Sōbu main line

Sōbu main line
Route length:	120.5 (Tokyo-Chōshi) km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Power system :	1500 V  =
Legend Ochanomizu御 茶 ノ 水 Chūō-Sōbu line up to here parallel to the Chūō main line Chūō main line to Tōkyō Akihabara秋葉原 Yamanote Line , Keihin-Tōhoku Line Asakusabashi浅 草橋 0.0 Tōkyō東京 End of the Yokosuka Line 1.2 Shin-Nihombashi 新 日本 橋 2.3 Bakurochō 馬 喰 町 Sumida Ryogoku両 国 from here on four tracks 4.8 Kinshichō錦 糸 町 Kameido 亀 戸only Chūō-Sōbu line (CS) Tōbu -ameido line Branch to the Etchūjima freight station from here five tracks Hirai 平井CS Arakawa 10.0 Shin-Koiwa 新 小 岩 Freight line to Kanamachi station from here on four tracks Koiwa 小 岩CS Edogawa border between Tokyo and Chiba 15.4 Ichikawa 市 川 Moto-Yawata 本 八 幡CS Shimousa-Nakayama 下 総 中山CS Nishi-Funabashi西 船 橋CS; Musashino and Keiyō lines Keisei main line Keisei-Funabashi Station; Tōbu- Noda line 23.2 Funabashi船 橋Tōbu-Funabashi Station Higashi-Funabashi 東 船 橋CS JR East Narashino Un'yu-ku 習 志 野 運輸 区 26.7 Tsudanuma津 田 沼 Keisei Chiba line Makuhari-Hongō 幕 張 本 郷 to Keisei-Makuhari train station Makuhari 幕 張CS Shin-Kemigawa 新 検 見 川 East Kanto Highway 35.9 Inage 稲 毛 Nishi-Chiba 西 千葉CS (36.9) Kurosuna-shingōjō 黒 砂 信号 場 39.2 Chiba千葉End point of the Chūō-Sōbu line 39.2 Keisei-Chiba Station and Chiba Monorail Branch of the Sotobō Line; then two-pronged 40.1 Higashi-Chiba 東 千葉 43.4 Tsuga 都 賀Chiba monorail 46.9 Yotsukaidō 四 街道 East Kanto Highway 51.1 Monoi 物 井 55.3 Sakura 佐 倉 Narita Line ; single track from here 59.3 Minamishisui 南 酒 々 井 East Kanto Highway 62.2 Enokido 榎 戸 65.9 Yachimata 八 街 71.7 Hyūga 日 向 76.9 Narutō 成 東 Tōgane line 82.5 Matsuo 松尾 86.8 Yokoshiba 横 芝 90.6 Iigura 飯 倉 93.7 Yōkaichiba 八日 市場 98.8 Higata 干 潟 103.6 Asahi 旭 106.3 Iioka 飯 岡 109.2 Kurahashi 倉橋 111.8 Saruda 猿 田 Narita line 117.3 Matsugishi 松 岸 120.5 Chōshi 銚 子Beginning of the Chōshi-Dentetsu line

The Sōbu main line ( Japanese 総 武 本 線 , Sōbu-honsen ) is the Japanese railway line and line between Tokyo Station and Chōshi in Chiba Prefecture . The connection to the Chūō main line between Ochanomizu and Ryōgoku also belongs to the Sōbu main line as a route; on her run through trains of the Chūō-Sōbu line . The route and line are operated by JR Higashi-Nihon ( JR East ).

In the western part, the route is an important commuter route for Chiba and the eastern suburbs of Tokyo. In the east it runs through less densely populated areas of the Chiba Prefecture to the Pacific coast and is also used for leisure and long-distance traffic.

Surname

Sōbu is the name of the region east of central Tokyo in today's Tokyo and Chiba prefectures . The name Sōbu is derived from the names of the former provinces of Kazusa ( 上総 ) or Shimousa ( 下総 ) and Musashi ( 武蔵 ). The Sino-Japanese reading of the contracted Kanji 総 武 is Sōbu.

history

The Ryōgoku Bridge ( Ryōgokubashi ) over the Sumida was initially the most important connection between downtown Tokyo and the Sōbu line.

