The Tōkaidō Freight Line was first opened on 20 December 1914 between Shiodome Freight Terminal and Shinagawa Station, using the alignment of the first railway line ever to be built in Japan, the Tokyo-Yokohama Railway, originally opened in 1872.

dormant, continues to Hamamatsuchō Station alongside a branch of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen used to move empty rolling stock to and from a nearby depot.

The latter dormant section was closed in the 1990s to enable construction of the Toei Ōedo Line subway near Hamamatsuchō Station.

The following lines are under construction by Sagami Railway (Sōtetsu) and the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency: Since 2000 there have been proposals to use part of the line for passenger access to Haneda Airport, which is located just south of the Tokyo Freight Terminal.

JR East announced in 2013, after the award of the 2020 Summer Olympics, that it was considering using the disused part of the freight line as a passenger connection between the Yamanote Line corridor (near Tamachi Station) and Haneda by building a new tunnel between Tokyo Freight Terminal and the airport.