Keisei Electric Railway will introduce a new paid express train between Oshiage Station and Narita Airport Station in 2028 to improve access for the expected increase in air passengers.
In anticipation of an increase in the number of passengers, including foreign visitors to Japan, and the volume of cargo, Narita Airport will gradually improve its functions, such as building a new runway and rebuilding the passenger terminal. Keisei has announced a medium-term management plan to invest a total of 800 billion yen in railway business by the 2040s, and is prepared to strengthen airport access and respond to the increase in takeoff and landing capacity.
The first announcement of one of the measures to increase transportation volume was the introduction of a new paid express train to Oshiage Station, which currently only has conventional trains. They have already begun designing new vehicles for the start of operation in 2028. The area around Oshiage Station is bustling with tourists, including Tokyo Skytree, and Keisei also operates and operates hotels and route buses in the group, so they expect to create synergy effects.
Currently, the “Skyliner” runs from and to Keisei Ueno Station, but the new express train will run from Narita Airport Station via the same Narita Sky Access Line as the Skyliner, and will branch off to the Oshiage Line at Aoto Station. There will be no direct service beyond Oshiage Station to the Toei Asakusa Line or Keikyu Line, and no mention has been made of the possibility of doing so in the future.
Keisei is also working on further expansion of its largest-capacity Sogo depot, (Shisui Town, Chiba), and will consider upgrading facilities such as double-tracking the single-track sections around Narita Airport and developing stations for the new passenger terminal. In addition, Keisei will begin considering the next-generation Skyliner trains, with a view to increasing the length of the trains from the current eight cars, and large-scale investments will continue to be made to meet future demand increases.