The Sōbu Line was originally built as a private line. In July 1894 the Sōbu Tetsudō ( 総 武 鉄 道 , "Sōbu Railway") opened the line from Ichikawa to Sakura. In December of the same year, the section from Ichikawa to Honjo (today: Kinshichō) was opened. In 1897 the line in the east was expanded: in May it was extended to Narutō , and in June finally to Chōshi. In 1904 the station Ryogokubashi (today: Ryogoku) was set up on the banks of the Sumida in the west; at the same time made the Tōbu Tetsudō with the completion of the Kameido line, whose trains from Hikifune until 1910 also operated to Ryōgokubashi, a transition to their route network in northern Tokyo possible. In 1907, the section from Ryōgokubashi to Kameido was expanded to two tracks. From the west trams brought people over the Ryogoku Bridge; Freight could be transported by ship on the Sumida.

After the enactment of the "Law on the Nationalization of the Railways" ( 鉄 道 国有 ō , Tetsudō Kokuyū-hō ), the Sōbu line became the property of the state railway ( Kokutetsu ) in 1907 . By October 1908, the line received a second track continuously to Chiba. In 1909 the state railway gave the route its current name "Sōbu main line".

In 1932, the electrified, double-track line from Ochanomizu to Ryogoku - the Ryogokubashi station had been renamed in 1931 - opened for passenger traffic. This section connects the Sōbu with the Chūō main line, the connection grew in importance as a commuter train, the first through trains were used. Today the trains of the Chūō-Sōbu line operate on this section . By 1935, the Sōbu main line was electrified in three steps to Chiba.

The bank of the Sumida after the air raid on March 10, 1945 . In the upper left corner the Sōbu main line with Ryōgoku station.

During the Second World War , many train stations were destroyed by the Allied air raids. However, the route itself remained largely intact, and in the last days of the war troops of the imperial army were transported on the Sōbu main line in anticipation of an invasion .

In the economic miracle of the post-war period, the importance of the Sōbu main line as a commuter line continued to grow; at peak times, trains with up to eight wagons now ran every few minutes on the western sections. From 1946 series 63 multiple units were used, which was converted after the fire accident at Sakuragichō station in 1951 and was henceforth called series 73. From 1963 the faster series 100 trains were introduced between Ochanomizu and Chiba.

Between 1965 and 1968, the line between Chiba and Sakura was expanded to two tracks in three sections and electrified in 1968. In 1974 the last section to Chōshi was electrified. After the completion of the Tōzai line to Tsudanuma in 1969, continuous subway trains to Tsudanuma were used for the increased commuter traffic during peak times.

Nishi-Chiba station, on the left the tracks for express train traffic. As a result of the expansion, the abandoned stations lost their importance for through traffic.

In 1972 a major expansion of the Sōbu main line followed: an underground line ran from Tokyo station to Ryōgoku. Only express trains were to be used on it, for which two additional tracks were laid to Tsudanuma. New platforms were only created at the stops on the new line. Until 1981 the line was expanded to four tracks (or five tracks on the section from Kameido to Shin-Koiwa) to Chiba.

For privatization, the state railway was split up in 1987, the Sōbu main line was transferred to the JR Higashi-Nihon. Since then, the line has been gradually upgraded to Sakura (2001) with the ATS ( Automatic Train Stop ) train control system . B. when a signal is run over or an earthquake , enables an immediate automatic stop of the trains.

Freight transport and operating facilities

For freight traffic, a branch line was opened from Kanamachi station on the Jōban line in 1926 . In 1963 the 3.1 kilometer long connection to the Etchūjima freight yard was opened and electrified a year later. A third track was laid up to Shin-Koiwa station in 1971. Own freight stations were in Shin-Koiwa and until 2000 on the branch line to Etchūjima the Onagigawa station ( 小名 木 川 ).

