Tobu Isesaki Line

Tobu Isesaki Line
Tobu 100 series Spacia EMU
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
Locale	Kantō
Termini	Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Isesaki
Stations	25
Daily ridership	843,495 (2010)
Operation
Opened	August 27, 1899
Owner	Tobu Railway
Technical
Line length	36.1 km (22.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC
Operating speed	110 km/h (70 mph)

Tobu Isesaki Line

Legend Station Through trains destination 41.0 Tōbu Dōbutsu Kōen Tōbu Nikkō Line Minami-Kurihashi Shin-Tochigi Tōbu Utsunomiya Line Tōbu Utsunomiya Tōbu Kinugawa Line Tōbu Nikkō Shin-Fujiwara Yagan Railway Aizu-kōgen Ozeguchi Aizu Railway Aizu Tajima 43.9 Wado Tōhoku Shinkansen 47.7 Kuki Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) 52.1 Washinomiya 54.8 Hanasaki 58.5 Kazo 63.1 Minami-Hanyū 66.2 Hanyū Chichibu Main Line Tone River 70.5 Kawamata 72.4 Morinji-mae 74.6 Tatebayashi Tōbu Sano Line, Tōbu Koizumi Line Kuzuu 78.6 Tatara 81.8 Agata 83.9 Fukui 85.1 Tōbu-Izumi 86.8 Ashikagashi 88.5 Yashū-yamabe 91.8 Niragawa Tōbu Koizumi Line 94.7 Ōta Tōbu Kiryū Line Akagi 97.8 Hosoya 101.2 Kizaki 104.1 Serada 106.3 Sakaimachi 110.0 Gōshi 113.3 Shin-Isesaki 114.5 Isesaki Ryōmō Line

The Tobu Isesaki Line (東武伊勢崎線, Tōbu Isesaki-sen) is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway company Tobu Railway, extending from Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Station in Saitama to Isesaki Station in Gunma Prefecture. The southern 41.0 km section of the line was split off in March 2012 to become the Tobu Skytree Line.

Descriptions

Track

single: Tatebayashi − Isesaki 39.9 km

double: the rest

Operation

Through trains

To the north, trains run via the Yagan Railway to the Aizu Railway's Aizutajima Station.

Service patterns

Stops and operated sections are as of 2006.

Local (普通, Futsū) (announced as Kakueki Teisha (各駅停車) or kakutei (各停) for short) (L)

• Asakusa − Kita-Senju - Takenotsuka - Kita-Koshigaya - Kuki - Minami-Kurihashi to complement Section Semi-Express and Section Express.
• Kuki − Ōta. Connection with Express. Three per hour, with one between Kuki and Tatebayashi.
• Ōta − Isesaki. One per hour per direction, conductorless.

Section Semi-Express (区間準急, Kukan Junkyū) (SSE)

Between Asakusa and Tōbu-Dōbutsu Kōen, Kuki or Minami-Kurihashi on Nikkō Line.

Semi-Express (準急, Junkyū) (SmE)

Early morning and late night. Down to Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen, Kuki or to Minami-Kurihashi on the Nikkō Line through from Chūō-Rinkan of Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line via Hanzōmon Line. 10 cars.

Section Express (区間急行, Kukan Kyūkō) (SE)

Between Asakusa and Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen, Tatebayashi, Ōta or Shin-Tochigi on the Nikkō Line.

Express (急行, Kyūkō) (Ex)

From morning to night. Down to Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen, Kuki (nearly half to Minami-Kurihashi on the Nikkō Line), through from Chūō-Rinkan on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line via Hanzōmon Line. 10 cars.

Rapid (快速, Kaisoku), Section Rapid (区間快速, Kukan Kaisoku) (R)

Non-charged rapid train through to Nikkō Line, Kinugawa Line of Tobu and Yagan Railway, terminates at Aizu Tajima on the Aizu Railway.

Limited Express (特急, Tokkyū) (LE)

Stops not shown. Charged for seat reservation and rapid service. Mainly through to the Nikkō Line for the Nikko area named Kegon (けごん) and Kinu (きぬ). Some through to Isesaki from Asakusa, sole direct service named Ryōmō (りょうもう).

Stations

• O: Stop
• *1: To Asakusa on the Tobu Skytree Line.
• *2: To Chūō-Rinkan on Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line via Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line

Station	L	SSE	SmE	SE	Ex	Location
Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen	O *1	S *1	O *2	O *1	O *2	Miyashiro	Saitama
Wado	O	O	O	O	O
Kuki	O	O	O	O	O	Kuki
Washinomiya	O	O		O
Hanasaki	O	O		O		Kazo
Kazo	O	O		O
Minami-Hanyū	O	O		O		Hanyū
Hanyū	O	O		O
Kawamata	O	O		O		Meiwa	Gunma
Morinji-mae	O	O		O		Tatebayashi
Tatebayashi	O	O		O
Tatara	O	O		O
Agata	O	O		O		Ashikaga	Tochigi
Fukui	O	O		O
Tōbu-Izumi	O	O		O
Ashikagashi	O	O		O
Yashū-yamabe	O	O		O
Niragawa	O	O		O		Ōta	Gunma
Ōta	O	O		O
Hosoya	O
Kizaki	O
Serada	O
Sakaimachi	O					Isesaki
Gōshi	O
Shin-Isesaki	O
Isesaki	O

History

Overview of the original Asakusa Station terminus (present-day Tokyo Skytree Station) in 1927

An up express service on the Tobu Isesaki Line formed of a 4-car EMU in March 1940

The Isesaki Line was opened in 1899 between Kita-Senju and Kuki with steam motive power by the present company. In 1902, Tobu extended south to have a maritime connection at present Tokyo Skytree (then Azumabashi (吾妻橋), later renamed Asakusa) in downtown Tokyo, and north to Kazo. In the next year further north extension to Kawamata (then on the south bank of Tone River) was opened. Gradual extension northward progressed, and in 1910 the line arrived Isesaki. In 1931, a bridge over the Sumida River was built and present Asakusa Station (then Asakusa Kaminarimon (浅草雷門)) opened as part of the department store building, the entire stretch completed.

Electrification was begun in 1924 on the section of Asakusa and Nishiarai, and in 1927 completed as far as Isesaki. The distance of over 100 km was then one of the longest electrified railway lines together with the present Kintetsu Osaka Line and Kintetsu Yamada Line.

After World War II, the Tobu Lines had no connection to the Yamanote Line or other major lines of the then Japanese National Railways (JNR) to offer efficient transfers to central Tokyo. The sole connection was with the Jōban Line at Kitasenju, which offered poor access to central Tokyo. To solve the inefficiencies of transfers at Kitasenju and notoriously narrow Asakusa, in 1962, the Hibiya Line of the then Teito Rapid Transport Authority (帝都高速度交通営団, Teito Kōsokudo Kōtsū Eidan), known as TRTA, present Tokyo Metro) was built, connecting at Kitasenju.

Further growing traffic required Tobu to build a second through line to Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line in the 1990s. In 2003, the company built new tracks from Hikifune to connect at Oshiage, officially an annex station of Tokyo Skytree.

On March 3, 2006, the revised timetable changed past operations greatly, with only less than half of trains originating or terminating at Asakusa, and more trains operating through to Tokyo Metro underground (subway) lines.

From 17 March 2012, the section south of Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen was split off to become the Tobu Skytree Line.

External links

• Tobu Railway Isesaki Line information page (Japanese)