Sōbu Line (Rapid)

Sōbu Line (Rapid)
An E235 series EMU at Ichikawa Station
Overview
LocaleTokyo, Chiba prefectures
Termini
Stations10
Service
TypeCommuter rail
OperatorJR East
Daily ridership
693,998 (daily 2015)
History
Opened12 July 1972; 54 years ago (12 July 1972)
Technical
Line length60.2 km (37.4 mi)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
ElectrificationOverhead line, 1,500 V DC
Operating speed
120 km/h (75 mph)
Route map

The Sōbu Line (Rapid) (Japanese: 総武快速線, romanized: Sōbu-kaisoku-sen) is a railway service on the Sōbu Main Line in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Tokyo Station in Chūō, Tokyo with Chiba Station in Chūō-ku, Chiba via the cities of Ichikawa, Funabashi, and Narashino.

Services

Rapid services on the Sōbu Line are primarily operated between Tokyo and Chiba, although there are many through services onto the Yokosuka Line as well as some through services operated from the Yokosuka Line via Tokyo terminating at Tsudanuma. During weekday morning peak periods Tokyo-bound trains arrive once every 3.2 minutes; this is reduced to 10 Chiba-bound trains per hour during weekday evening peak periods. At other times there are approximately six trains per hour. There are many through services operated onto other lines.

For information on the Narita Express, Shiosai, and other limited express services, see their respective articles.

Sōbu Line (Rapid) trains travel through onto the Yokosuka Line to Ōfuna, Zushi, and Kurihama. Trains also travel through beyond Chiba to as far as:

Past services

Home Liner Chiba

Before 16 March 2019, there were five Home Liner Chiba commuter liner services that operated every weekday evening, four of which started from Tokyo and another which started at Shinjuku.

Stations served:

(Shinjuku – Akihabara) / Tokyo – Tsudanuma – Inage – Chiba

Limited Express Ayame

Commuter Rapid

Commuter Rapid services were abolished with the timetable revision on 12 March 2022. Prior to this they ran on weekday peak hours only, stopping at Tōkyō, Shin-Nihombashi, Bakurochō, Kinshichō, Funabashi, and Chiba.

Station list

No. Station Distance in km (mi) Transfers Location
Between
stations		 Total
↑ Through-running to/from Kurihama via the Yokosuka Line ↑
TYOJO19
 Tokyo
東京		 N/a 0 (0)
Chiyoda Tokyo
JO20 Shin-Nihombashi
新日本橋		 1.2 (0.75) 1.2 (0.75)
Chūō
JO21 Bakurochō
馬喰町		 1.1 (0.68) 2.3 (1.4)
JO22 Kinshichō
錦糸町		 2.5 (1.6) 4.8 (3.0)
Sumida
JO23 Shin-Koiwa
新小岩		 5.2 (3.2) 10.0 (6.2) Chūō–Sōbu Line (JB25) Katsushika
JO24 Ichikawa
市川		 5.4 (3.4) 15.4 (9.6) Chūō–Sōbu Line (JB27) Ichikawa Chiba
JO25 Funabashi
船橋		 7.8 (4.8) 23.2 (14.4)
Funabashi
JO26 Tsudanuma
津田沼		 3.5 (2.2) 26.7 (16.6)
Narashino
JO27 Inage
稲毛		 9.2 (5.7) 35.9 (22.3) Chūō–Sōbu Line (JB37) Inage
JO28 Chiba
千葉		 3.3 (2.1) 39.2 (24.4)
Chūō
↓ Through-running to/from: ↓
Narutō via the ■ Sōbu Main Line
Narita via the ■ Narita Line
Kashima-Jingū via the ■ Narita Line and ■ Kashima Line
Kazusa-Ichinomiya via the ■ Sotobō Line
Kimitsu via the ■ Uchibō Line

Rolling stock

JNR 113 series train at Kinshichō Station in 1978

Rapid service

Limited express service

Former rolling stock

History

On 20 August 2016, station numbering was introduced with stations being assigned station numbers between JO19 and JO28. Numbers increase towards in the eastbound direction towards Chiba.

References

  1. ↑ "平成27年 大都市交通センサス 首都圏報告書" (PDF). P.92. 国土交通省.
  2. ↑ "JR East March 2022 Timetable Revision" (PDF). JR East (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Daisuke, Kousaku (4 September 2018). JR東日本E235系、横須賀線・総武快速線へ車両新造 - 2020年度落成 [JR East E235 series for Yokosuka line and Sobu Rapid Line to be completed in 2020]. MyNavi Corporation (in Japanese). Japan. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  4. ↑ "⾸都圏エリアへ 「駅ナンバリング」を導⼊します" [Introduce “station numbering” to the Tokyo metropolitan area] (PDF). jreast.co.jp (in Japanese). 6 April 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Kusamachi, Yoshikazu (7 April 2016). "JA・JK・JT・AKB…JR東日本、首都圏で駅ナンバリングなど導入へ" [JA, JK, JT, AKB … JR East to introduce station numbering in the Tokyo metropolitan area]. Response Automotive Media (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.