Keiō Takao Line

The line's substantive origin lies in an earlier Keiō branch, the Goryō Line, built as a pilgrimage route to the Tama Imperial Mausoleum (the Musashi Imperial Graveyard), the first imperial cemetery in the Kantō region. A railway licence for the project was granted on 13 December 1927, originally for a route from the Myōjin-chō area of Hachiōji; after the Hachiōji town council objected to the city being split by the line and land acquisition stalled, the plan was changed in May 1930 to branch instead from Kitano Station. The Goryō Line — a 6.3-kilometre branch electrified at 600 V DC — opened on 20 March 1931 between Kitano and Goryōmae (later renamed Tama-Goryōmae), the terminus serving as a gateway to the tomb of Emperor Taishō.

The Goryō Line was single track with a passing loop and carried light traffic. Its operator, the Keiō Electric Tramway, was absorbed into Tokyō Kyūkō Dentetsu — the wartime conglomerate known as "Greater Tōkyū", the present-day Tokyu Corporation — in 1944. Late in the Second World War, on 21 January 1945, the new operator suspended the Goryō Line between Kitano and Tama-Goryōmae as a non-essential line, its rails surrendered to the wartime collection of metal. When Keiō Teito Electric Railway, the direct predecessor of today's Keiō Corporation, was established in 1948, it inherited the former Keiō operations including the dormant Goryō Line, whose right-of-way it continued to hold as company land.

Through the postwar decades Hachiōji grew rapidly as an industrial city and dormitory area, helped by the 1956 Capital Region Development Act, and the once-sparsely-populated south-west of the city filled with housing and relocated colleges. From September 1962 Keiō, by then independent again, began studying how to use the Goryō Line before its suspension licence expired. The company saw three opportunities: commuter demand from the growing suburbs around Kitano and Katakura; an industrial district near Hazama; and, above all, Mount Takao, a popular destination then reachable only by bus from the national railway's Takao Station. Keiō therefore decided to revive and double-track the Kitano–Yamada section of the Goryō Line as a new "Takao Line", lay entirely new track from Yamada to Takaosanguchi, and develop its own housing estate at the intermediate station of Mejirodai.

Construction moved quickly. A licence for the Yamada–Takaosanguchi extension was applied for in March 1963 and approved on 17 June 1964; building work was authorised in February 1965, surveying began that September, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site of Takaosanguchi Station in January 1966. After a test run with a six-car 5000 series train on 5 September 1967, the Takao Line opened on 1 October 1967 — barely one year and nine months from the start of work, and brought forward from a planned November date to catch the autumn leisure season. The Kitano–Yamada section of the former Goryō Line was revived as part of the new line, Katakura Station was renamed Keiō-Katakura, and a holiday-only hiking limited express named "Takao" began running.

Services on the new line developed steadily. From 1 January 1968 a limited express called "Geikō" was run to coincide with the New Year welcoming-of-the-light festival at Takaosan Yakuō-in temple, becoming an annual fixture, and automatic train stop (ATS) equipment entered service between Takao and Takaosanguchi on 28 December 1968. Train lengths grew as ridership rose — local trains were lengthened to three cars in 1972 and to six in 1984, while express-type trains reached ten cars by the end of 1992. In July 1974 the line's name was changed from "Keiō Takao Line" to simply the "Takao Line".

In the twenty-first century the line's services and infrastructure were repeatedly reshaped. A semi-special-express class was introduced on 27 March 2001; the line's signalling was upgraded to automatic train control (ATC) on 2 October 2011; and a March 2022 timetable revision merged the semi-special express into the limited express, abolishing the former. The line has also weathered natural disasters: heavy rain in August 2008 caused a landslide between Takaosanguchi and Takao that derailed one car of a local train, with no injuries and the line restored within two days, and Typhoon Hagibis suspended the whole line on 12 October 2019 with soil inflow between Mejirodai and Hazama before service resumed two days later. From the timetable revision of 15 March 2025, reserved-seat "Keiō Liner" services to and from Takaosanguchi were added as regular trains, the latest step in the line's role as both a commuter and leisure route to Mount Takao.

• 192713 December: a railway licence is granted for the Goryō Line, the pilgrimage branch that is the Takao Line's substantive origin.
• 1930May: after the original alignment is opposed, the route is changed to branch off from Kitano Station.
• 193120 March: the Keiō Electric Tramway opens the Goryō Line, a 6.3 km branch electrified at 600 V DC, between Kitano and Goryōmae (later Tama-Goryōmae), serving the tomb of Emperor Taishō.
• 194521 January: the Goryō Line (Kitano–Tama-Goryōmae) is suspended as a non-essential line late in the Second World War, its rails surrendered for metal; its operator had been merged into Tokyō Kyūkō Dentetsu (present-day Tokyu) in 1944.
• 1948Keiō Teito Electric Railway (the present Keiō Corporation) is established and inherits the former operations, including the dormant Goryō Line.
• 196417 June: the licence for the new Yamada–Takaosanguchi line is approved; on 26 November the Goryō Line's Yamada–Tama-Goryōmae section is formally abolished.
• 19671 October: the Takao Line opens (Yamada–Takaosanguchi newly built, Kitano–Yamada revived from the Goryō Line) after a groundbreaking at Takaosanguchi in January 1966; Katakura is renamed Keiō-Katakura and a holiday hiking limited express "Takao" begins.
• 19681 January: a limited express "Geikō" begins running for the New Year festival at Takaosan Yakuō-in; on 28 December ATS enters service between Takao and Takaosanguchi.
• 1974July: the line's name is changed from "Keiō Takao Line" to simply the "Takao Line".
• 199223 December: all express-type services on the line are lengthened to ten cars.
• 200127 March: a semi-special-express (jun-tokkyū) service is introduced.
• 200828 August: heavy rain causes a landslide between Takaosanguchi and Takao, derailing one car of a local train; there are no injuries and the line is restored on 30 August.
• 20112 October: automatic train control (ATC) enters service on the line.
• 201912 October: Typhoon Hagibis suspends the whole line, with soil inflow between Mejirodai and Hazama; service resumes on 14 October.
• 202212 March: a timetable revision merges the semi-special express into the limited express, abolishing the semi-special-express class.
• 202515 March: a timetable revision adds reserved-seat "Keiō Liner" services to and from Takaosanguchi as regular trains.