Urawa Station Explained

is a junction passenger railway station located in Urawa-ku, Saitama, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is located near Saitama City Office and the Saitama Prefectural Government Office.

Lines

Urawa Station is served by the Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line, Takasaki Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, and Shōnan-Shinjuku Lines. It is 6.1 kilometers from and 24.2 kilometers from .

Station layout

The station has three elevated island platforms, serving six tracks, with the station building underneath. The station has a "Midori no Madoguchi" staffed ticket office.

Platforms

History

Urawa Station opened on 28 July 1883^[1] as a station of Nippon Tetsudō (lit. Japan Railway) company, when this company opened the railway from Ueno Station to Kumagaya Station (part of today's Takasaki Line). At that time, there were only six stations along the route (Urawa,,, and), so Urawa Station is one of the oldest stations of the Tōhoku Main Line, and is also the oldest in the present-day city of Saitama.

Following eight years of construction, the station became fully elevated in March 2013, therefore allowing the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line to serve the station from 16 March 2013 onwards.^[2]

In 2017, chest-height platform edge doors were installed on the Keihin-Tōhoku Line platforms (1 and 2), brought into use from 21 October 2017.^[3]

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2019, the station was used by an average of 95,865 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).^[4]

The daily passenger figures (boarding passengers only) in previous years are as shown below.

Fiscal year	Daily average
2000	73,995[5]
2005	73,633[6]
2010	79,113[7]
2015	87,650[8]

Surrounding area

• Saitama Prefectural Government Office
• Saitama City Office
• Isetan department store
• Corso (department store located in front of Urawa Station west exit)
• Parco Department Store
• Urawa Royal Pines Hotel
• Urawa Washington Hotel

See also

• List of railway stations in Japan

Notes and References

1. Book: ja: 日本国有鉄道停車場一覧 . JNR Station Directory . Japanese National Railways . 1985 . Japan . 97. 4-533-00503-9.
2. Web site: http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNZO52803140U3A310C1L72000/. ja:浦和駅の高架化、完成　16日から湘南新宿ライン停車 . Urawa Station elevated platforms complete, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line to serve station for the 16th. Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Japan. ja. 15 March 2013 . 24 September 2014.
3. Web site: http://railf.jp/news/2017/10/22/200500.html . ja: 京浜東北線浦和駅でホームドアの使用開始 . Platform edge doors commence operation at Urawa Station on Keihin-Tohoku Line . 23 October 2017. Japan Railfan Magazine Online. Koyusha Co., Ltd.. Japan. ja. https://web.archive.org/web/20171023105043/http://railf.jp/news/2017/10/22/200500.html . 23 October 2017. live . 23 October 2017.
4. Web site: https://www.jreast.co.jp/passenger/index.html. ja: 各駅の乗車人員 (2019年度). Station passenger figures (Fiscal 2019). 2020. East Japan Railway Company. Japan. ja. 2 August 2020.
5. Web site: http://www.jreast.co.jp/passenger/2000.html. ja:各駅の乗車人員　（2000年度）. Station passenger figures (Fiscal 2000). East Japan Railway Company. Japan. ja. 24 September 2014.
6. Web site: http://www.jreast.co.jp/passenger/2005.html. ja:各駅の乗車人員　（2005年度）. Station passenger figures (Fiscal 2005). East Japan Railway Company. Japan. ja. 24 September 2014.
7. Web site: http://www.jreast.co.jp/passenger/2010.html. ja:各駅の乗車人員　（2010年度）. Station passenger figures (Fiscal 2010). East Japan Railway Company. Japan. ja. 24 September 2014.
8. Web site: http://www.jreast.co.jp/passenger/2015.html. ja:各駅の乗車人員　（2015年度）. Station passenger figures (Fiscal 2015). East Japan Railway Company. Japan. ja. 24 September 2016.