Tōbu Nikkō Line

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.

Tobu Nikko Line
TN
A 500 series set "Revaty" on the Nikko Line in April 2017
Overview
Owner	Tobu Railway
Locale	Kantō Region
Termini	Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Tōbu Nikkō
Stations	26
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Depot(s)	Minami-Kurihashi
History
Opened	1929
Technical
Line length	94.5 km (58.7 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC, overhead catenary
Operating speed	120 km/h (75 mph)

v t e Tōbu Nikkō Line
Legend
km Chūō-Rinkan DT Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line Shibuya JAJSJYDTTY Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line 41 Asakusa TS Tobu Skytree Line Oshiage KSTS 0.0 Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Isesaki Line 3.2 Sugito-Takanodai 5.8 Satte 10.4 Minami-Kurihashi Minami-Kurihashi depot Tōhoku Shinkansen Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) 13.9 Kurihashi JU Limited Express bypass Tone River Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) 20.6 Shin-Koga 23.6 Yagyū 25.6 Itakura Tōyōdai-mae 29.5 Fujioka 37.3 Shizuwa 40.1 Shin-Ōhirashita Ryōmō Line 44.9 Tochigi Ryōmō Line 47.9 Shin-Tochigi Tōbu Utsunomiya Tōbu Utsunomiya Line 50.0 Kassemba 52.4 Ienaka 56.6 Tōbu Kanasaki 61.2 Niregi 64.2 Momiyama 66.8 Shin-Kanuma 69.8 Kita-Kanuma 74.9 Itaga 78.5 Shimo-Goshiro 81.3 Myōjin Nikkō Line 87.4 0.0 Shimo-Imaichi 00.0 Tobu Kinugawa Line to Yagan Railway 00.0 Tobu Kinugawa Line 0.8 Daiya-Mukō 4.8 Ōkuwa 7.3 Shin-Takatoku 9.9 Kosagoe 10.6 Tobu World Square 12.4 Kinugawa-Onsen 14.5 Kinugawa-Kōen 16.2 Shin-Fujiwara Yagan Railway Kinugawa Line Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi Nikkō Line 88.4 Kami-Imaichi Nikkō 94.5 Tōbu Nikkō

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

As of March 2013^[update], 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

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	｜	TS Tobu Skytree Line (through to/from Asakusa) TI Tobu Isesaki Line	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	Ryōmō Line
TN12	Shin-Tochigi	新栃木	47.9	O				O	KN/KG*4・RV*4・KF	TN Tobu Utsunomiya Line
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	TN Tobu Kinugawa Line
TN24	Kami-Imaichi	上今市	88.4	O				|	|
TN25	Tōbu-Nikkō	東武日光	94.5	O				O	KG・RV・KF・JR	Nikkō Line (Nikkō Station)

Notes:

• O: Stop
• |: Non-stop
• 1: Terminating Services from Naka-Meguro on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line
• 2: Terminating Services from Chūō-Rinkan on the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line via Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line
• 3: Terminating Services from Tōbu Nikkō
• 4: Partly Services stop at the stations
• A: to/from Asakusa
• C: to/from Chūō-Rinkan
• S: to/from Shinjuku when named as JR

History

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

• List of railway lines in Japan

References

1. Timetable
2. Detail
3. 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.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)