Financing for Sotetsu Investment in Facilities to Operate Directly Interconnecting Lines with JR

Sotetsu Group (holding company: Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture) is supporting the comfortable living of residents along its train lines, mainly through its Yokohama to Ebina and Futamatagawa to Shonandai railway operations (35.9 km combined). Sotetsu Group also deploys bus operations, primarily conducted in Yokohama and the central region of Kanagawa Prefecture; a nationwide hotel business, Sotetsu Fresa Inn; and a supermarket chain, Sotetsu Rosen.

In November 2019, Sagami Railway Co., Ltd., part of the Sotetsu Group, launched operations of direct interconnection with Japan Railway (JR) using a newly established roughly 2.7 km line between Nishiya Station on the Sotetsu Main Line and Yokohama Hazawa Station along the JR Tokaido Freight Line. Accordingly, the Sotetsu Line now runs directly to the center of Tokyo. This has reduced the amount of required travel time and the number of times passengers have to switch trains, thereby remarkably improving access to Tokyo's city center.

DBJ aims to improve railway convenience through this interconnection project and believes it will contribute to linking regions and revitalizing areas along the line through the wide-area network it forms. DBJ support includes financing for the introduction of the 12000 series train, developed for direct service, and the renovation of station service equipment systems.