JR East Omiya Branch and Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, signed a basic agreement on Thursday, April 24, 2025 to develop new platforms, concourses, and free passageways for the Utsunomiya and Takasaki Line (Ueno-Tokyo Line) at Kawaguchi Station.
Kawaguchi Station is the closest one to Tokyo Station in Saitama Prefecture, and is the city’s main station, with many bus routes from the surrounding areas integrating there. It has the third-highest daily passenger numbers of any JR station in the prefecture, at about 74,000, but since only the Keihin-Tohoku Line stops there, the small station premises continue to be overcrowded with passengers when the operation is disrupted. In addition, large commercial facilities have been withdrawing from the area in front of the station one after another due to changes in social conditions, and the city has been considering redeveloping the station in conjunction with new urban development.
As a measure to boost rail transport capacity, the city has been working with JR to investigate and specifically consider the addition of a platform to allow the medium-distance Ueno-Tokyo Line train to make a new stop. Once completed, the travel time to Tokyo Station is expected to be about 20 minutes, about 10 minutes shorter than using the Keihin-Tohoku Line, which is expected to ease congestion and improve convenience for commuters and students. The line will also run onto the Haneda Airport Access Line (East Yamanote Route), which JR aims to open in fiscal 2031, allowing a direct connection to Haneda Airport.
According to the basic agreement, the city will cover the costs of constructing the new platform, concourse, and east-west free passage, while JR will cover the costs of the shops. Once completed, the free passage will be owned by the city, and will be passable 24 hours a day, with the expectation that it will also be used as an evacuation route in the event of a disaster. The cost of the project for the platform and station building is estimated to be around 40 billion yen, and the city will consider funding sources such as the use of subsidies. Surveying and design will be carried out over several years starting this fiscal year, and construction is expected to take a further 10 to 12 years to complete.
