The History of Seibu in Photos（Part 1） Ⅰ The Early Days of Seibu Railway (1892–1969)
1870s–80s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s Meiji Taisho
Musashino Establishment of Musashino Railway 1912 15 1924 Railway Musashino Railway initially relied on German-built steam locomotives. Ikebukuro–Hanno Hakone Tochi section opens donates the Higashi-Oizumi Station
In 1915, Musashino Railway opened between Ikebukuro and Hanno. Photo shows Ikebukuro Station following electrification.
Tamako (Hakone Tochi established) 1920 24 Railway Oizumi-gakuen development begins Sale of Kodairamura residential lots begins
Sakai–Kita-Tama Train running between Omiya and section opens Seibu Tama Kawagoe, originally begun as Kawagoe Tama Railway Electric Railway (photo circa 1939). established 1910 17 19 1922 Railway Railway Kita-Tama– Line completed Tsunehisa through Koremasa section opens
Musashi Railway established, railway (Merged) business transferred and name Kawagoe Electric Railway changed to (the former) Seibu Railway established (Teikoku Electric) 1922 (Kawagoe Electric Light) 1903 06 (Merged) Kawagoe Omiya–Kawagoe- (Merged) Electric Kubomachi section opens Becomes Musashi Railway Hydroelectric Kawagoe Horse-drawn (Kannagawa Railway established 1902 Hydroelectric) 1914 1920 21 (Merged) (Merged)
Kokubunji–Kawagoe Line completed Kawagoe Kawagoe Railway established 1892 94 95 Railway Kokubunji–Kumegawa (tentative name) section opened
Yodobashi– Seibu Ogikubo Seibu Kido (Horinouchi Kido) section opens Kido
3 Seibu Holdings 10th Anniversary Book Seibu Railway, a core company of the Seibu Group, marked its 100th anniversary in 2012. While its The History of Seibu in Photos（Part 1） predecessor was the Musashino Railway, founded in 1912, today, among the various Seibu Railway lines, there are some even older than that. Behind them lies the drama of the establishment and merger of a number of railway companies that helped build the Musashino Railway. This is a look back at the history of Seibu Railway, from the Meiji through the Showa era.
1870s–80s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s Showa
Takadanobaba–Seibu-Shinjuku section opens (Merged) Murayama and Kawagoe lines renamed the Agano–Seibu-Chichibu (Merged) Shinjuku Line; Higashi-Murayama–Kokubunji section opens Name changed to Seibu Line renamed the Kokubunji Line; Ikebukuro– Agricultural Railroad Red Arrow Limited Yasujiro Tsutsumi Agano Line renamed the Ikebukuro Line Express begins Hakone Tochi becomes president operation assumes actual Toshima–Nerima of Musashino Name changed to Seibu Hagiyama–Ogawa 101 series trains section opens control Railway Railway section opens introduced Musashino 27 29 1932 1940 45 46 1950 51 52 56 1962 63 68 69 Railway Tamagawa- Hanno–Agano and UNESCO Village First private railway 10-car train begins operation josui–Haijima Nishi-Tokorozawa– opens section opens Murayama-koen 701 series trains introduced Otogi train extended Kodaira–Haijima sections open to UNESCO Village section named Hotel division goes the Haijima Line Ogawa–Tamagawa- independent as Prince josui line opens Hotel Co., Ltd. Higashi-Murayama Bunka-en opens
Tamako Railway established Tamako 28 1930 With the opening of the Railway Kokubunji– Hagiyama– Tamagawa-Josui–Haijima Hagiyama and Murayama- section, the Kodaira– Hagiyama– chosuichi The Otogi Train, predecessor of Haijima section is named Hon-Kodaira section opens today’s Yamaguchi Line, used a the Haijima Line. sections opens battery-powered locomotive to pull its passenger carriages.
Tamako Railway opened starting Seibu Tama at Kokubunji. Railcars in photo Railway Railway were transferred from Sunzu Railway with electrification in the 1930s.
In 1963, Seibu Railway Higashi-Murayama– introduces the 701 series Murayamachosuichi- train, with a front-end design (Merged) mae section opens significantly changed from previous trains. 27 1930 1941 43
Kawagoe- Yasujiro Kawagoe Takadanobaba– Kubomachi– Tsutsumi To boost transport Higashi-Murayama Electric Omiya section becomes capacity, in 1963 Seibu section opens Railway closed president of Railway became first Minami-Otsuka–Ahina the former private railway to section opens Seibu Railway introduce 10-car trains.
Former Seibu Railway train running between The 101 series was introduced in Takadanobaba and 1969, and sustained Seibu Railway Kawagoe Higashi-Murayama, through the 1970s. Seibu’s yellow today’s Shinjuku Line. color scheme also started with this Railway series.
With the opening of the Seibu Seibu Chichibu Line in 1969, Seibu Railway Kido introduces its first express train, the first generation Red Arrow.
Seibu Holdings 10th Anniversary Book 4