The Ch?? Main Line (????, Ch??-honsen), commonly called the Ch?? 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 T?kaid? Main Line is slightly faster, and the T?kaid? Shinkansen is the fastest rail link between the cities.
The eastern portion, the Ch?? East Line (????, Ch??-t?sen), is operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), while the western portion, the Ch?? West Line (????, Ch??-saisen), is operated by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). The dividing point between the two companies is Shiojiri Station, where express trains from both operators continue to the Shinonoi Line towards the cities of Matsumoto and Nagano. Compared to the huge urban areas at either end of the Ch?? Line, its central portion is very lightly traveled; the Shiojiri-Nakatsugawa corridor is only served by twice-hourly local and hourly limited express trains.
The Ch?? Main Line passes through the mountainous center of Honshu. Its highest point (near Fujimi Station) is about 900 meters above sea level and much of the line has a gradient of 25 per mil (2.5% or 1 in 40). Along the Ch?? East Line section, peaks of the Akaishi and Kiso as well as Mount Yatsugatake can be seen from trains. The Ch?? West Line parallels the old Nakasend? highway (famous for the preserved post towns of Tsumago-juku and Magome-juku) and the steep Kiso Valley.
Video Ch?? Main Line
Routes
- Entire Route (Tokyo - Nagoya including branch): 424.6 km
- East Line (Tokyo - Shiojiri): 222.1 km
- Tokyo - Kanda: 1.3 km (officially part of the T?hoku Main Line)
- Kanda - Yoyogi: 8.3 km
- Yoyogi - Shinjuku: 0.7 km (officially part of the Yamanote Line)
- Shinjuku - Shiojiri: 211.8 km
- East Line - Tatsuno branch line (Okaya - Tatsuno - Shiojiri): 27.7 km
- West Line (Shiojiri - Nagoya): 174.8 km
- Shiojiri - Kanayama: 171.5 km
- Kanayama - Nagoya: 3.3 km (alongside T?kaid? Main Line)
Maps Ch?? Main Line
Stations and services
This section lists all stations on the Ch?? Main Line and generally explains regional services on the line. In addition, there are limited express services connecting major cities along the line, namely Azusa, Super Azusa, Kaiji, Hamakaiji, Narita Express and Shinano. For details of the limited express trains, see the relevant articles.
Tokyo - Mitaka
The section between Tokyo and Mitaka is grade-separated, with no level crossings. Between Ochanomizu and Mitaka, the Ch?? Main Line has four tracks; two of them are local tracks (???, kank?-sen) with platforms at every station; the other two are rapid tracks (???, kaisoku-sen) with some stations without platforms. The local tracks are used by the main line local trains (operated only in early morning and late night) and the Ch??-S?bu Line local trains, while the rapid tracks carry rapid service and limited express trains. The Tokyo-Mitaka portion is a vital cross-city rail link.
The commuter services on the rapid tracks are collectively called the Ch?? Line (Rapid) in comparison with the Ch?? Line (Local) (???????, Ch??-sen-kakuekiteisha) or the Ch??-S?bu Line on the local tracks. The former is usually referred to simply as the Ch?? Line and the latter the S?bu Line. Separate groups of trainsets are used for these two groups of services: cars with an orange belt for the rapid service trains and cars with a yellow belt for the local service trains, with the exception of early morning and late night local service trains which use cars with an orange belt. Signs at stations also use these colors to indicate the services.
This section is located entirely within Tokyo.
Legends for the table
- Local trains:
- S: Ch??-S?bu Line local trains
- L: Local trains from/to Tokyo operating during early morning and late night hours using rapid train cars
- T: Local trains through to Tozai Line
- Rapid trains (Ch?? Line (Rapid)):
- R: Rapid (??, Kaisoku)
- CR: Commuter Rapid (????, Ts?kin Kaisoku)
- SR: Ch?? Special Rapid (????, Ch?? Tokkai) / ?me Special Rapid (????, ?me Tokkai) through to ?me Line
- CSR: Commuter Special Rapid (????, Ts?kin Tokkai)
- ?: All trains stop
- | : All trains pass
- ?: All trains pass on weekends and national holidays
Notes:
Mitaka - Takao
The four-track section ends at Mitaka. Construction is underway between Mitaka and Tachikawa to elevate the tracks and eliminate level crossings; this section of the line was notorious for its level crossings which can be shut for upwards of an hour during rush hour. Plans have been proposed to add another two tracks as far as Tachikawa, but were not included in the track elevation, which was completed between 2008-2011, with further modifications in 2012.
