Sakado Station (Saitama)

Sakado Station is served by the Tobu Tojo Line from Ikebukuro in Tokyo. Located between Wakaba and Kita-Sakado, it is 40.6 km from the Ikebukuro terminus.[2] It also forms the starting point of the Tobu Ogose Line branchline to Ogose.

All services, (TJ Liner, Rapid Express, Rapid, Express, Semi express, Local) stop at this station. During the daytime, the station is served by eight trains per hour in each direction on the Tojo Line, and by four trains per hour to Ogose on the Ogose Line.[3]

The south entrance with escalators and lift, January 2012

The elevated station concourse, April 2011

The station consists of two sets of island platforms numbered from south to north. From 2010, a new elevated station building provided a central set of ticket gates, replacing the previous exits on the north and south sides.

This station has a season ticket sales office.[3]

A siding on the north side of the station is used for storing track maintenance machines. A stabling track for Ogose Line trains lies to the east of the station, next to the permanent way depot.[4] This was created in 2008.

Platforms

1/2	■ Tobu Ogose Line	for Ogose
3	■ Tobu Tojo Line	for Shinrinkōen, Ogawamachi, and Yorii
4	■ Tobu Tojo Line	for Kawagoe, Wakōshi, and Ikebukuro Y Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line for Shin-Kiba F Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line for Shibuya TY Tokyu Toyoko Line for Yokohama Minatomirai Line for Motomachi-Chukagai

The Ogose Line platforms (1 and 2) are 4 cars long, and the Tojo Line platforms (3 and 4) are 10 cars long.

View of the station building and Ogose Line platforms 1/2, from platforms 3/4, April 2011

The station first opened on 27 October 1916, named Sakado-machi Station (坂戸町駅), coinciding with the extension of the Tojo Railway from Kawagoe. At the time of opening, the journey time from Ikebukuro was approximately 1 hour 40 minutes (compared to 45 minutes by express in 2008).[5] The Ogose Line was opened from Sakado Station on 17 February 1932, initially as a freight line as far as Morido (森戸). The Ogose Line was extended from Morido to Ogose on 16 December 1934, from which date passenger service commenced.[2]

From the 1920s, a track continued due westward to the Komagawa River for transporting gravel. This operated until the 1960s. The track maintenance storage track stub to the west of the station, between the Tojo Line and Ogose Line tracks is the truncated remainder of this former line.[6]

The station was renamed Sakado on 1 September 1976 when Sakado became a city.[5] In 1986, the locomotive depot at the east end of the station was closed, although the sheds remain to this day, used as a track maintenance depot.

• 
  A class ED5010 electric locomotive and Ogose Line 7800 series EMU at Sakado Station, April 1977
• 
  View of the station from the storage line stub formerly a gravel line to the Komagawa River, February 2011
• 
  The Ogose Line storage siding and track maintenance depot to the east of the station, June 2008

Mirrors and platform edge sensors were added to the Ogose Line platforms in 2008 ahead of the start of driver-only operation from June 2008.

Work started in 2009 to rebuild the station with an elevated concourse providing a link between the north and south sides of the station. Rebuilding was completed in April 2011.

• 
  The south entrance in February 2009 before rebuilding
• 
  The north entrance in August 2009 before rebuilding
• 
  The main station footbridge in February 2009 before demolition and rebuilding
• 
  The platforms in September 2008
• 
  The toilets and ticket barriers on the south side in February 2009 before rebuilding
• 
  The station toilets on the north side in February 2009 before rebuilding
• 
  The former Bunmeido Castella shop on the north side of the station in February 2009 before rebuilding

From 17 March 2012, station numbering was introduced on the Tobu Tojo Line, with Sakado Station becoming "TJ-26".[7]

In fiscal 2014, the station was used by an average of 27,755 passengers daily.[8] Passenger figures for previous years are as shown below.

Nishi-iruma Police Station, August 2013

• Sakado City Office
• Nishi-Iruma Police Station
• Sakado Central Library

The north side of the station is served by the "Sakacchi Bus" (Ōya Line) and "Sakacchi Wagon" (Nissai Line) community minibus services operated by the city of Sakado.[14] The south side is served by the "Sakacchi Bus" (Tsurumai Line) and "Sakacchi Wagon" (Shigaichi Line) community minibus services.[14]

The following long-distance express bus services operate from the south side of the station.

• Narita Airport (via Kawagoe Station), operated jointly by Chiba Kōtsū, Kawagoe Motor Corp, and Tobu Bus West[15]
• Haneda Airport, operated jointly by Kokusai Juo and Airport Transport Service (Limousine Bus)[16]
• Kyoto and Osaka, Wing Liner overnight service operated by Kintetsu Bus[17]

• List of railway stations in Japan
• Sakado Station (Fukuoka) in Fukuoka Prefecture
• Sakado Station (Ibaraki) on the former Kashima Railway Line in Ibaraki Prefecture (closed March 2007)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sakado Station (Saitama).

• Sakado Station information (Tobu) (in Japanese)