The station consists of a single island platform serving two tracks which are jointly used by trains of both the Yokosuka Line and the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line. Trains of the Tōkaidō Main Line pass through Hodogaya Station, but do not stop.
The station is above ground, with an above-track station building. To the east side of the platform runs the Tōkaidō Main Line, which does not have a platform. On the north side there is a section of track for trains to go out of service on, as well as a place where trains from Yokohama can change directions and turn back. On the Yokohama side there is also a lineman's operating base. Because there was once a freight platform, there are two signals on the north side. When these signals are red, passenger trains must wait to depart.[citation needed] The station has a Midori no Madoguchi staffed ticket office.
Hodogaya Station was opened on July 11, 1887 as a station on the Japanese Government Railways (JGR), the predecessor to the post-war Japanese National Railways (JNR). Initially for passenger operations only, freight operations began the following year.[1] In 1930 when Yokosuka Line trains were replaced by electric multiple units, all Tōkaidō Line trains ceased to stop at the station.[2]
Although the station was located in the town named 保土ヶ谷 (Hodogaya), originally the station was named 程ヶ谷 (Hodogaya). The station was renamed to its present name 保土ヶ谷, with no change in pronunciation, on October 1, 1931 following the petition for the renaming by the mayor of Yokohama on July 8, 1927.[3]
All freight operations were discontinued from October 1, 1979 when the new freight line that bypassed the station opened.[1] Operation of Yokosuka Line trains was transferred from the tracks shared by the Tōkaidō Line trains to the former freight tracks in 1980. With the privatization of JNR on April 1, 1987, the station came under the operational control of JR East.
Passenger statistics
In fiscal 2019, the station was used by an average of 34,029 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).[4]
The passenger figures (boarding passengers only) for previous years are as shown below.
^各駅の乗車人員 (2019年度) [Station passenger figures (Fiscal 2019)] (in Japanese). Japan: East Japan Railway Company. 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
^神奈川県県勢要覧（平成18年度） [Kanagawa Prefecture official statistics (fiscal 2005)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan: Kanagawa Metropolitan Government. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
^神奈川県県勢要覧（平成23年度） [Kanagawa Prefecture official statistics (fiscal 2010)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan: Kanagawa Prefecture. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
^神奈川県県勢要覧（平成28年度 [Kanagawa Prefecture official statistics (fiscal 2010)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan: Kanagawa Prefecture. Archived from the original(PDF) on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
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