Jōsō Line

Jōsō Line
A Kanto Railway KiHa 2300 series DMU
Overview
Native name	常総線
Locale	Ibaraki Prefecture
Termini	Toride Shimodate
Operation
Opened	1 November 1913
Owner	Kanto Railway
Technical
Line length	51.1 km
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Minimum radius	290 m
Electrification	None
Operating speed	80 km/h

The Jōsō Line (常総線 Jōsō-sen) is a railway line in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, operated by the operated by the private railway operator Kanto Railway. It is a non-electrified line which connects Toride to Shimodate.^[1]

The Jōsō Line connects with the Tsukuba Express line, which opened in 2005, at Moriya Station, the only interchange other than at its two termini.

In fiscal 1999, the Jōsō Line carried an annual total of 14.16 million passengers (38,000 per day), making it the busiest non-electrified private line in Japan.^[1]

Stations

Name	Japanese	Between stations (km)	Distance (km)	Track	Local	Rapid	Transfers	Location
Toride	取手	-	0.0	Double	●	●	Jōban Line	Toride	Ibaraki
Nishi-Toride	西取手	1.6	1.6		●	●
Terahara	寺原	0.5	2.1		●	●
Shin-Toride	新取手	1.3	3.4		●	●
Yumemino	ゆめみ野	0.8	4.2		●	●
Inatoi	稲戸井	1.2	5.4		●	●
Togashira	戸頭	0.9	6.3		●	●
Minami-Moriya	南守谷	1.1	7.4		●	●		Moriya
Moriya	守谷	2.2	9.6		●	●	Tsukuba Express
Shin-Moriya	新守谷	1.8	11.4		●	｜
Kokinu	小絹	1.6	13.0		●	｜		Tsukubamirai
Mitsukaidō	水海道	4.5	17.5		●	●		Jōsō
				Single
Kita-Mitsukaidō	北水海道	1.8	19.3		●	｜
Nakatsuma	中妻	1.6	20.9		●	｜
Mitsuma	三妻	3.0	23.9		●	｜
Minami-Ishige	南石下	3.3	27.2		●	｜
Ishige	石下	1.6	28.8		●	●
Tamamura	玉村	2.2	31.0		●	｜
Sōdō	宗道	2.0	33.0		●	｜		Shimotsuma
Shimotsuma	下妻	3.1	36.1		●	●
Daihō	大宝	2.6	38.7		●	｜
Tobanoe	騰波ノ江	2.3	41.0		●	｜
Kurogo	黒子	2.6	43.6		●	｜		Chikusei
Ōtagō	大田郷	3.7	47.3		●	｜
Shimodate	下館	3.8	51.1		●	●	Mito Line Mooka Railway Mooka Line

Rolling stock

KiHa 350 DMU at Mitsukaidō, November 2007

• KiHa 0 series (ex-JNR KiHa 20)
• KiHa 100 series (driver-only-operation version of KiHa 300)
• KiHa 300 series (ex-JNR KiHa 30)
• KiHa 310 series (ex-JNR KiHa 16/17)
• KiHa 350 series (ex-JNR KiHa 35/36)
• KiHa 2100 series (introduced 1993)
• KiHa 2200 series (introduced 1997)
• KiHa 2300 series (introduced 2000)
• KiHa 2400 series (introduced 2004)
• KiHa 5000 series (introduced 2009)

History

The Jōsō Railway opened the line on 1 November 1913. In 1945, the company merged with the Tsukuba Railway to form the Jōsō Tsukuba Railway, which merged with the Kanto Railway in 1965.

Originally all single-track, 17.5 kilometres (11 mi) of the line was doubled between Toride and Mitsukaidō by 15 November 1984.^[1]

Former connecting lines

• Otago Station: The Kinegawa Gravel Company opened a 6 km freight-only line to Chikusei in 1923. The line was acquired by the Jōsō Railway in 1927, and passenger services commenced the same year. In 1957, passenger services ceased, and the line closed in 1964.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

• Hisakyu's Railway Guide (Go to "North Kanto" and "Kanto Railway").

1. Terada, Hirokazu (July 2002). データブック日本の私鉄 (Databook: Japan's Private Railways). Japan: Neko Publishing. ISBN 4-87366-874-3.