Ryōmō Line

Ryōmō Line
A JR East 115 series EMU at Ōhirashita in March 2016
Overview
Locale	Gunma, Tochigi prefectures
Termini	Oyama Shin-Maebashi
Stations	18
Operation
Opened	1889
Operator(s)	JR East
Technical
Line length	84.4 km (52.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed	95 km/h (60 mph)
Route map

The Ryōmō Line (両毛線 Ryōmō-sen) is a Japanese railway line connecting Oyama in Tochigi Prefecture with Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture. 84.4 km (52.4 mi) long, the line is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The name refers to the fact that Gunma and Tochigi prefectures were once part of an ancient province called Keno (毛野), which was later split into Kōzuke (Gunma) and Shimotsuke (Tochigi). This line connects both halves of the old province.

Services

Most Ryōmō Line services continue beyond Shin-Maebashi and terminate at Takasaki on the Joetsu Line. Local trains run about once in an hour during the day between Oyama and Maebashi and twice or three times as frequently between Maebashi and Takasaki. Some rapid services from Ueno and the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line travel through onto the Ryōmō Line, but they stop at every station.

Akagi limited express services travel to Maebashi from Ueno (four times daily to Maebashi, two or three times daily to Ueno) or Shinjuku (one round trip daily). On the weekdays some Akagi services are branded Swallow Akagi.

Station list

Line	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers	Location
			Between stations	Total
Ryōmō Line	Oyama	小山		0.0	Tōhoku Shinkansen, Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line), Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Mito Line	Oyama	Tochigi
	Omoigawa	思川	5.4	5.4
	Tochigi	栃木	5.4	10.8	Tobu Nikko Line, Tobu Utsunomiya Line[* 1]	Tochigi
	Ōhirashita	大平下	4.4	15.2
	Iwafune	岩舟	4.1	19.3
	Sano	佐野	7.3	26.6	Tōbu Sano Line	Sano
	Tomita	富田	4.5	31.1		Ashikaga
	Ashikaga	足利	7.1	38.2	Tōbu Isesaki Line (Ashikagashi)
	Yamamae	山前	4.5	42.7
	Omata	小俣	4.6	47.3
	Kiryū	桐生	5.6	52.9	Watarase Keikoku Line Jōmō Line (Nishi-Kiryū)	Kiryū	Gunma
	Iwajuku	岩宿	2.3	56.9		Midori
	Kunisada	国定	6.4	63.3		Isesaki
	Isesaki	伊勢崎	5.8	69.1	Tobu Isesaki Line
	Komagata	駒形	5.8	74.9		Maebashi
	Maebashi-Ōshima	前橋大島	3.2	78.1
	Maebashi	前橋	3.8	81.9	Jōmō Line (Chūō-Maebashi)
	Shin-Maebashi	新前橋	2.5	84.4	Joetsu Line (for Shibukawa), Agatsuma Line[* 2]
Jōetsu Line
	Ino	井野	3.3	87.7		Takasaki
	Takasakitonyamachi	高崎問屋町	1.2	88.9
	Takasaki	高崎	2.8	91.7	Joetsu Shinkansen, Hokuriku Shinkansen, Takasaki Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Shinetsu Main Line, Hachiko Line[* 3] Jōshin Dentetsu Jōshin Line

1. The official start of the Tobu Utsunomiya Line is at Shin-Tochigi, but all trains travel through on the Tōbu Nikkō Line to Tochigi.
2. The official start of the Agatsuma Line is at Shibukawa, but all trains travel through on the Joetsu Line to Takasaki.
3. The official start of the Hachiko Line is at Kuragano, but all trains travel through on the Takasaki Line to Takasaki.

Rolling stock

The following train types are used on the Ryōmō Line.

• 107 series
• 115 series (now only 115-1000 series)
• 185 series (Akagi limited express services)
• 211 series
• 651 series (Akagi limited express services)
• E231 series
• E233-3000 series EMUs (since 1 September 2012)^[1]

History

The Oyama to Kiryu section was opened in 1888 by the Ryomo Railway, and extended to Shin-Maebashi the following year. The company merged with the Nippon Railway in 1897, and that company was nationalised in 1906.

References

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

1. JR東日本　高崎線・両毛線　E233系3000番代営業運転開始 [JR East E233-3000 series enter revenue service on Takasaki and Ryomo Lines]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine. Vol. 41 no. 343 (Japan: Kōtsū Shimbun). November 2012. p. 78.

External links

• Stations of the Ryōmō Line (JR East) (Japanese)