in charge between Umabashi and Nagareyama. |
Nagare-Tetsu Nagareyama line car and train collide and derail
On July 11, 2014, just after 2:00 p.m., a passenger car and a train collided near a railroad crossing in Oyaguchi, Matsudo City, on the Nagare-Tetsu Nagareyama Line connecting Nagareyama City and Matsudo City. According to the police and fire department, the passenger car with two passengers, a man and a woman, was wrecked, resulting in a fatal accident. The train that caused the accident was a two-car 5000 Series “Ryusei” train bound for Mabashi Station, departing from Nagareyama Station. |