This section is also entirely in Tokyo. For legends on train types, see the preceding section.
Takao - Shiojiri
Most of the rapid service trains from Tokyo terminate at Takao where the line exits the large urban area of Tokyo. The section between Takao and ?tsuki still carries some commuter trains as well as long distance local trains and Limited Express trains. The Kaiji limited express terminates at K?fu, the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture, while the Azusa and Super Azusa continue beyond Shiojiri to Matsumoto via the Shinonoi Line.
Okaya - Shiojiri
The Okaya-Shiojiri branch is an old route of the Ch?? Main Line. It carries a small number of shuttle trains and trains from/to the Iida Line, which branches off at Tatsuno.
Prior to the opening of the new route between Okaya and Shiojiri, there was a junction (Higashi-Shiojiri Junction (??????)) between Ono and Shiojiri stations. It had a reversing layout. The signal station was closed on October 12, 1983.
Shiojiri - Nakatsugawa
Shiojiri is the dividing point of the East Line and the West Line; no train continues from one to the other. The Shinano limited express is the main service for the rural Shiojiri-Nakatsugawa section.
Nakatsugawa - Nagoya
Local and rapid service trains run on the line from Nakatsugawa to Nagoya. This section carries urban traffic for the Greater Nagoya Area.
Legends:
- R: Rapid
- CL: Central Liner
- HL: Home Liner (Only some Home Liner trains stop at stations marked with an asterisk.)
Signals and junctions
- Fumonji Junction (??????, Fumonji Shing?j?) is a junction between Chino and Kami-Suwa stations in Suwa, Nagano. It entered into use on 2 September 1970.
- Sann? Junction (?????, Sann? Shing?j?) is a junction that diverts freight traffic from the Ch?? Main Line to the T?kaid? Line freight branch between Kanayama and Nagoya stations in Nagoya. It entered into use on 10 October 1962.
Rolling stock
Ch?? East Line (JR East)
New E233 series trains entered service on Tokyo-area commuter services from 26 December 2006. These trains are a development of the E231 series used on other commuter lines in the Tokyo area, and replaced the aging 201 series rolling stock introduced on the line in 1981.
From 2016, new E353 series EMUs are scheduled to be introduced on Azusa and Super Azusa limited express services, replacing the E351 and E257 series trains.
- Ch?? Rapid Line
- E233 series
- Ch??-S?bu Line
- 209-500 series
- E231 series
- Tokyo Metro T?zai Line
- 05 series
- 07 series
- 15000 series
- Local trains
- 211 series
- E127 series
- Limited Express
- E257 series (Azusa, Kaiji, Ch?? Liner, ?me Liner)
- E353 series (Super Azusa)
- E259 series (Narita Express) (One train per day starts/terminates at Takao)
- Seasonal services
- 183 series (Azusa, Wing Azusa, Moonlight Shinsh?)
- 185 series (Hamakaiji)
- 215 series (View Yamanashi)
Ch?? West Line (JR Central)
- Local Trains
- 211 series
- 213 series
- 311 series
- 313 series
- Limited Express
- 383 series (Shinano)
- 381 series
Freight train
- JNR Class EF64
- JR Freight Class EH200
History
The Kobu Railway (????) opened the initial section of the Ch?? Line from Shinjuku Station to Tachikawa Station in 1889. The company then extended the line both westward and eastward (towards Tokyo) until it was nationalised in 1906. The Japanese Government Railways (JGR) then continued to extend the line, reaching Shiojiri the same year, and Tokyo (at Sh?heibashi Station (????)) in 1908. The JGR also built the line from Nagoya, the first section opening in 1900, with the lines connecting in 1911. The Table below gives the section opening dates.