In freight traffic, the connection on the two branch lines from the Etchūjima freight station to the Shin-Koiwa station and from there on to the Kanamachi station was of particular importance. Since JR Freight moved its freight traffic to the Musashino and Keiyō lines in 2000 , only construction trains for route construction and maintenance have been running there. Freight traffic between Shin-Koiwa and Sakura was stopped in 1984.

East of the Sakura station there was a large depot ( 佐 倉 機関 区 , Sakura kikan-ku ) on the line, which from 1950 supplied goods and passenger trains for the state railway in Chiba. After privatization, JR Freight diesel trains from the Kanto region were serviced there. In 1997 the plant was closed after the construction of the new Chiba depot.

At Makuhari-Hongō station there is another depot, the "Makuhari Wagon Center" ( 幕 張 車 両 セ ン タ ー , Makuhari Sharyō Sentā ) of JR Higashi-Nihon. Many trains of the company's lines running through Chiba are assembled there. A little further to the west, behind the Tsudanuma station, the access to a depot branches off, the Narashino Un'yū-ku ( 習 志 野 運輸 区 ), where trains of the Sōbu express, Chūō-Sōbu and Tōzai lines are parked.

Lines

The Chūō-Sōbu line travels from the Chūō main line coming from Ochanomizu to Ryōgoku, then stops at all train stations on the line and ends in Chiba. The express trains ( 快速 , kaisoku ) use the underground route from Tokyo station and from Ryōgoku the two northern tracks; they only stop at the expanded stations on the line that was expanded in 1972/81. In addition, there are “commuter express trains” ( 通勤 快速 , tsūkin kaisoku ) that only stop in Funabashi between Kinshichō and Chiba. In the west, some of the express trains continue as the Sōbu-Yokosuka line towards Yokohama. In the east, some express trains continue to Narutō, others to Sakura and the Narita line to Narita. The airport shuttle Narita Express to Tokyo Narita Airport uses this route, however, non-stop; only at peak times it also functions as a commuter train and sometimes also stops in Chiba and Yotsukaidō. Non-stop subway trains on the Tōzai line run between Nishi-Funabashi and Tsudanuma every weekday morning .

The Home Liner Chiba , an express train with reserved seats, runs mainly on weekends and holidays. It only stops in Tsudanuma and Inage from Tokyo to Chiba, other trains come from Shinjuku and Akihabara. the Home Liner Tsudanuma from Shinjuku to Tsudanuma only stops in Akihabara. The Shiosai (Tokyo / Shinjuku – Chōshi), Ayame (Tokyo – Chōshi), Azusa (Chiba – Matsumoto), Sazanami (Tokyo / Shinjuku – Tateyama) and Shinjuku-Kawashio (Shinjuku – Awakamogawa) express trains use part or all of the Sōbu -Main line.

The train connection east of Chiba is referred to as a line in contrast to the Sōbu express train line and the Chūō-Sōbu line in the west - together Sōbu line - as the actual Sōbu main line. There are fewer trains that stop at all stations apart from the through trains to Narutō and the express trains. The sections from Chiba to Narutō and from Matsugishi to Chōshi are also used by trains of the Narita line.

Vehicle fleet

The trains of the 209-2000 and -2100 series for local trains and the E217 series as express trains are most common on the Sōbu main line. The continuous trains of the Chūō-Sōbu line are yellow or light blue painted models of the 209-500, E231-900, -0, -500 and -800 series. The express connections use their own models. The series 211 and 113 were scrapped by 2013.

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  Series 209-2000 for local trains

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  Shiosai (Series 255 and E257-500)

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  Narita Express (Series E259)

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  E231-500 on the Chūō-Sōbu Line

Web links

Commons : Sōbu Main Line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• JR Higashi-Nihon : List of stations on the Sōbu main line
• Funabashi City : Overview of the History of the Sōbu Main Line (Japanese)
• 総 武 線 の 歴 史 Timeline of the history of the Sōbu main line (Japanese)