Tobu Railway

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Tobu Railway Co., Ltd.
kabushiki kaisha
Traded as TYO: 9001
Genre Rail transport
Founded November 1897
Founder Michinari Suenobu
Rokuro Hara
Headquarters 2-18-12 Oshiage, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Area served
 Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi
Key people
 Kaichiro Nezu
Services Passenger railway
Total assets ¥1.3 trillion
Owner Yoshizumi Nezu (from 1999)
Number of employees
 4,659 (As of March 2010)
Website www.tobu.co.jp
Old Tobu Railway logo used until July 2011

Tobu Railway Co., Ltd. (東武鉄道株式会社 Tōbu Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha?) is a Japanese commuter railway company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's 463.3 km rail system is the second longest in Japan after Kintetsu. It serves large portions of Saitama Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture, as well as northern Tokyo and western Chiba Prefecture.

The Tobu corporate group is also engaged in road transportation (bus/taxi), real estate, and retail. It is the largest investor in the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest structure in Japan. The company is a member of the Mizuho keiretsu.[citation needed]

The name "Tobu" is formed from the kanji for east (東) and Musashi (武蔵), the initial area served.

History

Tobu is one of the oldest railway companies in Japan. It was established in November 1897 and began operation between Kita-Senju and Kuki in August 1899. The Tojo Railway was founded in 1911 as a separate company, but shared its president and head office with Tobu.[1]

Tobu was the first railway in the Kanto region to adopt quadruple tracks, on the Kita-Senju to Takenotsuka sector in 1974. The Tobu Dobutsu Koen (Tobu Animal Park) opened in 1981.[2]

Railway network

Diagram of the Tobu network, showing main lines to right and Tojo Lines to lower left

Tobu has two isolated networks which are connected by the Chichibu Railway for ferrying of its rolling stock.

The Tobu Main Line network has a tree topology starting at Asakusa Station in Tokyo, with the Isesaki line as the trunk, and the Tobu Kameido Line, Daishi Line, Tobu Urban Park Line, Tobu Sano Line, Koizumi Line, Tōbu Kiryū Line, and Nikkō Line forming the branches, with further branches into the Tobu Utsunomiya Line and Tobu Kinugawa Lines. It offers surcharged, seat-reserved limited express services from Tokyo to Nikkō and Kinugawa.

The Tojo Line runs northwest from Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo to central and western Saitama Prefecture. A branch, the Ogose Line, runs to Ogose from Sakado Station.

Tobu's terminals in Tokyo are at Asakusa Station (Main Line express services), Oshiage Station (most other Main Line services) and Ikebukuro Station (Tojo Line). The Skytree and Isesaki Lines interoperate with the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line to serve central Tokyo, while the Tojo Line interoperates with the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line, Tokyu Toyoko Line and Minatomirai Line to serve central and southwest Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture.

Main Lines

Name Symbol Stations Length (km)
Skytree Line Tobu Skytree Line (TS) symbol.svg Asakusa – Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen 41.0
Kameido Line Hikifune – Kameido 3.4
Daishi Line Nishiarai – Daishimae 1.0
Isesaki Line Tobu Isesaki Line (TI) symbol.svg Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen – Isesaki 75.1
Sano Line Tatebayashi – Kuzū 22.1
Koizumi Line Tatebayashi – Nishi-Koizumi, Ōta – Higashi-Koizumi 12.0
Kiryū Line Ōta – Akagi 20.3
Nikkō Line Tobu Nikko Line (TN) symbol.svg Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen – Tōbu Nikkō 94.5
Utsunomiya Line Shin-Tochigi – Tōbu Utsunomiya 24.3
Kinugawa Line Shimo-Imaichi – Shin-Fujiwara 16.2
Urban Park Line (Formerly Noda Line) Tobu Noda Line (TD) symbol.svg Ōmiya – Kasukabe – Funabashi 62.7

Tobu Tojo Lines

Name Symbol Stations Length (km)
Tojo Line Tobu Tojo Line (TJ) symbol.svg Ikebukuro – Yorii 75.0
Ogose Line Sakado – Ogose 10.9

Rolling stock

As of 1 April 2015, Tobu Railway operates a fleet of 1,920 electric multiple unit (EMU) vehicles, the second largest fleet for a private railway operator in Japan after Tokyo Metro.[3]

Express EMUs

Eight new three-car 500 series EMU trains are scheduled to be introduced on limited express services on lines from Asakusa from spring 2017.[4]

  • 1800 series

  • 6050 series

  • 350 series Kirifuri limited express

  • 200 series Ryōmō limited express

  • 100 series Spacia

  • 634 series Skytree Train

Commuter EMUs

  • 8000 series (unrefurbished)

  • 8000 series (refurbished)

  • 9000 series

  • 10000 series

  • 20000 series

  • 30000 series

  • 50000 series

  • 60000 series

Withdrawn types

Express EMUs

  • 1720 series

  • 5700 series

  • 6000 series

Commuter EMUs

  • 2000 series

  • 3000 series

  • 5000 series

  • 7300 series

  • 7800 series

DMUs

  • Preserved KiHa 2000 series DMU

References

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External links

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