On the 18th of March, 2023, two new railway lines were inaugurated in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. One is the Shin-Yokohama line of Sagami Railway (hereafter Sotetsu). The other one is the Shin-Yokohama line of Tokyu Railways. These two lines are connected at Shin-Yokohama station. A direct operation of Sotetsu and Tokyu trains through Shin-Yokohama station was also started on that day. What is the significance of the opening of these lines?
Firstly, Sotetsu got the second access route to Tokyo. Sotetsu is a major private railway company, but its weakness was its inconvenient line network. Sotetsu trains couldn't run into Tokyo until four years ago. Sotetsu's weakness was once mitigated in 2019, when the Sotetsu-JR East connecting line was completed. Since then, Sotetsu trains are directly operated onto the JR East lines to downtown Tokyo, but the story didn't end there. Sotetsu got another access route to Tokyo this time. That's the Shin-Yokohama line. Sotetsu trains are now directly operated onto the Tokyu and the other lines, and bound for the city center of Tokyo.
Secondly, transfer to the Tokaido Shinkansen at Shin-Yokohama station is much easier now. JR Central's Tokaido Shinkansen is an intercity high-speed railway bound for Osaka and other major cities, but the problem was the access to the transfer station in Yokohama City, namely Shin-Yokohama, because it's far from the downtown area. The completion of the new lines has made passengers easier to transfer to the Shinkansen at Shin-Yokohama station. Yokohama City is significantly changing.
