Although the Chūō Line designation only refers to the section between Tokyo and Takao stations, many trains continue on past Takao to Ōtsuki, with some trains operating through services to other lines. These include both limited express and various special rapid services. For details, see the Chūō Main Line article. In addition, Chūō Line trains do not stop at some stations between Ochanomizu and Nakano stations; for information on those services, see the Chūō-Sōbu Line article. The Chūō Line uses the two express tracks on the four-track section between Ochanomizu and Mitaka stations. Past Mitaka, trains use both tracks on the remaining double-track section. Since the express tracks do not have platforms at several stations in central Tokyo, even the slowest services of the Chūō Line skip such stations and are therefore called "Rapid". In addition to the basic type of "Rapid", there are some variations of the service types with fewer stops.
Rapid (快速)
Chūō Special Rapid (中央特快) Ōme Special Rapid (青梅特快)
Commuter Rapid (通勤快速)
Commuter Special Rapid (通勤特快)
;Musashino
Holiday Rapid (ホリデー快速)
A variety of Holiday Rapid services running on the Chūō Rapid Line operate during the weekends and holidays to serve passengers.
The Holiday Rapid Okutama, which runs through the Ōme Line, and Holiday Rapid Akigawa , which runs through the Itsukaichi Line, are two of them. They couple together, running through the Chūō Rapid Line, from Tokyo / Shinjuku to Tachikawa, through the Ōme Line to Haijima, and decouple. The former heads to Okutama, and the latter heads to Musashi-Itsukaichi.
The Holiday Rapid Mount Fuji and Holiday Rapid View Yamanashi are two holiday rapid services that, though nominally called 'Rapid', they stop at stations not less than the Special Rapids
Former Service
Local (各駅停車)
Station list
This list will include stations from Tokyo to Ōtsuki, where most train services on this line serve.
For information on local services, please see the Chūō-Sōbu Line article.
For information on the Chūō Line west of Otsuki, please see the Chūō Main Line article.
Information on the limited expresses Azusa, Kaiji, Narita Express, Fuji Excursion, Hachiōji, Ōme and seasonal trains can be found on their respective pages.
; Legend
● : All trains stop
｜: All trains pass
▲: Stop, eastbound only
▼: Stop. westbound only
◆: All trains pass on weekends and holidays
Rolling stock
;Rapid・Commuter Special Rapid・Chūō Special Rapid・Ōme Special Rapid ・Commuter Rapid
Most of the route of the Chūō Line was built by the Kōbu Railway and later acquired by the Japanese Government Railways in 1906. Operation of electric multiple unit trains on the Chūō Main Line began in 1904. By 1930, the EMU service had reached Tokyo to the east and Asakawa to the west. In 1933, two tracks were added to the existing double-tracked section between Ochanomizu and Iidamachi stations to complete the four-track line between Ochanomizu and Nakano. On these additional tracks, express trains, which skipped all stations except Yotsuya and Shinjuku, were introduced the same year. The express service was renamed "Rapid" service in March 1961. Initially, the operation of express/rapid services was limited to weekday peak periods only. Express service began on weekends on March 5, 1944; daytime non-peak operation began on November 9, 1959, but it was limited to weekdays only until April 28, 1966. All day rapid service trains are available since March 14, 2020, when early morning and late night rapid operations began. Manseibashi Station, located between Kanda and Ochanomizu, was closed in 1943. On the section east of Takao, only Nishi-Kokubunji Station and Nishi-Hachiōji Station were opened after the start of rapid services.
August 20, 1979: 201 series EMUs introduced
March 16, 1991: Ohayō Liner Takao/Ōme and Home Liner Takao/Ōme begin operation
April 10, 1993: Kokubunji Station added to Ōme Special Rapid stops; Commuter Special Rapid begins operation
December 1, 1997: Chūō Main Line-bound 115 series EMUs no longer service Shinjuku Station
JR East plans to introduce Green cars on Chuo Line and Ome Line services from fiscal 2021 or later. This will involve adding two bilevel Green cars to 10-car and 6-car E233 series EMU sets, forming 12-car and 8-car sets. Work will be involved in lengthening station platforms and depot facilities to handle the longer trains. In order to compensate the insufficient train sets for regular operations due to existing sets to be undergoing green car addition modifications, two 209-1000 series train sets originally used on the Jōban Line have been transferred to the Chūō Line. These sets commenced service from 16 March 2019.
High suicide rate
The Chuo Rapid Line is known for a high number of suicides, primarily due to the high speed at which some trains pass through stations on the line.
