Odakyu Electric Railway

Odakyū Electric Railway Company, Ltd. is a major private railway operator based in Tokyo, Japan, and the core transportation company of the Odakyū Group. The company operates three railway lines: the Odawara Line, its principal route connecting Shinjuku and Odawara; and two branch lines, the Enoshima Line and the Tama Line.
Together, the network extends approximately and serves 70 stations across 27 cities, wards, towns, and villages in the Tokyo and Kanagawa regions, covering an area with a population of about 5.2 million. Several stations function as regional transport hubs, each handling average daily passenger volumes of around 100,000, and connect dense urban and suburban areas with tourist destinations such as Hakone and Enoshima. Odakyū is best known for its Romancecar limited express services, which link central Tokyo with destinations including Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and the Hakone area.
In addition to Odakyū Electric Railway, the transportation division of the Odakyū Group also operates two other railway businesses: the Enoshima Electric Railway and Odakyu Hakone.

History

Pre-WWII

The line from Shinjuku to Odawara opened for service on 1 April 1927. Unlike the Odawara line, rarely were pre-World War II Japanese private railways constructed with double-track and fully electrified from the first day of operation. Two years later, on 1 April 1929, the Enoshima Line was added.
The original full name of the railroad was Odawara Express Railway Company, Ltd., but this was often shortened to. The abbreviation Odakyu was made popular by the title song of the 1929 movie Tōkyō kōshinkyoku and eventually became the official name of the railroad on March 1, 1941.
On 1 May 1942, Odakyu merged with the Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway company, which controlled all private railway services west and south of Tokyo by the end of World War II.

Post-WWII

The company regained its independence on June 1, 1948, and it obtained a large amount of Hakone Tozan Railway stocks, instead of separating Keio Inokashira Line for Keio Corporation. Odakyu restarted Non-stop Limited Express service between Shinjuku and Odawara in 1948. In 1950, Odakyu trains ran through to Hakone-Yumoto on Hakone Tozan Line. Odakyu uses narrow-gauge tracks, but the Hakone Tozan Railway is, so one track of the section from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto was changed to a dual gauge system. Odakyu operated the first Romancecar limited express in 1951.
After the 1950s, due to rapid Japanese economic growth, Odakyu was faced with an explosive increase of population along with its lines. Commuter passengers had to use very crowded trains every morning, and complained strongly with the delay of improvements from the railway company. Odakyu began construction on the - "Shinjuku Station Great Improvement Project" setting 5 lines and 10 platforms long enough for 10 standard commuter cars with service on the Chiyoda Line, among others. Plans for a four-track system in 1964 were prevented by residents of Setagaya Ward in Tokyo, as such the system remains uncompleted. The Setagaya Residents' opposition set the stage for a long-term and remarkable case in the courts and legislature. Odakyu could not take main part of transport from Tama New Town Area, though Odakyu started the operation of Tama Line in 1974. To serve its Mukōgaoka-Yūen Amusement Park, Odakyu operated the Mukōgaoka-Yūen Monorail Line between Mukōgaoka-Yūen and Mukōgaoka-Yūen-Seimon beginning in 1966 using a Lockheed Corporation style monorail system; the system was closed in 2001 when the amusement park was shut down.

Post-millennium

Since 2000, Odakyū has been adding track in both directions from Izumi-Tamagawa Station, on Tama River, the border station of Tokyo, to just outside Setagaya-Daita Station for expanding the availability of express trains, especially for morning commuter service. The lines between Setagaya-Daita and Higashi-Kitazawa Station are still under construction, however. Odakyu announced that the bottle-neck will be resolved by 2013.
All of its lines are double- or quadruple-tracked within Tokyo Metropolis as of March 2018, a project first decided in December 1964 but due to NIMBY land acquisition difficulties, complex and expensive workarounds were constructed and finished, taking a half century. The main or Odawara Line acts as a bypass route for the Tōkaidō Main Line from Tokyo to western Kanagawa. The Romancecar 3000 series "SE" was tested at speeds of up to in 1957, achieving a world record for narrow-gauge lines at the time. These tests also provided important data on high-speed electric multiple units, which Japanese National Railways used for its limited express EMUs, 151 series, and 0 Series Shinkansen introduced in the early 1960s.
Odakyu celebrated its 80th anniversary in April 2007. The 50th anniversary of the Romancecar was celebrated in September 2007.
Station numbers were introduced to all Odakyū Line stations in 2014, with stations numbered using the prefix "OH".
Odakyu are the current shirt sponsors of football club Machida Zelvia.
On 6 August 2021, a mass stabbing incident occurred on one of its commuter services when a man stabbed nine passengers, seriously injuring a woman before trying to ignite a fire on the compartment. The man escaped and was arrested hours later.

