Tōbu Nikkō Line

Tobu Nikko Line
TN
A 500 series set "Revaty" on the Nikko Line in April 2017
Overview
OwnerTobu Railway
LocaleKantō Region
Termini
Stations26
Service
TypeHeavy rail
Depot(s)Minami-Kurihashi
History
Opened1929
Technical
Line length94.5 km (58.7 mi)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification1,500 V DC, overhead catenary
Operating speed120 km/h (75 mph)

The Tobu Nikko Line (東武日光線, Tōbu Nikkō-sen) is a 94.5-kilometre (58.7 mi) railway line in Japan operated by the private railway company Tobu Railway. It branches from Tōbu Dōbutsu Kōen Station in Miyashiro, Saitama on the Skytree Line, extending north to Tōbu Nikkō Station in Nikkō, Tochigi.

The line has two branch lines: the Utsunomiya Line at Shin-Tochigi Station in Tochigi, Tochigi, and the Kinugawa Line at Shimo-Imaichi Station in Nikkō.

Service patterns

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As of March 2013, stops and service patterns are

  • Local (普通, Futsū): Stops at all stations on the Nikko Line. Through to/from Naka-Meguro on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line;
  • Section Semi-Express (区間準急, Kukan Junkyū): Stops at all stations on the Nikko Line, limited-stop service on the Skytree Line;
  • Semi-Express (準急, Junkyū): Stops at all stations on the Nikko Line, limited-stop service on the Skytree Line. Through to/from Chūō-Rinkan on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line via the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line;
  • Section Express (区間急行, Kukan Kyūkō): Stops at all stations on the Nikko Line, limited-stop service on the Skytree Line;
  • Express (急行, Kyūkō): Stops at all stations on the Nikko Line, express service on the Skytree Line. Through to/from Chūō-Rinkan on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line via the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line.
  • Limited Express (特急, Tokkyū): Stops at partly stations on the Nikko Line, Limited express also services on the Skytree Line. There are Limited Express which are 4 types of KN/KG (スペーシアきぬ・けごん, SPACIA KINU・KEGON)・RV (リバティきぬ・けごん・会津, REVATY KINU・KEGON・AIZU)・KF (きりふり, KIRIFURI)・JR (日光・きぬがわ・スペーシアきぬがわ, JR NIKKO・KINUGAWA). Trains which are named KINU or KINUGAWA bound to Kinugawaonsen Station. Trains which are named KEGON or NIKKO, KIRIFURI bound to Tobu-Nikko Station. Trains which are named AIZU bound to Aizu-Tajima Station.
  • SL Taiju Futara (SL大樹ふたら, Esueru Taiju Futara):[1] Stops at Tobu-Nikko and Shimo-Imaichi. Passengers riding on this train must purchase the package[2] on Tobu Top Tours and so on. Runs once a month.

Stations

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No. Station Japanese Distance
(in km) 		 Local Section Semi-Express  Semi-
 Express 		   Section    Express  Express  Limited
Express 		Transfer Location
  A C A C A/S    
TS30 Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen 東武動物公園 0.0 O O O O O ｜
Miyashiro Saitama
TN01 Sugito-Takanodai 杉戸高野台 3.2 O O O O O KG/KN*4・RV*4   Sugito
TN02 Satte 幸手 5.8 O O O O O | Satte
TN03 Minami-Kurihashi 南栗橋 10.4 O
*1 		O O O O
*2/*3 		| Kuki
TN04 Kurihashi 栗橋 13.9 O       O | Utsunomiya Line
TN05 Shin-Koga 新古河 20.6 O | |   Kazo
TN06 Yagyū 柳生 23.6 O | |
TN07 Itakura Tōyōdai-mae 板倉東洋大前 25.6 O O KG/KN*4・RV*4 Itakura Gunma
TN08 Fujioka 藤岡 29.5 O | | Tochigi Tochigi
TN09 Shizuwa 静和 37.3 O | |
TN10 Shin-Ōhirashita 新大平下 40.1 O O |
TN11 Tochigi 栃木 44.9 O O KN/KG・RV・KF・JR
TN12 Shin-Tochigi 新栃木 47.9 O O KN/KG*4・RV*4・KF
TN13 Kassemba 合戦場 50.0 O | |  
TN14 Ienaka 家中 52.4 O | |
TN15 Tōbu Kanasaki 東武金崎 56.6 O | |
TN16 Niregi 楡木 61.2 O | | Kanuma
TN17 Momiyama 樅山 64.2 O | |
TN18 Shin-Kanuma 新鹿沼 66.8 O O KN/KG・RV・KF・JR
TN19 Kita-Kanuma 北鹿沼 69.8 O | |
TN20 Itaga 板荷 74.9 O | |
TN21 Shimo-Goshiro 下小代 78.5 O | | Nikkō
TN22 Myōjin 明神 81.3 O | |
TN23 Shimo-Imaichi 下今市 87.4 O O KN/KG・RV・KF・JR
TN24 Kami-Imaichi 上今市 88.4 O | |  
TN25 Tōbu-Nikkō 東武日光 94.5 O O KG・RV・KF・JR

Notes:

History

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The Nikko Line opened (dual track and electrified) on 1 October 1929.[3]

In 1943, the section north of Kassemba was reduced to single track and the recovered rails used to build the Tobu Kumagaya Line.[4]

Electric limited express services first started operating from February 1949.[3] From October 1960, new 1720 series "Deluxe Romance car" EMUs were introduced on limited express services to and from Nikko.[3]

From 1 June 1990, new 100 series "Spacia" EMUs were introduced on limited express services, and the maximum speed of these was raised to 120 km/h in 1992.[3]

A connecting track at Kurihashi was built to the JR-East Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) from 18 March 2006, allowing through-operations of Nikkō and Kinugawa limited express services to/from Ōmiya, Ikebukuro, and Shinjuku.

From 17 March 2012, station numbering was introduced on all Tobu lines, with Tobu Nikko Line stations adopting the prefix "TN" in orange.[5]

The former Skytree Train and 300 series limited express trains, Rapid, and Section Rapid services were discontinued from the start of the revised timetable on 21 April 2017.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Timetable
  2. ^ Detail
  3. ^ a b c d Terada, Hirokazu (July 2002). データブック日本の私鉄 [Databook: Japan's Private Railways]. Japan: Neko Publishing. p. 557. ISBN 4-87366-874-3.
  4. ^ 歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線NO.5 東武鉄道２ [Railway Line History No. 5: Tobu Railway 2]. Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. September 2010. p. 24. ISBN 978-4-02-340135-8.
  5. ^ 「東武スカイツリーライン」誕生！ あわせて駅ナンバリングを導入し、よりわかりやすくご案内します [Tobu Sky Tree Line created! Station numbering to be introduced at same time] (PDF). Tobu News (in Japanese). Tobu Railway. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  6. ^ Ueshin, Daisuke (20 April 2017). 東武スカイツリーライン快速・区間快速ラストラン、300型が最後の定期運行 [Final run for Tobu Skytree Line Rapid and Section Rapid and last regular runs for 300 series]. Mynavi News (in Japanese). Japan: Mynavi Corporation. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
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