Chūō-Sōbu Line

Chūō-Sōbu Line 中央・総武緩行線
E231-900 series EMU near Nishi-Ogikubo Station
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
Locale	Tokyo, Chiba prefectures
Termini	Mitaka Chiba
Stations	39
Operation
Opened	1932
Operator(s)	JR East
Technical
Line length	60.2 km (37.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Route map

The Chūō-Sōbu Line (中央・総武緩行線, Chūō-Sōbu-kankō-sen^?) is a railway line located in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network, it runs on separate tracks along the right-of-way of the Chūō Main Line (Chūō Line (Rapid)) and Sōbu Main Line (Sōbu Line (Rapid)), providing service between Mitaka Station in the cities of Mitaka and Musashino and Chiba Station in Chiba.

The term Kankō (緩行, lit. "slow run"^?) distinguishes local trains on the Chūō-Sōbu line from rapid service trains running on the Chūō Main Line between Mitaka and Ochanomizu and on the Sōbu Main Line between Kinshichō and Chiba.

History

Women-only cars, designed to prevent chikan, were introduced on this line during morning peak periods starting on November 20, 2006.

Station list

• Except for certain limited express and seasonal trains, all local service trains stop at every station.
  • Some Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line trains have through service on the Nishi-Funabashi – Tsudanuma (mornings/evenings only) and Nakano – Mitaka sections.
  • For information on limited express trains that make stops on the Chūō-Sōbu Line between Kinshicho and Ochanomizu, see their respective articles.
• For station information on the parallel rapid/express lines, see the Chūō Line (Rapid) and Sōbu Line (Rapid) articles.

Legend

• ●: All trains stop
• ■: Some trains pass
• ▲: All trains pass on weekends and holidays
• ｜: All trains pass

