Tōhoku Main Line

The Nihongo|Tōhoku Main Line|東北本線|Tōhoku-honsen is a 631.3 km long railway line operated mainly by the East Japan Railway Company, although a small segment in the north is now operated by the Iwate Ginga Railway Company and Aoimori Railway. Though officially the line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, most of the long-distance trains actually begin at Ueno Station in Taitō, Tokyo, and pass through such cities as Saitama, Utsunomiya, Fukushima, Sendai, Morioka, and Hachinohe, before reaching the end of the line in Aomori, in Aomori Prefecture.

The Tōhoku Main Line runs mostly parallel to the Tōhoku Shinkansen. Upon completion of the Shinkansen extension to Aomori, the remaining northern portion of the line is expected to be spun off to a third-sector railway operator.

The 159.9 km long portion of the line between Ueno Station and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi is often referred to as the (JR) Utsunomiya Line. A portion of the Tōhoku Main Line is also shared with the Keihin-Tōhoku Line (29.6 km between Tokyo Station and Ōmiya Station in Ōmiya-ku, Saitama) and the Saikyō Line (18.0 km between Akabane Station in the Kita ward of Tokyo and Ōmiya Station).

History

The construction of the Tōhoku Main Line began in the Kantō region and extended to the north end of Honshū, and the city of Aomori. It is one of oldest railway lines in Japan, with construction beginning in the late 19th century. Until November 1, 1906, the current Tōhoku Main Line was run by a private company "Nihon Tetsudo" (Japan Railway). In 1883, the first segment between Ueno and Kumagaya opened. In 1885, it was extended to Utsunomiya, but the Tone River still had to be crossed by boat. It was not until the construction of the Tone River Bridge in 1886 that Utsunomiya and Ueno were finally directly connected. The line gradually extended further to the north; to Kōriyama, Sendai, Ichinoseki and Morioka. In 1891, the segment between Morioka and Aomori opened, creating the longest continuous railroad line in Japan.

After 1906, the line was nationalized and became the Tōhoku Main Line run by the Ministry of Railways. When Tokyo Station opened in 1925, the Tōhoku Main Line extended from Ueno to the new station. Until the 1950s, this segment was used and many trains ran through both the Tōkaidō Main Line and Tōhoku Main Line. However, when the Tōhoku Shinkansen arrived, it used land previously reserved for the tracks of mid and long-distance Tōhoku Main Line trains. As a result, only a small number of commuter lines such as the Kehin-Tōhoku Line now run to Tokyo from the north, making Tokyo Station's status as part of the Tōhoku Main Line somewhat circumspect.

In 2002, the Tōhoku Shinkansen was further extended from Morioka to Hachinohe and the operations of the local track segment between those two cities was turned over to two other companies. The shortened Tōhoku Main Line is now the second-longest line in Japan, after the Sanin Main Line.

tation list

Utsunomiya Line

From Ueno Station to Kuroiso Station

Northern Tōhoku Main Line

From Hachinohe Station to Aomori Station(Note: Morioka and Hachinohe are connected by track now owned by Iwate Ginga Railway (IGR) and Aoimori Railway for local trains, and also the Tōhoku Shinkansen)