Utsunomiya Line

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This article is about the JR East railway line. For the Tōbu Railway line, see Tōbu Utsunomiya Line.
     Utsunomiya Line

Overview
Type Heavy rail
Locale Tokyo, Saitama, Tochigi, Ibaraki
Termini Ueno
Kuroiso
Stations 33
Operation
Opening 1883
Operator(s) JR East
Technical
Line length 159.9 km (99.4 mi)
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification 1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed 120 km/h (75 mph)

The Utsunomiya Line (宇都宮線 Utsunomiya-sen) is the name given to a 159.9 kilometre section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Ueno Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan. It is part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) network.

The line is proposed to be extended to Tokyo Station via the Tōhoku Jūkan Line currently under construction.

Services

Services on the Utsunomiya Line are typically divided into those starting and terminating at Ueno and Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through services from Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and points south. Between Ueno and Ōmiya, trains share the track with the Takasaki Line, both of which serve as de facto express services compared to the parallel Keihin-Tōhoku Line. The Utsunomiya Line has four trains per hour to/from Ueno, with another two trains per hour through from the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, one of which is a rapid service.

The fastest service on the line, the rapid Rabbit, makes the run between Ueno and Utsunomiya in one hour and 26 minutes.

Service on the line is generally divided at Utsunomiya, though the number of through trains has been increasing steadily over the years. South of Utsunomiya, 10- and 15-car E231 series four-door suburban commuter EMUs with Green cars attached service the line, while to the north service is provided chiefly by 5-car 211 series three-door EMUs.

Limited express

Numerous limited express services use the line, including:

Home Liner Koga

Two trains bound for Koga depart Ueno every weekday evening. Passengers can board only at Ueno; all other stations are for disembarking only. Stops include: Ueno, Urawa, Ōmiya, Higashi-Ōmiya, Hasuda, Kuki, and Koga. Service is provided by 7-car 185 series and 9-car 489 series EMUs.

Local/rapid services to/from Ueno

Commuter rapid

Commuter rapid services for Utsunomiya make fewer stops than the Rabbit rapid services described below. They are operated only on weekday evenings, departing Ueno between 18:00 and 22:00 and Utsunomiya between 16:00 and 21:00, with approximately one round-trip per hour. One train runs to Kuroiso. All trains are E231 series 10- or 15-car EMUs.

Rapid Rabbit

Rapid Rabbit services run between Ueno and Utsunomiya, skipping some intermediate stations. Rabbit trains were first operated by the Japanese National Railways as an hourly/half-hourly rapid service. Since October 2004, however, Rabbit services run only twice during the morning; on weekends, they replace the weekday commuter rapid service. Trains are E231 series EMUs, except for a single Oyama-bound 211 series EMU operated on weekends and holidays.

Local

Local trains run four times hourly; one of those terminates at Koganei, while the rest terminate at Utsunomiya. During the morning peak, Ueno-bound trains run at intervals of 4–6 minutes. Services are provided by E231 series and 211 series 10- and 15-car EMUs.

Shōnan-Shinjuku Line services

See also: Shōnan-Shinjuku Line

Within the Utsunomiya Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line rapid and local trains are each operated once per hour. They do not stop at Urawa or Saitama-Shintoshin stations since they have no platforms available; however, by 2012 a new platform at Urawa is expected to be completed.

All trains are 10- or 15-car E231 series EMUs.

Rapid

Rapid trains operate once hourly, making limited stops. They travel between Shinjuku and Utsunomiya in one hour, 35 minutes.

Local

Local trains operate once hourly (twice hourly during the morning), stopping at all stations. They travel between Shinjuku and Ōmiya in 32 minutes.

Utsunomiya – Kuroiso services

Between Utsunomiya and Kuroiso, local and rapid trains stop at every station. Trains operate approximately three times per hour, traveling between Utsunomiya and Kuroiso in approximately 50 minutes. Most trains are 211 series EMUs.

