Hokusō Railway (between Keisei-Takasago and Komuro; Category 1) Chiba New Town Railway (between Komuro and Imba Nihon-idai; Category 3) (both controlled by the Keisei Electric Railway)
The first section of the line, from Komuro to Shin-Kamagaya, opened in March 1979, including a temporary connection to the Shin-Keisei Line at Kita-Hatsutomi. As other tracks were connected, it changed its name to "Hokusō Kōdan Line" in April 1987. Over 17 years later, the railway properties of the HDC corporation transferred to Chiba New Town Railway (千葉ニュータウン鉄道, Chiba Nyūtaun Tetsudō), on July 1, 2004, and the whole line was renamed as the Hokusō Line.
The second phase section to Keisei-Takasago on the Keisei Main Line opened in 1991, and through-operation began. In the following year, Shin-Keisei included Shin-Kamagaya Station as a transfer station, and abandoned the temporary route.
Eastern section
The section east of Komuro was initially the eastern part of a once-planned Chiba Prefectural Railway (千葉県営鉄道, Chiba Ken'ei Tetsudō) (II, apart from the first which opened the Tōbu Noda Line and the Kururi Line) as an extension of Line 10 (Shinjuku Line). The line was to be built from Moto-Yawata via Komuro to parallel to the line above, then to terminate at present Imba Nihon-idai. The first section between Komuro and Chiba New Town Chūō was opened in 1984, and the operations were commissioned to the present Hokusō Railway.
March 9, 1979: Hokusō Line (first phase) of Hokusō Development Railway (北総開発鉄道, Hokusō Kaihatsu Tetsudō)Kita-Hatsutomi – Komuro. Through-operation via Shin-Keisei Line to Matsudo on temporary basis.
March 19, 1984: Chiba New Town Line (千葉ニュータウン線, Chiba Nyūtaun sen) of Housing and Urban Development Corporation (住宅・都市整備公団, Jūtaku Toshi Seibi Kōdan) (HUDC onwards) Komuro – Chiba New Town Chūō
April 1, 1987: On the section of Komuro – Chiba New Town Chūō, Hokusō Development Railway became the Category-2 Railway Business operator, while HUDC became Category-3 Railway Business. On the commencement of the Railway Business Act (鉄道事業法, Tetsudō Jigyō Hō), Act No. 92 of 1986) for the privatization of the Japan National Railways. Simultaneously, the entire stretch was renamed to Hokusō Kōdan Line (北総・公団線, lit. Hokusō and the Corporation Line)
July 4, 1992: Shin-Keisei opened Shin-Kamagaya Station. Through-operation to Shin-Keisei terminated. The section of Kita-Hatsutomi – Shin-Kamagaya was abandoned.
April 1, 1995: Chiba New Town Chūō – Inzai-Makinohara, as Hokusō Cat-2, HUDC Cat-3
1999: HUDC reorganized to the Urban Development Corporation (都市基盤整備公団, Toshi Kiban Seibi Kōdan) (HDC onwards), continued state of Cat-3 of the line.
July 22, 2000: Inzai-Makinohara – Imba Nihon-idai, as Hokusō Cat-2, HDC Cat-3. Present stretch completed.
July 1, 2004: Railway properties of HDC transferred to Chiba New Town Railway (千葉ニュータウン鉄道, Chiba Nyūtaun Tetsudō), and the whole line was renamed as the Hokusō Line.
Extension to Narita Airport
After the abandonment of the planned Narita Shinkansen, routes of rapid transit to Narita Airport had long been discussed. For a utilization of partially completed tracks of the Shinkansen, JR East and Keisei lines to Narita Airport were realized. A much faster line had long been needed, and for that purpose the first priority was the Keisei – Hokusō route. In 2001, a new Cat-3 entity, Narita Rapid Rail Access (成田高速鉄道アクセス, Narita Kōsoku Tetsudō Access) commenced building a new line connecting Imba Nihon-idai to the junction to Narita Airport Rapid Railway (成田空港高速鉄道, Narita Kūkō Kōsoku Tetsudō) which is a Cat-3 company of existing access railways, the tracks of the formerly planned Narita Shinkansen. The express trains are operated by Keisei as a Cat-2 operator with maximum speed at 160 km/h (99 mph), the fastest among Japanese private railways (which was formerly shared with Hokuetsu Express until the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen in 2015) which enables a 34-minute journey from Nippori to Narita Airport. The line opened in July 2010.[3]
Local subsidies
Hokuso Railway fares are significantly higher than those of other private railways in the region. In 2013, a journey of 12.7 km (7.9 mi) on the Hokuso Line cost 540 yen, while a 23.8 km (14.8 mi) journey cost 720 yen. Equivalent journeys on the Keisei Main Line cost 250 yen and 360 yen respectively while equivalent journeys on JR East cost 210 yen and 380 yen respectively. The difference in fares is largely due to the debt burden remaining from the portion of the line built and owned by Hokuso Railway itself; this is also the case for the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line and the Saitama Rapid Railway Line, which are also known for having comparatively high fares.[4]
In 2009, Chiba Prefecture and several municipalities along the line agreed with Hokuso Railway for an average fare reduction of 4.6% (25% for student commuter passes), in exchange for which they agreed to subsidize half of the estimated revenue loss of 600 million yen. The fare reduction was implemented in July 2010 at the time of the opening of the Narita Sky Access Line. In 2011 and 2012, the cities of Shiroi and Inzai elected new mayors on platforms of negotiating for further fare reductions and stopping public subsidies respectively; a third-party study commissioned by the two city governments concluded in August 2013 that the Hokusō Line would break even at more discounted fare levels without local subsidies. Hokuso, on the other hand, has argued that increased consumption tax rates and capital expenditures related to upgrading the Pasmo system will force them to raise fares in 2015.[5][6] Additional fare reduction measures were implemented on 1 October 2022 which brought down regular fares by around 10% along with commuter passes being discounted by an additional 65%.[7]
^ ab千葉ニュータウン鉄道9800形が営業運転を開始 [Chiba New Town Railway 9800 series enters revenue service]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 22 March 2017. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
^"京成電鉄「成田スカイアクセス」開業にともない7月17日にダイヤ改正を実施" [Timetable Revisions to take place on Keisei Railway on 17 July for Opening of the Narita Airport Line]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). 28 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
^"北総鉄道、普通運賃最大105円、通学定期は約65％の値下げへ" [Hokuso Railway, normal fare up to 105 yen, 65% reduction for school commuter passes]. Tetsudo News (in Japanese). 19 November 2021. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
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