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Pre-WWII
The 83 km line from Shinjuku to Odawara opened for service on April 1, 1927. Unlike the Odawara line, rarely were pre-World War II Japanese private railways constructed with double-track and fully electrified from the first day of operation. Two years later, April 1, 1929, the Enoshima Line was added.
The original full name of the railroad was Odawara Express Railway Company, Ltd. , but this was often shortened to Odawara Ky?k? . The abbreviation Odakyu was made popular by the title song of the 1929 movie T?ky? k?shinkyoku and eventually became the official name of the railroad on March 1, 1941.On May 1, 1942, Odakyu merged with the Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway company , which controlled all private railway services west and south of Tokyo by the end of World War II.
Post-WWII
The company regained its independence on June 1, 1948, and it obtained a large amount of Hakone Tozan Railway stocks, instead of separating Keio Inokashira Line for Keio Corporation. Odakyu restarted Non-stop Limited Express service between Shinjuku and Odawara in 1948. In 1950, Odakyu trains ran through to Hakone-Yumoto on Hakone Tozan Line. Odakyu uses 1,067 mm narrow gauge tracks, but the Hakone Tozan Railway is 1,435 mm standard gauge, so one track of the section from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto was changed to a dual gauge system. Odakyu operated the first Romancecar limited express in 1951.
After the 1950s, due to rapid Japanese economic growth, Odakyu was faced with an explosive increase of population along with its lines. Commuter passengers had to use very crowded trains every morning, and complained strongly with the delay of improvements from the railway company. Odakyu began construction on the - "Shinjuku Station Great Improvement Project" setting 5 lines and 10 platforms long enough for 10 standard commuter cars with service on the Chiyoda Line, among others. Plans for a four-track system in 1964 were prevented by residents of Setagaya Ward in Tokyo, as such the system remains uncompleted. The Setagaya Residents' opposition set the stage for a long-term and remarkable case in the courts and legislature. Odakyu could not take main part of transport from Tama New Town Area, though Odakyu started the operation of Tama Line in 1974. To serve its Muk?gaoka-Y?en Amusement Park, Odakyu operated the Muk?gaoka-Y?en Monorail Line between Muk?gaoka-Y?en and Muk?gaoka-Y?en-Seimon beginning in 1966 using a Lockheed Corporation style monorail system; the system was closed in 2001 when the amusement park was shut down.
Post-Millennium
Since 2000, Odaky? has been adding track in both directions from Izumi-Tamagawa Station, on Tama River, the border station of Tokyo, to just outside Setagaya-Daita Station for expanding the availability of express trains, especially for morning commuter service. The lines between Setagaya-Daita and Higashi-Kitazawa Station are still under construction, however. Odakyu announced that the bottle-neck will be resolved by 2013.
All of its lines are double- or quadruple-tracked within Tokyo Metropolis as of March 2018, a project first decided in December 1964 but due to NIMBY land acquisition difficulties, complex and expensive workarounds were constructed and finished, taking 1/2 a century. The main or Odawara Line acts as a bypass route for the T?kaid? Main Line from Tokyo to western Kanagawa. The Romancecar 3000 series "SE" was tested at speeds of up to 145 km/h in 1957, achieving a world record for narrow gauge 1,067 mm lines at the time. These tests also provided important data on high-speed electric multiple units , which Japanese National Railways used for its limited express EMUs, 151 series, and 0 Series Shinkansen introduced in the early 1960s.
Odakyu celebrated its 80th anniversary in April 2007. The 50th anniversary of the Romancecar was celebrated in September 2007.
Odakyu are the current shirt sponsors of football club Machida Zelvia.
On August 6, 2021, a mass stabbing incident occurred on one of its commuters when a man stabbed nine passengers, seriously injuring a woman before trying to ignite a fire on the compartment. The man escaped and was arrested hours later.