Station list

  • Local trains, excluding Shōnan-Shinjuku Line through trains, stop at all stations (except Nippori)
  • Rapid, Home Liner, and Shōnan-Shinjuku Line trains stop at stations marked "●" and "▼"; they pass those marked "｜". (Passengers on Home Liner services can only disembark at stations marked "▼".)
  • For limited express services, please see their respective articles.
Station Japanese Distance (km) Rapid Rabbit Comm. Rapid Home Liner Koga Shōnan-
Shinjuku
Line		 Transfers Location
Between
stations		 Total
From Ueno via Oku From Tokyo via Ōji Local Rapid
Through services via the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line to Ikebukuro and Shinjuku and the Yokosuka Line to Ōfuna and Zushi
Ueno 上野 - 0.0 3.6 ● ● ● ∥ ∥ Tōhoku Shinkansen, Yamagata Shinkansen, Akita Shinkansen, Jōetsu Shinkansen, Nagano Shinkansen, Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Takasaki Line, Jōban Line
Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (G-16), Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-17)
Keisei Main Line (Keisei Ueno)		 Taitō Tokyo
Oku 尾久 2.6 4.8 - ｜ ● ｜ ∥ ∥   Kita
Akabane 赤羽 5.0 9.8 13.2 ● ● ｜ ● ● Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Saikyō Line
Urawa 浦和 11.0 20.8 24.2 ● ● ▼ ｜ ｜ Keihin-Tōhoku Line Urawa-ku, Saitama Saitama
Saitama-Shintoshin さいたま新都心 4.5 25.3 28.7 ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ ｜ Keihin-Tōhoku Line Ōmiya-ku, Saitama
Ōmiya 大宮 1.6 26.9 30.3 ● ● ▼ ● ● Tōhoku Shinkansen, Yamagata Shinkansen, Akita Shinkansen, Jōetsu Shinkansen, Nagano Shinkansen, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Takasaki Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Saikyō Line, Kawagoe Line
Tōbu Noda Line
Ina Line (New Shuttle)
Toro 土呂 3.0 29.9 33.3 ｜ ｜ ｜ ● ｜   Kita-ku, Saitama
Higashi-Ōmiya 東大宮 2.1 32.0 35.4 ｜ ｜ ▼ ● ｜   Minuma-ku, Saitama
Hasuda 蓮田 3.8 35.8 39.2 ● ｜ ▼ ● ●   Hasuda
Shiraoka 白岡 4.3 40.1 43.5 ｜ ｜ ｜ ● ｜   Shiraoka
Shin-Shiraoka 新白岡 2.4 42.5 45.9 ｜ ｜ ｜ ● ｜  
Kuki 久喜 3.0 45.5 48.9 ● ● ▼ ● ● Tōbu Isesaki Line Kuki
Higashi-Washinomiya 東鷲宮 2.7 48.2 51.6 ｜ ｜ ｜ ● ｜  
Kurihashi 栗橋 5.6 53.8 57.2 ｜ ｜ ｜ ● ｜ Tōbu Nikkō Line
Koga 古河 7.5 61.3 64.7 ● ● ▼ ● ●   Koga Ibaraki
Nogi 野木 4.7 66.0 69.4 ｜ ｜   ● ｜   Nogi, Shimotsuga District Tochigi
Mamada 間々田 3.9 69.9 73.3 ｜ ｜   ● ｜   Oyama
Oyama 小山 7.3 77.2 80.6 ● ●   ● ● Tōhoku Shinkansen, Ryōmō Line, Mito Line
Koganei 小金井 7.5 84.7 88.1 ● ●   ● ●   Shimotsuke
Jichi-Idai 自治医大 2.6 87.3 90.7 ● ●   ● ●  
Ishibashi 石橋 4.7 92.0 95.4 ● ●   ● ●  
Utsunomiya Freight Terminal 宇都宮貨物ターミナル 1.2 93.2 96.6 ｜ ｜   ｜ ｜   Kaminokawa, Kawachi District
Suzumenomiya 雀宮 5.2 98.4 101.8 ● ●   ● ●   Utsunomiya
Utsunomiya 宇都宮 7.7 106.1 109.5 ● ●   ● ● Tōhoku Shinkansen, Yamagata Shinkansen, Nikkō Line
Okamoto 岡本 6.2 112.3 115.7 ● ●      
Hōshakuji 宝積寺 5.5 117.8 121.2 ● ●     Karasuyama Line[* 1] Takanezawa, Shioya District
Ujiie 氏家 5.9 123.7 127.1 ● ●       Sakura
Kamasusaka 蒲須坂 4.5 128.2 131.6 ● ●      
Kataoka 片岡 3.9 132.1 135.5 ● ●       Yaita
Yaita 矢板 6.3 138.4 141.8 ● ●      
Nozaki 野崎 4.8 143.2 146.6 ● ●       Ōtawara
Nishi-Nasuno 西那須野 5.2 148.4 151.8 ● ●       Nasushiobara
Nasushiobara 那須塩原 6.0 154.4 157.8 ● ●     Tōhoku Shinkansen
Kuroiso 黒磯 5.5 159.9 163.3 ● ●     Tōhoku Main Line (for Shirakawa and Kōriyama)
  1. ↑ Some Karasuyama Line trains run through to Utsunomiya.

Rolling stock

From March 2013, a fleet of eight refurbished 4-car 205 series EMUs is to be phased in on Utsunomiya Line services between Koganei and Kuroiso, replacing 211 series sets.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "日光線、宇都宮線に205系リニューアル車投入" [Refurbished 205 series to be introduced on Nikko and Utunomiya Line]. Tetsudo Hobidas (in Japanese). Japan: Neko Publishing Co., Ltd. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012. 

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