Tobu Skytree Line

Tobu Skytree Line
A Tobu 20000 series EMU on the Tobu Skytree Line
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Tobu Railway
Locale	Kantō
Termini	Asakusa Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen
Stations	30
Operation
Opened	March 17, 2012
Owner	Tobu Railway
Depot(s)	Kasukabe
Technical
Line length	41.0 km (25.5 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC
Operating speed	110 km/h (70 mph)

Tobu Skytree Line

Station Through trains destination Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line Chūō-Rinkan Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line Shibuya Toei Asakusa Line (till Oshiage) Tokyo Metro Ginza Line 0.0 Asakusa Sumida River 1.1 Tokyo Skytree (1.1) OshiageMetro: Hanzōmon Line Keisei Oshiage Line Tobu Kameido Line 2.4 Hikifune/ Keisei Hikifune Keisei Oshiage Line 3.2 Higashi-Mukōjima 4.2 Kanegefuchi 5.3 Horikiri Keisei Main Line 6.0 Ushida Keisei Sekiya Naka-Meguro Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line Tsukuba Express Jōban Line Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line 7.1 Kita-Senju Arakawa River 8.2 Kosuge 9.3 Gotanno 10.5 Umejima 11.3 Nishiarai Tobu Daishi Line Tokyo Metro Takenotsuka depot 13.4 Takenotsuka 15.9 Yatsuka 17.5 Sōka 19.2 Matsubara-danchi 20.5 Shinden 21.9 Gamō 22.9 Shin-Koshigaya Minami-Koshigaya Musashino Line 24.4 Koshigaya 26.0 Kita-Koshigaya 28.5 Ōbukuro 29.8 Sengendai 31.1 Takesato 33.0 Ichinowari Tobu Urban Park Line 35.3 Kasukabe Tobu Urban Park Line 36.8 Kita-Kasukabe Kita-Kasukabe depot 38.4 Himemiya 41.0 Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Tōbu Nikkō Line Tobu Isesaki Line

The Tobu Skytree Line (東武スカイツリーライン, Tōbu Sukaitsurii-rain) is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway company Tobu Railway, extending from Asakusa Station in Tokyo to Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Station in Saitama Prefecture. Some trains from the line continue to the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line and Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line. Formally the southern part of the 114.5 km long Tobu Isesaki Line, it was rebranded the Tobu Skytree Line on 17 March 2012 in conjunction with the opening of the Tokyo Skytree tower.

Description

Track

quadruple: Tokyo Skytree − Hikifune 1.3 km, Kita-Senju − Kita-Koshigaya 18.9 km^[1]

double: the rest

Note that Oshiage Station is officially an extension or part of Tokyo Skytree. The double tracks between Oshiage and Hikifune are thus the third and fourth tracks of the Tokyo Skytree − Hikifune section.

Operation

All-stations "Local" services operate from Asakusa to Kita-Senju, and Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen, and onward to Minami-Kurihashi on the Tōbu Nikkō Line.^[2] Some peak-hour Local services from Asakusa terminate at Takenotsuka, Kita-Koshigaya, or Kita-Kasukabe.^[2]

Through trains

The Skytree Line has trains that inter-run with two Tokyo Metro subway lines. One is the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line connected at Kitasenju, with all-stations "Local" trains only. The other is the Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line at Oshiage, with rapid trains of Tobu. Beyond Shibuya, the terminus of the Hanzomon Line, nearly all trains continue to and from to the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line, down to the terminus Chūō-Rinkan.

To the north, it has trains through the Yagan Railway to the Aizu Railway's Aizutajima Station.

Service patterns

Stops and operated sections are as of 2013.

Local (普通, Futsū) (announced as Kakueki Teisha (各駅停車) or kakutei (各停) for short) (L)

• Asakusa − Kita-Senju (from morning to night) - Takenotsuka - Kita-Koshigaya - Kita-Kasukabe - Tobu-Dobutsu-Koen - Minami-Kurihashi to complement Section Semi-Express and Section Express every morning, evening and nighttime only. 6 cars.
• Naka-Meguro of Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line − Kita-Senju − Takenotsuka - Kita-Koshigaya - Kita-Kasukabe - Tobu-Dobutsu-Koen - Minami-Kurihashi. 8 cars.

Section Semi-Express (区間準急, Kukan Junkyū) (SSE)

Between Asakusa and Kita-Koshigaya, Kita-Kasukabe, Tōbu-Dōbutsu Kōen, Kuki or Minami-Kurihashi on Nikkō Line. 6 cars.

Semi-Express (準急, Junkyū) (SmE)

Early morning and late night. Down to Kita-Koshigaya, Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen, Kuki or to Minami-Kurihashi on the Nikkō Line through from Chūō-Rinkan on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line via the Hanzōmon Line. 10 cars.

Section Express (区間急行, Kukan Kyūkō) (SE)

Between Asakusa and Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen, Kuki, Tatebayashi, Ōta or Shin-Tochigi and Minami-Kurihashi on the Nikkō Line. 6 cars.

Express (急行, Kyūkō) (Ex)

From morning to night. Down to Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen, Kuki (nearly half to Minami-Kurihashi on the Nikkō Line), through from Chūō-Rinkan on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line via Hanzōmon Line. 10 cars.

Rapid (快速, Kaisoku), Section Rapid (区間快速, Kukan Kaisoku) (R)

Non-charged rapid train through to Nikkō Line, Kinugawa Line of Tobu and Yagan Railway, terminates at Aizu Tajima on the Aizu Railway.

Limited Express (特急, Tokkyū) <span style=background:brown>(LE)

Stops not shown. Charged for seat reservation and rapid service. Mainly through to the Nikkō Line for the Nikko area named Kegon (けごん), Kirifuri (きりふり), Shimotsuke (しもつけ) and Kinu (きぬ). Some through to Isesaki from Asakusa, sole direct service named Ryōmō (りょうもう).

Stations

Video from a Tobu 10000 series train near Sengendai Station, October 2012

• S: Stop
• *1: To Naka-Meguro on Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.
• *2: To Chūō-Rinkan on Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line via Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line
• *3: Through to Nikkō Line
• *4: Through to Isesaki Line
• *5: Terminating Services from Asakusa
• *6: Terminating Services from Naka-Meguro on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line
• *7: Terminating Services from Chūō-Rinkan on Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line via Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line

^AThe station for the Tsukuba Express is located 600 m to the west of this station. Due to the distance between these two stations, transfers for the Tsukuba Express are announced at Kita-Senju.

Rolling stock

New 7-car Tobu 70000 series and Tokyo Metro 13000 series EMUs are scheduled to be phased in on Tobu Skytree Line and Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line through services between fiscal 2016 and 2019, replacing the Tobu 20000 series and Tokyo Metro 03 series fleets. The new trains will have 20 m long cars with four pairs of doors per side.^[3]

History

References

Further reading

• 東武スカイツリーライン(伊勢崎線): 街と駅の今昔物語 [Tobu Skytree Line (Isesaki Line): Past and present stories of the towns and stations] (in Japanese). Japan: Sairyusha. 25 August 2015. ISBN 978-4779123665. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tobu Skytree Line.

• Tobu Railway Skytree Line information page (Japanese)

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