Keio Corporation is a private railway operator in Tokyo, Japan, and the central firm of the Keio Group that is involved in transport, retail, real estate and other industries. The name "Keio" is derived from taking one character each from the places through which the railway runs: "Tōkyō" and "Hachiōji". The Keio railway network connects the western suburbs of Tokyo and Sagamihara in Kanagawa with central Tokyo at Shinjuku Station.
Lines
The Keio network is based around the central Keiō Line, 37.9 km, 32 stations.
The company's earliest predecessor was the Nippon Electric Railway founded in 1905. In 1906 the company was reorganized as the Musashi Electric Railway, and in 1910 was renamed yet again to Keio Electric Tramway. It began operating its first stretch of railway between Sasazuka and Chōfu in 1913. By 1923, Keiō had completed its main railway line between Shinjuku and Hachiōji. Track along the Fuchū - Hachiōji section was originally laid in 1,067 mm gauge by the Gyokunan Electric Railway; it was later changed to match the rest of the line's 1,372 mm gauge. The Inokashira Line began operating in 1933 as a completely separate company, Teito Electric Railway. This company had also planned to link with Suzaki, though this never materialized. In 1940, Teito merged with the Odakyu Electric Railway, and in 1942 the combined companies were merged by government order into Tōkyō Kyūkō Dentetsu. In 1947, the shareholders of Tokyu voted to spin off the Keio and Inokashira lines into a new company, Keiō Teito Electric Railway. The Teito name was dropped in 1998 in favor of Keio Electric Railway, though "KTR" placards and insignia can still be seen occasionally. The company's English name was changed to Keio Corporation on June 29, 2005.
Priority seats
Keiō was among the first railway companies to introduce priority seats on its trains. Priority seats are those reserved for the physically handicapped, elderly, pregnant women, and people with infants. These special seats, which were initially called "Silver seats" but renamed in 1993, were inaugurated on Respect for the Aged Day on September 15, 1973.
The first of a fleet of five new ten-car 5000 series EMUs was introduced on 29 September 2017, ahead of the start of new evening reserved-seat commuter services from Shinjuku in spring 2018.
