The Sōbu Line (Rapid) () is a railway service on the Sōbu Main Line in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...

, Japan, operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and 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 in ...

(JR East). It connects

Tokyo Station Tōkyō Station (, ) is a major railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far ...

Chūō, Tokyo is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Chūō City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kyōbashi and Nihonbashi wards following Tokyo City's transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. C ...

with

Chiba Station is a major interchange 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 ** S ...

Chūō-ku, Chiba is one of the six Wards of Japan, wards of the city of Chiba, Chiba, Chiba in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, and is the seat of the city government, and the location of the prefectural government offices for Chiba Prefecture. It is also the commer ...

via the cities of Ichikawa, Funabashi, and

Narashino is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 175,292 in 81,985 households and a population density of 8400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Narashino is loca ...

Services

Rapid services on the Sōbu Line are primarily operated between Tokyo and Chiba, although there are many through services onto the

Yokosuka Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the segment between and Kurihama sta ...

as well as some through services operated from the Yokosuka Line via Tokyo terminating at . During weekday morning peak periods Tokyo-bound trains arrive once every 3.2 minutes; this is reduced to 10 Chiba-bound trains per hour during weekday evening peak periods. At other times there are approximately six trains per hour. There are many through services operated onto other lines. For information on the '' Narita Express'', '' Shiosai'', and other limited express services, see their respective articles. Sōbu Line (Rapid) trains travel through onto the

to , , and . Trains also travel through beyond Chiba to as far as: * on the

Sotobō Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, on the eastern (i.e., outer) side of the Bōsō Peninsula. It connects Chiba Station in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba to Awa-Kamogawa Sta ...

* on the Uchibō Line * via on the Narita Line * on the Kashima Line * on the Sōbu Main Line

Past services

Home Liner Chiba

Before 16 March 2019, there were five '' Home Liner Chiba'' commuter liner services that operated every weekday evening, four of which started from Tokyo and another which started at Shinjuku. Stations served: (Shinjuku – Akihabara) / Tokyo – Tsudanuma – Inage – Chiba

Limited Express ''Ayame''

Commuter Rapid

Commuter Rapid services were abolished with the timetable revision on 12 March 2022. Prior to this they ran on weekday peak hours only, stopping at Tōkyō, Shin-Nihombashi, Bakurochō, Kinshichō, Funabashi, and Chiba.

Station list

* For information on local services between Kinshichō and Chiba, see the Chūō-Sōbu Line article. * All rapid trains stop at all stations listed below. Note: Special Rapid service was discontinued on 4 March 2017.

Rolling stock

Rapid service

* E235-1000 series (from 21 December 2020)

Limited express service

* E257 series ('' Shiosai'') * E259 series ('' Narita Express,'' '' Shiosai'')

Former rolling stock

* 113 series (from October 1980 to December 1999) * E217 series (from December 1994 to March 2025)

History

On 20 August 2016, station numbering was introduced with stations being assigned station numbers between JO19 and JO28. Numbers increase towards in the eastbound direction towards Chiba.

References

External links

Stations of the Sōbu Line (Rapid)
(unofficial) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobu Line (Rapid) Lines of East Japan Railway Company Railway lines in Tokyo Railway lines in Chiba Prefecture Sōbu Main Line 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1972 1972 establishments in Japan