The is a Japanese railway line 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 ar ...

(JR East) in Japan. It connects Tokyo with the east coast of

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 the n ...

, passing through the cities of

Funabashi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 644,668 in 309,238 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populat ...

, Chiba, and

Chōshi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 59,174 in 27,160 households and a population density of 700 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Chōshi is located in the northe ...

. Its name derives from the old

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of the area which it serves: Musashi ( ja, 武蔵国, links=no), Shimōsa ( ja, 下総国, links=no) and Kazusa ( ja, 上総国, links=no). Its official line color is navy.

Definition

Formally, the Sōbu Main Line refers to the line from Tokyo to . However, informally, the character of the line changes at Chiba. The more urbanized section west of Chiba is informally, but commonly, called the Sōbu Line( ja, 総武線, links=no, ) without using "Main". The "Main Line", in popular usage, refers to the more rural section east of Chiba. Route maps, signs at stations, in trains, and the vocal announcements all maintain this distinction: ''with Main'' for the eastern rural section; ''without Main'' for the western frequent travel zone.This custom is also seen in

Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...

and less in

Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parall ...

Description

*Distances: ** - : 120.5 km ** - : 4.3 km ** - Etchūjima Freight (Etchūjima freight line): 11.7 km ** - (Shinkane freight line): 8.9 km *Electrification: DC 1500 V excluding the non electrified Etchūjima freight line *Tracks **Quadruple: Kinshichō - Chiba **Double: Tokyo - Kinshichō, Kinshichō - Ochanomizu, Chiba - **Single: Sakura - Chōshi, Shin-Koiwa - Etchūjima Freight Line, Shin-Koiwa - Kanamachi Freight Line

Operation

Services west of Chiba (Tokyo/Ochanomizu - Chiba)

Local trains run between Ochanomizu 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 ...

and are called the Chūō-Sōbu Line ( ja, 中央・総武線, links=no, ) or Sōbu-Local Line ( ja, 総武緩行線, links=no, ). Rapid trains are also operated from

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

to Chiba Station and use different tracks from the local service trains. These Rapid trains sometimes continue east on the Main Line after reaching Chiba. In reverse, Sobu Main Line trains also sometimes continue west on the Rapid Line after reaching Chiba, some even go on the Yokosuka Line after Tokyo. The rapid trains are called Sōbu Rapid Line ( ja, 総武快速線, links=no, ). For the most part, Rapid and Local trains run parallel with each other, except when they reach Kinshicho, where Sōbu Line Local trains continue onto the Chūō Line at Ochanomizu via

Akihabara is a common name for the area around Akihabara Station in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan. Administratively, the area called Akihabara mainly belongs to the and Kanda-Sakumachō districts in Chiyoda. There exists an administrative district c ...

, while Sōbu Line Rapid trains head to

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, ...

, with most of them continuing 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 23.9 km segment between and ...

. For more details of services west of Chiba, see the relevant articles for the Local and Rapid Lines.

Services east of Chiba (Chiba - Chōshi)

The section east of Chiba, from Chiba to

, is commonly known as the Sōbu Main Line ( ja, 総武本線, links=no, ). The aforementioned Sōbu Rapid Line through service trains would terminate at

Sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

or Narutō on the Main Line, or go on the

Narita Line The Narita Line ( ja, 成田線, ) is the name for a combination of three railway lines located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The main line connects Sakura Station and Matsugishi Station (as ...

after Sakura for Narita Airport or Kashima-Jingu. Aside from that, there are also local trains running along the entire section, from Chiba to Chōshi.

Limited express

The

Narita Express , abbreviated as N'EX, is a limited express train service operated in Japan since 1991 by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), serving Narita International Airport from various Greater Tokyo Area stations. Services run approximately half-hourly ...

to Narita Airport Station and the '' Ayame'' to use the Sōbu Main Line for their journey. ''

Shiosai The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from and to on the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture. Station stops ''Shiosai'' services operate over the Sōbu Main Line, stop ...

'', also a Limited Express service, which operates from

, also uses this line.

Stations

Tokyo / Ochanomizu - Kinshichō - Chiba

Here is a list of stations within this section. ( denotes the Ochanomizu - Kinshicho section.)

- Shin-Nihombashi - Bakurochō Ochanomizu -

- Asakusabashi - Ryōgoku - Kinshichō ">Ryōgoku Station">Ryōgoku - Kinshichō Kameido - Hirai - Shin-Koiwa - Koiwa - Ichikawa Station">Ichikawa -

Moto-Yawata - Shimōsa-Nakayama - Nishi-Funabashi Station">Nishi-Funabashi - Funabashi Station">Funabashi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 644,668 in 309,238 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populat ...

