The is a railway line connecting

Oyama Station is a junction railway station in the city of Oyama, Tochigi, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The station is also a freight depot for the Japan Freight Railway Company (JR Freight). Overview This station is the rep ...

Tochigi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi). Tochigi ...

and Tomobe Station in

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

, Japan. The line is long and is owned and operated by the

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(JR East). Joban Line

E501 series The is an AC (20 kV 50 Hz single-phase)/ DC (1,500 V) dual-voltage electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated on local services by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan since December 1995. Design Built jointly by Kawasaki Heavy ...

and

E531 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was introduced by JR East on 9 July 2005 to replace the aging 403 and 415 series EMUs running on the Jōban Line from Ueno Station ...

ten car sets continue on to Iwaki, Fukushima while the 5 car sets go to Oyama. They separate at Tomobe.

Station list

* All trains stop at every station. * Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇" and "∨" and cannot pass at stations marked "｜".

Rolling stock

five-car EMUs *

five-car EMUs File:E501 K752 in Mito Line.jpg, A 5-car E501 series EMU on the Mito Line in December 2008 File:JR East E531 Mito-Line.JPG, A 5-car E531 series EMU on the Mito Line in March 2015

Former rolling stock

* 415 series four-car EMUs (until March 2016) File:JR East 415-1500 Mito-Line.JPG, A 4-car series EMU on the Mito Line in March 2016

History

The Mito Railway Co. opened the line on 16 January 1889 operating between Oyama and Mito Stations. On 1 March 1892, the Mito Railway Co. merged with the

Nippon Railway was the first private railway company in the history of Japan. The company built trunk lines connecting Tokyo with the Tōhoku region to the northeast. Most of its lines came under the control of Japanese Government Railways following nationaliza ...

. On 1 July 1895, the Joban Line was opened by the Nippon Railway, joining the Mito Line at Tomobe Station. The company was nationalised in 1906. On 12 October 1909, the Japanese Government Railways renamed the Tomobe to Mito section as part of the Joban Line, resulting in the current "Mito Line" being the section between Oyama and Tomobe. The line was completely electrified on 1 February 1967.

Former connecting lines

Kasama Station: A 1.4 km gauge handcar line to the Kasama Inari shrine operated between 1915 and 1930.

References

External links

Stations of the Mito Line
(JR East) {{East Japan Railway Company Lines Lines of East Japan Railway Company Rail transport in Ibaraki Prefecture Rail transport in Tochigi Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1889