Tsukuba Express

Tsukuba Express
A Tsukuba Express train (TX-2000 series)
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
Locale	Kanto Region
Termini	Akihabara Tsukuba
Stations	20
Operation
Opening	24 August 2005
Owner	Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company
Depot(s)	Moriya
Rolling stock	TX-1000 series / TX-2000 series
Technical
Line length	58.3 km
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead catenary (Akihabara – Moriya) 20 kV AC, 50 Hz (Miraidaira – Tsukuba)
Operating speed	130 km/h (80 mph)

Route map

Legend Rapid 　 Semi-Rapid 　 Local Station stops 0.0 AkihabaraChuo-Sobu Line Yamanote Line / Keihin-Tōhoku Line Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line Toei Ōedo Line 1.6 Shin-Okachimachi Toei Ōedo Line Tokyo Metro Ginza Line 3.1 Asakusa Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line Sumidagawa Freight Terminal / Jōban Line 5.6 Minami-Senju Sumidagawa Keisei Main Line Tōbu Isesaki Line/Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line 7.5 Kita-Senju Arakawa Kosuge Tōbu Isesaki Line Jōban Line Jōban Line/Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line 10.6 Aoi 12.0 Rokuchō Ayasegawa (Tokyo/Saitama Prefecture boundary) 15.6 Yashio Nakagawa 19.3 Misato-chūō Edogawa (Saitama Prefecture/Chiba Prefecture boundary) 22.1 Minami-NagareyamaMusashino Line Nagareyama Line 24.3 Nagareyama-centralpark 26.5 Nagareyama-ōtakanomoriTōbu Noda Line 30.0 Kashiwanoha-campus 32.0 Kashiwa-Tanaka Tonegawa (Chiba Prefecture/Ibaraki Prefecture boundary) 37.7 MoriyaJōsō Line Depot Dead section Kokaigawa 44.3 Miraidaira 48.6 Midorino 51.8 Bampaku-kinenkōen 55.6 Kenkyū-gakuen 58.3 Tsukuba

The Tsukuba Express (つくばエクスプレス線, Tsukuba Ekusupuresu-sen), or TX, is a Japanese railway line of the Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company which links Akihabara Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and Tsukuba Station in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. The route was inaugurated on August 24, 2005.

Speed

The line has a top speed of 130 km/h. Rapid service has reduced the time required for the trip from Akihabara to Tsukuba from the previous 1 hour 30 minutes (by the Jōban Line, arriving in Tsuchiura, about 15 km from Tsukuba) or 70 minutes (by bus, under optimal traffic conditions) to 45 minutes; from Tokyo, the trip requires 50 – 55 minutes. The line has no grade crossings.

An automatic train operation system allows a single individual to operate the train.

Electrification and rolling stock

To prevent interference with the geomagnetic measurements of the Japan Meteorological Agency at its laboratory in Yasato, Niihari District, Ibaraki, the portion of the line from Moriya to Tsukuba operates on alternating current. For this reason, the trains include TX-1000 series DC-only trains, which can operate only between Akihabara and Moriya, and TX-2000 series dual-voltage AC/DC trains, which can operate over the entire line.

Volume production of the rolling stock began in January 2004, following the completion in March 2003 of two (TX-1000 and TX-2000 series) six-car trains for trial operation and training. The full fleet of 84 TX-1000s (14 six-car trains) and 96 TX-2000s (16 six-car trains) was delivered by January 2005.

Stations

● L: Local (普通, Futsū)

● S: Semi-Rapid (区間快速, Kukan kaisoku)

● C: Commuter-Rapid (通勤快速, Tsūkin Kaisoku)

● R: Rapid (快速, Kaisoku)

Trains stop at stations marked "●" and pass stations marked "-".

No.	Station name	Distance (km)	Elec.	L	S	C	R	Transfers	Location
01	Akihabara	0.0	DC	●	●	●	●	■ Chūō-Sōbu Line ■ Keihin-Tōhoku Line ■ Yamanote Line Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-15)	Chiyoda	Tokyo
02	Shin-Okachimachi	1.6		●	●	●	●	Toei Ōedo Line (E-10)	Taitō
03	Asakusa	3.1		●	●	●	●
04	Minami-Senju	5.6		●	●	●	●	■■ Jōban Line (Rapid) Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-20)	Arakawa
05	Kita-Senju	7.5		●	●	●	●	■■ Jōban Line (Rapid) ■ Tobu Skytree Line Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line (C-18), Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-21)	Adachi
06	Aoi	10.6		●	-	-	-
07	Rokuchō	12.0		●	-	●	-
08	Yashio	15.6		●	●	●	-		Yashio	Saitama
09	Misato-chūō	19.3		●	●	-	-		Misato
10	Minami-Nagareyama	22.1		●	●	●	●	■ Musashino Line	Nagareyama	Chiba
11	Nagareyama-centralpark	24.3		●	-	-	-
12	Nagareyama-ōtakanomori	26.5		●	●	●	●	■ Tobu Noda Line
13	Kashiwanoha-campus	30.0		●	●	●	-		Kashiwa
14	Kashiwa-Tanaka	32.0		●	-	-	-
15	Moriya	37.7		●	●	●	●	■ Jōsō Line	Moriya	Ibaraki
16	Miraidaira	44.3	AC	●	●	-	-		Tsukubamirai
17	Midorino	48.6		●	●	-	-		Tsukuba
18	Bampaku-kinenkōen	51.8		●	●	-	-
19	Kenkyū-gakuen	55.6		●	●	●	-
20	Tsukuba	58.3		●	●	●	●

History

Platform level of Tsukuba Station

Initially, the line was to be called Jōban Shinsen (New Jōban Line). The reason for the line was to relieve crowding on the Jōban Line of East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which had reached the limit of its capacity. However, with the economic downturn in Japan, the goal shifted to development along the line. Also, the initial plan called for a line from Tokyo to Moriya, but expenses forced the planners to start the line at Akihabara instead of Tokyo, and pressure from the government of Ibaraki Prefecture resulted in moving the extension from Moriya to Tsukuba into Phase I of the construction.

The original schedule called for the line to begin operating in 2000, but delays resulted in a 2005 start.

From the start of the revised timetable on 15 October 2012, new "Commuter rapid" (通勤快速, tsūkin kaisoku) services were introduced in the morning (inbound services) and evening (outbound services) peak periods.^[1]

In September 2013, a number of municipalities along the Tsukuba Express line in Ibaraki Prefecture submitted a proposal to complete the extension of the line to Tokyo Station at the same time as a new airport-to-airport line proposed as part of infrastructure improvements for the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[2]

Ridership figures

(Source: ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]})

See also

List of railway companies in Japan

References

External links

• Official Site (English)

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