- Higashi-Funabashi - Higashi-Funabashi Station">Higashi-Funabashi - Makuharihongō - Makuhari - Shin-Kemigawa - Inage Station">Inage - Nishi-Chiba Station">Nishi-Chiba - Chiba Station">Chiba

Chiba - Chōshi

For the connections of the line, see the route diagram. From Chiba to Sakura, the section is double track; and from Sakura onwards to Choshi, the section is single track. Legend: * ● : All trains stop * ▲ : Only westbound trains (for Chiba, Tokyo) stop * ｜ : All trains pass

Rolling stock

Limited express

* 255 series (''

'' 9-car) * E257-500 series (''Shiosai'' 10-car) * E259 series (''

'')

Local/Rapid

Chūō-Sōbu Line

Sōbu Line (Rapid)

Sōbu Main Line

* 209-2000/2100 series EMUs * E217 series EMUs * E235-1000 series EMUs (since 21 December 2020)

History

Private construction

Initially, the line was constructed by a private company, Sōbu Railway( ja, 総武鉄道, links=no, ). It opened the first service sections, between Ichikawa and

on July 20, 1894, and extended to

Tokyo City was a municipality in Japan and part of Tokyo-fu which existed from 1 May 1889 until its merger with its prefecture on 1 July 1943. The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by the Special Wards of Tokyo. The new merged go ...

. In December of the same year, Honjo( ja, 本所, links=no, now ) was opened, and in 1904, on the east bank of

Sumida River The is a river that flows through central Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi (in Kita-ku) and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers. It passes through the Kita, Adachi, Araka ...

, Ryōgokubashi( ja, 両国橋, links=no, now ) became a terminal of this line. The access routes to the west, to Tokyo City, were

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

ways for passengers and ships for freight. From Sahara to the east, this line reached another terminus,

in 1897.

Nationalisation

The line was nationalized in 1907 under the Railway Nationalization Act, and was double-tracked from Ryōgokubashi to Chiba the next year. The predecessor of the

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) planned to connect with other lines inside Tokyo. In 1932, a new passenger line was opened from Ochanomizu to Ryōgoku (with new platform besides the original terminal facility), and a frequent service of EMUs commenced. Electrification to Chiba was completed in 1935, and local trains have run through from the Chūō line since then. But, except for a few trains, no rapid service was operated on this line, and the passengers had to use the local train, or its rival,

Keisei Electric Railway The (stylized as K'SEI since 2001) is a major private railway in Chiba Prefecture and Tokyo, Japan. The name ''Keisei'' is the combination of the kanji 京 from and 成 from , which the railway's main line connects. The combination uses diffe ...

Bombing of Tokyo

On March 10, 1945, the

Bombing of Tokyo The was a series of firebombing air raids by the United States Army Air Force during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bomb ...

caused casualties estimated at 70,000–100,000, and destroyed stations of the line. During the last days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1945, the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

thought the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

would attempt a landing operation, "

Operation Coronet During World War II, two operations in the Pacific theater were called Operation Coronet. * An early planning name for Operation Chronicle, which was executed in June 1943 * Part of Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of Japan in March 1946, ...

", on Kujūkuri Beach, and transferred troops on the Sōbu Main Line.

Steam trains

Between Chiba and Chōshi, in the rural area of

, steam traction was used until recently. Fish and soy sauce from Chōshi were major freight items. Because Tokyo was close, JNR did not provide rapid or express trains from Ryōgoku to Chōshi until 1958. JNR operated tourist trains from Ryōgoku to the

seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

s on the coast from the 1950s.

Five-destination operation

In the 1960s, JNR started the ''Five-Destination Operation''( ja, 五方面作戦, links=no,) to steeply increase commuter demand, and it determined that a new rapid line would be constructed from

to Chiba. A new underground line from Tokyo to Kinshichō, and a four-tracked section to Tsudanuma were opened in 1972, and the operator began frequent rapid services from Tokyo to Chiba. The line was managed by the

(JR East) from 1987. The parallel

Keiyō Line The is a railway line connecting Tokyo and Chiba in Japan, paralleling the edge of Tokyo Bay. It is operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line forms part of what JR East refers to as the around Tokyo, consisting of the Ke ...

was opened closer to the coast in 1990. It was first constructed for freight services but later to carry passengers.

Further electrification

To the east of Chiba, electrification reached Chōshi in 1974, and Limited Express ''Shiosai'' has been operated from the underground Tokyo Station since 1975. Freight services from Chōshi ceased in 1986, just before the privatization of JNR, and regular passenger trains stopped using the Ryōgoku terminal platforms in 1988. JR East started a new airport train, the

in 1991. Rapid urbanization around Chiba Station made this section important for commuter traffic, for the city of Chiba, and for Greater Tokyo.

Former connecting lines

* Shimosa-Nakayama station (see Chuo-Sobu Line) - A 2 km gauge human powered line, built to haul sweet potatoes and firewood, but which also carried passengers from 1911, operated to Kamagaya between 1908 and 1918. * Yachimata station - The Narita Railway Co. opened a 14 km, gauge line to Sanrizuka in 1917. In 1928 the line was converted to gauge in conjunction with the extension of the Tako Line (see next entry) to Youkaichiba via Sanrizuka. The line closed in 1940. * Youkaichiba station - The Narita Railway Co. operated the Tako line, 30 km in length, to Narita between 1928 and 1944.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobu Main Line Lines of East Japan Railway Company Railway lines in Tokyo Railway lines in Chiba Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1894 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan