Used for commuter service by the residents of Tama New Town, the largest New Town in Japan, rapid trains are frequent on the line, running through to Odakyu's Tokyo terminus at Shinjuku on the Odakyu Odawara Line.

Odakyu started service on the first section, from Shin-Yurigaoka to Odakyū-Nagayama, on June 1, 1974.

The line was constructed as double track, but Odakyu could not take a large part of the transport between Tokyo and Tama New Town.

Delay to the quadrupling of the main Odawara Line due to long standing land acquisition conflicts prevented operating extra trains that were to connect the new town and the terminus of Shinjuku.

Rapid train services on the Tama Line began in 2000, and succeeded in increasing the number of passengers, shorting transit time.