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)			Rapid		Transfers	Location
		Between stations	Total		Chūō Line	Sōbu Line
Chiba	千葉	-	From Chiba 0.0	From Tokyo 39.2		●	Uchibō Line, Sotobō Line, Narita Line, Sōbu Main Line Keisei Chiba Line (Keisei Chiba) Chiba Urban Monorail Lines 1 and 2	Chūō-ku, Chiba	Chiba
Nishi-Chiba	西千葉	1.4	1.4	37.8		｜
Inage	稲毛	1.9	3.3	35.9		■		Inage-ku, Chiba
Shin-Kemigawa	新検見川	2.7	6.0	33.2		｜		Hanamigawa-ku, Chiba
Makuhari	幕張	1.6	7.6	31.6		｜	Keisei Chiba Line (Keisei Makuhari)
Makuhari-Hongō	幕張本郷	2.0	9.6	29.6		｜	Keisei Chiba Line
Tsudanuma	津田沼	2.9	12.5	26.7		■	Shin-Keisei Line (Shin-Tsudanuma)	Narashino
Higashi-Funabashi	東船橋	1.7	14.2	25.0		｜		Funabashi
Funabashi	船橋	1.8	16.0	23.2		●	Tōbu Noda Line Keisei Main Line (Keisei Funabashi)
Nishi-Funabashi	西船橋	2.6	18.6	20.6		｜	Musashino Line, Keiyō Line Tōyō Rapid Railway Line Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line (T-23) (some trains through to Tsudanuma) Keisei Main Line (Keisei Funabashi)
Shimōsa-Nakayama	下総中山	1.6	20.2	19.0		｜
Motoyawata	本八幡	1.6	21.8	17.4		｜	Keisei Main Line (Keisei Yawata) Toei Shinjuku Line (S-21)	Ichikawa
Ichikawa	市川	2.0	23.8	15.4		■	Keisei Main Line (Ichikawa-Mama)
Koiwa	小岩	2.6	26.4	12.8		｜		Edogawa	Tokyo
Shin-Koiwa	新小岩	2.8	29.2	10.0		■		Katsushika
Hirai	平井	1.8	31.0	8.2		｜		Edogawa
Kameido	亀戸	1.9	32.9	6.3		｜	Tōbu Kameido Line	Kōtō
Kinshichō	錦糸町	1.5	34.4	4.8		●	Sōbu Line (Rapid) Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line (Z-13)	Sumida
				From Kinshichō 0.0
Ryōgoku	両国	1.5	35.9	1.5			Toei Ōedo Line (E-12)
Asakusabashi	浅草橋	0.8	36.7	2.3			Toei Asakusa Line (A-16)	Taitō
Akihabara	秋葉原	1.1	37.8	3.4			Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-15) Tsukuba Express (01)	Chiyoda
Ochanomizu	御茶ノ水	0.9	38.7	4.3	●		Chūō Line (Rapid) (for Tokyo) Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-20), Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line (Shin-Ochanomizu: C-12)
				From Tokyo 2.6
Suidōbashi	水道橋	0.8	39.5	3.4	｜		Toei Mita Line (I-11)
Iidabashi	飯田橋	0.9	40.4	4.3	｜		Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line (T-06), Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line (Y-13), Tokyo Metro Namboku Line (N-10) Toei Ōedo Line (E-06)
Ichigaya	市ケ谷	1.5	41.9	5.8	｜		Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line (Y-14), Tokyo Metro Namboku Line (N-09) Toei Shinjuku Line (S-04)
Yotsuya	四ツ谷	0.8	42.7	6.6	●		Chūō Line (Rapid) Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-12), Tokyo Metro Namboku Line (N-08)	Shinjuku
Shinanomachi	信濃町	1.3	44.0	7.9	｜
Sendagaya	千駄ケ谷	0.7	44.7	8.6	｜		Toei Ōedo Line (Kokuritsu-Kyōgijō: E-25)	Shibuya
Yoyogi	代々木	1.0	45.7	9.6	｜		Yamanote Line Toei Ōedo Line (E-26)
Shinjuku	新宿	0.7	46.4	10.3	●		Yamanote Line, Chūō Line (Rapid), Saikyō Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line Odakyū Odawara Line Keiō Line, Keiō New Line Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-08) Toei Shinjuku Line (S-01), Toei Ōedo Line (E-01, E-27) Seibu Shinjuku Line (Seibu-Shinjuku)	Shinjuku
Ōkubo	大久保	1.4	47.8	11.7	｜
Higashi-Nakano	東中野	1.1	48.9	12.8	｜		Toei Ōedo Line (E-31)	Nakano
Nakano	中野	1.9	50.8	14.7	■		Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line (T-01) (some trains through on Tōzai Line)
Kōenji	高円寺	1.4	52.2	16.1	▲			Suginami
Asagaya	阿佐ケ谷	1.2	53.4	17.3	▲
Ogikubo	荻窪	1.4	54.8	18.7	■		Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-01)
Nishi-Ogikubo	西荻窪	1.9	56.7	20.6	▲
Kichijōji	吉祥寺	1.9	58.6	22.5	■		Keiō Inokashira Line	Musashino
Mitaka	三鷹	1.6	60.2	24.1	■		Chūō Line (Rapid) (early morning / late night trains through to Tachikawa)	Mitaka

Rolling stock

201 series train (left) at Chiba Station, December 1998

Trains used on the Chūō-Sōbu Line are based at Mitaka Depot.

Rolling stock currently used

• 209-500 series 10-car EMUs (yellow stripe) (from December 1998)^[1]
• E231 series 10-car EMUs (yellow stripe) (from February 2000)^[1]

Rolling stock used in the past

• 101 series EMUs (yellow livery) (from 1963 until November 1988)^[1]
• 103 series 10-car EMUs (yellow livery) (from 1979 until March 2001)^[1]
• 201 series 10-car EMUs (yellow livery) (from 1982 until November 2001)^[1]
• 205 series 10-car EMUs (yellow stripe) (from August 1989 until November 2001)^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "JR首都圏通勤電車図鑑". Japan Railfan Magazine 48 (570): 27. October 2008. 

External links

Media related to Chūō-Sōbu Line at Wikimedia Commons

• Chūō-Sōbu Line (Japan Visitor) (English)