The is a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

line owned by the third-sector company Tōyō Rapid Railway Co., Ltd., which runs between Nishi-Funabashi Station in

Funabashi, Chiba is a 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 populated city (after pa ...

and Tōyō-Katsutadai Station in

Yachiyo, Chiba file:京成バラ園.jpg, 270px, Keisei Rose Gardens is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 205,748 in 96,903 households and a population density of 4000 persons per km2. The tota ...

. The name comes from the characters for Tokyo and Chiba. The line functions as an extension of the

Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line The is a rapid transit line in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by Tokyo Metro. Its name translates to "''East-West Line"''. The line runs between Nakano in Nakano-ku, Tokyo and Nishi-Funabashi in Funabashi, Chiba Pre ...

, with a

through service A through service is a concept of passenger transport that involves a vehicle travelling between lines, networks or operators on a regularly specified schedule, on which the passenger can remain on board without alighting. It may be in either of th ...

between the two lines. Of the 16.2km line, approximately 5.9 km (37%) is in underground tunnel, 9.5 km (59%) is on bridges (viaducts), and 0.8 km (4%) is elevated.

Operation

Every train on the Toyo Rapid Railway (other than depot workings between Yachiyo-Midorigaoka and Toyo-Katsutadai) operates a

with the

. However, as Tōyō Rapid Railway rolling stock (the Tōyō Rapid 2000 series) is not equipped with

ATS-P Automatic train stop or ATS is a system on a train that automatically stops a train if certain situations occur (unresponsive train operator, earthquake, disconnected rail, train running over a stop signal, etc.) to prevent accidents. In some scen ...

, they must terminate at Nakano and cannot continue onto the Chūō–Sōbu Line, which uses ATS-P. Similarly, the Chūō–Sōbu Line's E231-800 series sets must terminate at Nishi-Funabashi as they lack the WS-ATC safety system the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line uses. Tokyo Metro vehicles can operate on all three lines.

Current train services

There are three train service types on the Tōyō Rapid Railway, however all trains stop at every station the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line. As such, the service type only refers to the stops made on the Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line.

Rapid (快速)

Operates between Tōyō-Katsutadai and Nakano (the western terminus of the Tōzai Line), with some services extending to Mitaka. The majority of services on the Toyo Rapid Railway use this service. While it stops at every station on the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line, the section between Nishi-Funabashi and Tōyōchō on the

is non-stop except for a stop at

Urayasu 260px, Old Urayasu is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 170,533 in 81,136 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Urayasu is best known as the home of Tokyo Dis ...

, then the service stops at all stations west of Tōyōchō. Most morning and afternoon trains go direct to Mitaka on the Chūō–Sōbu Line.

Commuter Rapid (通勤快速)

Like the Rapid Service, it also operates between Tōyō-Katsutadai and Nakano stations and in the morning and afternoon to Mitaka, and stops at every station on the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line. Only operates in the "up" direction on mornings towards Nakano. It is non-stop between Nishi-Funabashi and

before stopping at every station west of

Local (各駅停車)

This service only operates on rush hours when services on the

make through services with the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line, and sometimes goes to Mitaka station on the Chūō–Sōbu Line. This service stops at all stations on the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line,

and the Chūō–Sōbu Line.

Former services

Tōyō Rapid (東葉快速)

From the revised timetable on the 4 December 1999, the "Toyo Rapid" service was created. It stopped at Nishi-Funabashi, Kita-Narashino, Yachiyo-Midorigaoka and Tōyō-Katsutadai. Due to congestion on tracks, on March 14, 2009, the timetable changed to have 4 evening "up" bound Tōyō Rapid trains, thus the "down" service towards Tōyō-Katsutadai was abolished. Due to passenger counts increasing on stops that the Tōyō Rapid did not stop at, the Tōyō Rapid service was completely abolished on the March 14, 2014 timetable change.

Stations

* All services stop at every station.

Rolling stock

* Tōyō Rapid 2000 series (only go as far as Nakano, due to lack of

) * Tokyo Metro 05/05N series * Tokyo Metro 07 series * Tokyo Metro 15000 series File:Toyo 2107F.jpg, Toyo Rapid 2000 series File:Tokyo-Metro-Series05R-018.jpg, Tokyo Metro 05 series File:Tokyo-Metro Series05-143F.jpg, Tokyo Metro 05N series File:Tokyo-Metro Series07R-76.jpg, Tokyo Metro 07 series File:Tokyo-Metro Series15000-15001.jpg, Tokyo Metro 15000 series

Former

* Tōyō Rapid 1000 series (retired in 2006) * Tokyo Metro 5000 series (retired in 2007) File:Tōyō Rapid 1008F.JPG, Toyo Rapid 1000 series, September 2006 File:Model 5000-Stainless Steel of Teito Rapid Transit Authority.JPG, Tokyo Metro 5000 series, December 2006

History

Construction work on the line commenced in July 1984, and the line was fully opened on 27 April 1996. Limited-stop services were introduced on the line from the start of the 4 December 1999 timetable revision. Such services in the "up" direction (toward Tokyo) were discontinued in 2009, and the "down" limited-stop services were discontinued from the start of the revised timetable on 15 March 2014.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toyo Rapid Railway Line Railway lines in Japan Railway lines in Chiba Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1996 Japanese third-sector railway lines