In 1904, the section between Iidamachi Station (formerly located between Suid?bashi Station and Iidabashi Station) and Nakano Station was the first urban electric railway in Japan using 600 V DC. Electrification was extended in 1919 and 1922, was increased to 1,200 V DC when extended to Tokyo in 1927, boosted again to 1,500 V DC in 1929, and reached Kofu in 1931. Electrification from the Nagano end was commissioned in sections from 1966, and the entire line was electrified by 1973.
Notes:
- The section between Okaya Station and Shiojiri Station is the new route that replaced the old route opened on June 11, 1906 by JGR.
- Station names in parentheses are original names.
- Stations marked + are now closed.
- Prior to the connection of the East Line and the West Line in 1911, the section between Shiojiri Station and Miyanokoshi Station belonged to the East Line.
Former connecting lines
- Mitaka Station: A 3 km line to a Nakajima Aircraft factory opened in 1942, and was out of service in 1945. In 1950, the factory site was used to build a sports stadium. The line from Mitaka to Musashino Stadium (???????) opened on 14 April 1951, but was closed from 1 November 1959.
- Kokubunji Station: A 7 km line was opened in 1910 to haul gravel from the Tamagawa. It closed in 1914 due to flood damage, but was reopened in 1916 after being rebuilt by the Japanese Army. On 26 May 1920, the line was absorbed into JNR, but operations were suspended from 1 December 1921. A 6 km extension to the Tokyo Racecourse opened on 1934. Services on the line were suspended from 1 October 1944, resuming from 24 April 1947. On 1 April 1973, the line to Tokyo Racecourse closed, and the freight line was absorbed into the Musashino Line.
- Kofu Station: The Yamanashi horse-drawn tramway opened its first 660 mm (2 ft 2 in) gauge section in 1898, and by 1904 had opened two lines (to Katsunuma and Fujikawa) totaling 34 km. In 1930, the Katsunuma Line was closed, and the other line was closed beyond Kai-Aoyagi, 20 km from Kofu. The company renamed itself the Yamanashi Electric Railway, regauged (to 1,067 mm) and electrified the line at 600 V DC, and operated it until 1962.
- Sakashita Station: The 11 km 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge Sakagawa Line was opened to Maruno by the Hisaka River Railway in 1926. A passenger service was operated 8 km to Okuya. The Forest Service opened a 9 km line connecting at Maruno the same year, and a 2 km branch from Okuya that operated from 1933 until 1958. In 1944, the Forest Service took over the Sakagawa line, operating it until 1961, when the entire 20 km line closed.
- Nakatsugawa Station: The Kitaena Railway operated the 23 km Enaden Line to Tsukechi, electrified at 600 V DC, from 1924 until 1978. At Tsukechi, it transshipped timber from a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge forest railway with an 18 km "main line" and a 14 km and two 5 km branch lines operated from 1932 until 1959.
- Ena Station: The Iwamura Electric Railway operated a 13 km line electrified at 600 V DC to its namesake town between 1906 and 1935. A 4 km line to the site of Oi dam was opened in 1922 to transport construction materials. Upon the dam's completion, the line was sold to the Kita-Ena Railway. but it closed in 1934.
- Tokishi Station: The Ogawa Railway opened a 10 km line to its namesake town between 1922 and 1924. The line was electrified at 1,500 V DC in 1950, and closed as a result of flood damage in 1972.
- Tajima Station: The Kasahara Railway opened a 5 km line to its namesake town in 1928. Passenger services ceased in 1971, and the line closed in 1978.
Proposed connecting lines
- Chino Station: The Saku Railway, which had built the line from Komoro on the Shinetsu Line to Koumi, proposed to build a line from Tanaka on the Shinetsu Line to this station. The company was nationalised before construction started, and JGR connected the Koumi line to the Chuo Main Line in 1935, making this proposal redundant.
Accidents
On September 12, 1997, a Super Azusa limited express bound for Matsumoto collided with a 201 series local train that failed to stop at a red signal while passing through ?tsuki Station.
References
This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.
External links
Source of article : Wikipedia
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