The is a railway line that runs through

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to t ...

, Japan. Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network, the line operates on separate tracks along the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

of the Chūō Main Line (

Chūō Line (Rapid) The is the name given to rapid services on the eastern section of the Chūō Main Line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) between and stations. The official map shows services travel as far as Otsuki. Basic data *Operat ...

) and

Sōbu Main Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It connects Tokyo with the east coast of Chiba Prefecture, passing through the cities of Funabashi, Chiba, and Chōshi. Its name derives from the ol ...

(

Sōbu Line (Rapid) The Sōbu Line (Rapid) ( ja, 総武快速線, ) is a railway service on the Sōbu Main Line in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Tokyo Station in Chūō, Tokyo with Chiba Station ...

), providing service between Mitaka Station in the

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of Mitaka and Musashino and

Chiba Station is a railway station in Chiba, Chiba, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Chiba Urban Monorail. Lines Chiba Station is served by the following lines. JR East * Sobu Main Line ** Chūō-Sōbu Line ** Sobu Line (Rapi ...

in Chiba. The term distinguishes local trains on the Chūō-Sōbu line from rapid service trains running on the Chūō Main Line between Mitaka and and on the Sōbu Main Line between and Chiba.

Service patterns

Chūō-Sōbu Line

*Regularly, trains terminate at Chiba or Tsudanuma at the east side, and terminate at Nakano or Mitaka at the west side *All trains stop at every station. **For station information on the parallel rapid/express lines, see the

and

articles.

Tōzai Line through service

All through service trains enter the Tōzai Line at either Nakano, or Nishi-Funabashi. These trains operate within the following routes: * Mitaka – Nakano – (Tōzai Line) – Nishi-Funabashi – Tsudanuma (weekday mornings/evenings only) * Nakano – (Tōzai Line) – Nishi-Funabashi – Tsudanuma (weekday mornings/evenings only) * Mitaka – Nakano – (Tōzai Line) – Nishi-Funabashi * Mitaka – Nakano – (Tōzai Line) – Nishi-Funabashi – (

Tōyō Rapid Railway Line The is a rapid transit line owned by the third-sector company Tōyō Rapid Railway Co., Ltd., which runs between Nishi-Funabashi Station in Funabashi, Chiba and Tōyō-Katsutadai Station in Yachiyo, Chiba. The name comes from the characters fo ...

) – Tōyō-Katsutadai

Limited express

Certain limited express and seasonal trains run through, or stop at stations on this line. For information on the '' Shinjuku Wakashio'' and the '' Shinjuku Sazanami'' that make stops on the Chūō-Sōbu Line at , see their respective articles.

Former Early morning / Late night

At around 9 -10pm, a few westbound trains headed beyond Mitaka onto the Chūō Line (Rapid), with some terminating at Musashi-Koganei, and the others at

Tachikawa 250px, Showa Memorial Park is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 184,383 in 93,428 households, and a population density of 7600 persons per km2. The total area of the ci ...

. The other trains during the hour operated regularly. At around 4 - 6am and 11pm - 1am, Chūō-Sōbu Line services were divided at

Ochanomizu Station is a railway station in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro. Lines Ochanomizu Station is serviced by the following lines: * ** Chūō Main Line (including Chūō Line and ...

, into two sections. * At the western section (Mitaka – Ochanomizu),

trains ran through the Chūō-Sōbu Line tracks between and , with services serving between and as far as , or even Ōme, which stops at all stations. * At the eastern section (Ochanomizu – Chiba), local trains operated and terminated at the two ends of the section. This service pattern last operated on 13 March 2020. To prepare for the eventual installation of platform doors on Chūō-Sōbu Line platforms and the future addition of Green Cars on the Rapid line, Chūō Line Rapid service trains no longer regularly operate on the Chūō-Sōbu Line tracks.

Station list

; Legend * ●: All trains stop * ■: Some trains pass * ▲: All trains pass on weekends and holidays * ｜: All trains pass

Rolling stock

Chūō-Sōbu Line

Trains used on the line are based at Mitaka Depot. * E231-0 series 10-car EMUs (yellow stripe) (since February 2000) * E231-500 series 10-car EMUs (yellow stripe) (since 1 December 2014)

Tozai Line - Toyo Rapid Line through service

Trains run between Mitaka and Tsudanuma (Chūō-Sōbu Line) or Toyo-Katsutadai (Toyo Rapid Line), all via the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line between Nakano and Nishi-Funabashi. * E231-800 series 10-car EMUs (light blue and blue stripe) (Does not run on the Toyo Rapid Line) *

Tokyo Metro 05 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line and Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line Ayase Branch in Japan by the subway operator Tokyo Metro. Some sets have also been shipped to Indonesia, where they operate o ...

10-car EMUs (light blue stripe) *

Tokyo Metro 07 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. Introduced into service in 1993, a total of six 10-car sets were manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Nippon Sharyo between 1993 and 1994 for ...

10-car EMUs (light blue stripe) *

Tokyo Metro 15000 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line in Tokyo, Japan, since May 2010. Design Based on the earlier Tokyo Metro 05 series (13th batch) and Tokyo Metro 10000 ...

10-car EMUs (light blue stripe) File:SeriesE231-0 Sobu-Line.jpg, JR East E231-0 series File:Series-E231-A545.jpg, JR East E231-500 series File:Tokyo-Metro-Series05 115R.jpg, Tokyo Metro 05 series File:Tokyo-Metro-Series15000 15109.jpg, Tokyo Metro 15000 series File:Tokyo-Metro-Series07.jpg, Tokyo Metro 07 series File:Series-E231-800-K5.jpg, JR East E231-800 series

Former rolling stock

Chūō-Sōbu Line

* 101 series EMUs (yellow livery) (from 1963 until November 1988) * 103 series 10-car EMUs (yellow livery) (from 1979 until March 2001) * 201 series 10-car EMUs (yellow livery) (from 1982 until November 2001) * 205 series 10-car EMUs (yellow stripe) (from August 1989 until November 2001) * 209-500 series 10-car EMUs (yellow stripe) (from December 1998 until 19 April 2019) *

E231-900 series E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...

10-car EMU (yellow stripe) (from 27 March 1999 as 209-950 series, until 25 February 2020)

Tozai Line - Toyo Rapid Line through service

* 301 series 10-car EMUs (light blue stripe) (on Tozai Line inter-running services from 1966 until 2003)

Chūō Line (Early morning / Late night)

* See Chūō Line (Rapid)#Rolling stock for the train types which operated this service until 13 March 2020. File:錦糸町駅-78-04.jpg, A Chūō-Sōbu Line 101 series EMU in August 1978 File:Chuo-Sobu 201 set 6 Akihabara 20010504.jpg, A Chūō-Sōbu Line 201 series EMU in May 2001 File:301 K5 Mitaka 20030222.JPG, A Chūō-Sōbu Line 301 series EMU in February 2003 File:JR205-Chuo-Sobu-Line.jpg, A Chūō-Sōbu Line 205 series EMU File:JREast-209-500-Mitsu511.jpg, A Chūō-Sōbu Line 209-500 series EMU in April 2009 File:JR East E231-900 series.jpg, The sole E231-900 series EMU in June 2019

Timeline

History

Women-only cars, designed to prevent gropers, were introduced on this line during morning peak periods starting on 20 November 2006. On 20 August 2016, station numbering was introduced to the Chuo-Sobu line with stations being assigned station numbers between JB01 and JB39. Numbers increase towards in the eastbound direction towards Chiba.

References

External links

Chūō-Sōbu Line
(Japan Visitor) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chuo-Sobu Line Railway lines in Tokyo Lines of East Japan Railway Company Railway lines in Chiba Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1932 1932 establishments in Japan