Lines

Odakyu owns three railway lines directly, and another three lines via subsidiaries. It also operates trains onto the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line, JR East Jōban Line, and JR Central Gotemba Line.

Line	Section	Length	Stations	Date opened
Odawara Line	-	82.5	47	April 1, 1927
Enoshima Line	-	27.4	17	April 1, 1929
Tama Line	-	10.6	8	June 1, 1974 March 27, 1990
Total	3 lines	120.5	70

Not including the connecting branch between Odawara Line and JR Central Gotemba Line near Shin-Matsuda Station.
Many Odakyu Tama Line trains continue on to the Chiyoda and Jōban lines for and - stations. This service began in 1978 between Hon-Atsugi and stations.
Some Odakyū trains continue on the Odakyu-owned Hakone Tozan Line to.
Limited express Mt. Fuji trains travel from Shinjuku through on the JR Central Gotemba Line to Gotemba Station eight times a day.
Train classification

Color	Classification	Runs between	Line
	Limited Express	Shinjuku, Kita-Senju, and Shin-Kiba to Hakone-Yumoto, Katase-Enoshima, Karakida or Numazu	Odawara, Enoshima, Tama; Hakone Tozan; JR Central Gotemba; and Tokyo Metro Chiyoda and Yūrakuchō
	Rapid Express	Shinjuku to Odawara or Fujisawa	Odawara and Enoshima
	Express	Shinjuku to Odawara, Katase-Enoshima or Karakida	Odawara, Enoshima, and Tama
	Commuter Express	All services operate in the weekday morning rush hour for Shinjuku from Karakida on the Odakyu Tama Line	Odawara, Tama
	Semi Express	All services operate between Yoyogi-Uehara and Isehara during the offpeak and evening rush hour	Odawara Line, Chiyoda Line, Joban Line
	Commuter Semi Express	All Services operate in the weekday morning rush hour for Yoyogi-Uehara through to the Chiyoda Line from Hon-Atsugi	Odakyu Odawara Line, Chiyoda Line, Joban Line
	Local	In all sections, includes to/from Hakone-Yumoto on Hakone Tozan Line	Odawara, Enoshima, Tama; and Hakone Tozan

Limited express service

Shinjuku Station routes

Commuter service is shown on each line's page.

Station	Japanese	Distance	'	'		Mt. Fuji	Enoshima	Home Way	Lines
Shinjuku	新宿	-	●	●	●	●	●	●	Odakyū Odawara Line
Mukōgaoka-Yūen	向ヶ丘遊園	15.8	｜	■	■	｜	｜	｜	Odakyū Odawara Line
Shin-Yurigaoka	新百合ヶ丘	21.5	｜	■	■	｜	●	■	Odakyū Odawara Line
Machida	町田	30.8	｜	●	●	●	｜	■	Odakyū Odawara Line
Sagami-Ōno	相模大野	32.3	｜	■	■	｜	●	■	Odakyū Odawara Line
Hon-Atsugi	本厚木	45.4	｜	■	●	●	∥	●	Odakyū Odawara Line
Hadano	秦野	61.7	｜	■	■	｜	∥	●	Odakyū Odawara Line
Shin-Matsuda	新松田	71.8	｜	■	■	∥	∥	｜	Odakyū Odawara Line
Odawara	小田原	82.5	●	●	●	∥	∥	●	Odakyū Odawara Line
Hakone-Yumoto	箱根湯本	88.6	●	●		∥	∥	●	Hakone Tozan Line
Yamato	大和	39.9				∥	●	●	Odakyū Enoshima Line
Fujisawa	藤沢	55.4				∥	●	●	Odakyū Enoshima Line
Katase-Enoshima	片瀬江ノ島	59.9				∥	●	●	Odakyū Enoshima Line
Odakyū-Nagayama	小田急永山	28.3				∥		●	Odakyū Tama Line
Odakyū-Tama-Center	小田急多摩センター	30.6				∥		●	Odakyū Tama Line
Karakida	唐木田	32.1				∥		●	Odakyū Tama Line
Matsuda	松田	71.8				●			JR Central Gotemba Line
Suruga-Oyama	駿河小山	86.2				■			JR Central Gotemba Line
Gotemba	御殿場	97.1				●			JR Central Gotemba Line

Mt. Fuji trains run on the connecting branch line just before Shin-Matsuda from Shinjuku and stops at Matsuda on the Gotemba Line. Matsuda and Shin-Matsuda are treated as the same station.
Home Way trains run from Shinjuku every evening after 18:00. There is no service to Shinjuku.