Tobu Urban Park Line


The Tobu Urban Park Line, formally known as the Tobu Noda Line, is a long railway line in Saitama and Chiba Prefectures operated by the Japanese private railway company Tobu Railway. It connects the satellite cities of Tokyo, such as Saitama, Kasukabe, Noda, Nagareyama, Matsudo, Kamagaya, Kashiwa, and Funabashi.

Description

All trains are operated as all-stations "Local" services. Most trains, excluding a few from/to train depots, originate or terminate at Kashiwa Station which has a switchback. During the daytime, six trains run per hour. All trains stop at all stations.
From 26 March 2016, limited-stop "Express" services were introduced on the line. During the daytime off-peak, these run at 30-minute intervals, stopping only at between and, and all-stations between Kasukabe and. The journey time between Omiya and Kasukabe is reduced by 6 minutes compared with all-stations "Local" services.

Stations

Abbreviations:
Trains are formed of 6-car 8000 series EMUs, introduced from 1997. New 6-car 60000 series EMUs were introduced on the line from 15 June 2013, replacing the older 8000 series sets. Eight sets are scheduled to be delivered by the end of fiscal 2013.
From 3 March 2012, test running using 10030 series EMUs commenced on the line, with the first reliveried set entering revenue service from 20 April 2013.
From 21 April 2017, new Tobu 500 series three-car EMUs operate on Urban Park Liner limited express services on the line. Services operate between in Tokyo and and on the Tobu Urban Park Line, with trains dividing and joining at. The 500 series trains are also be used on Urban Park Liner services operating between Omiya and on the Tobu Urban Park Line.

Former rolling stock

The line first opened as the Chiba Prefectural Railway Noda Line on 9 May 1911, from Kashiwa to Nodamachi, a distance of 14.7 kilometres using steam haulage. In 1923, the line was privatized and the operator was named Hokusō Railway, and also opened its own line from Funabashi Station to Kashiwa Station, a distance of 19.6 km.
The company gradually extended the line to Ōmiya, and changed its name in 1929 to Sōbu Railway. The line was completed in 1930 with the completion of the bridge over the Edo River.
On 1 March 1944, the company merged with the Tobu Railway, and the line became the Tobu Noda Line. 6-car trains were introduced from November 1972.
Electrification was commenced in 1929 between Kasukabe and Ōmiya, and while the section from Kashiwa to Funabashi was still unelectrified when the operation of the line was taken over by Tobu in 1944, the remaining section was electrified by 1 March 1947.
The Omiya to Kasukabe section was double-tracked between 1957 and 2011, the Nodashi to Umesato section in 2011, the Unga to Sakasai section between 1960 and 1991, and the Mutsumi to Funabashi section between 1964 and 1999.
Six-car 8000 series EMUs were phased in from 1997, displaced by new 30000 series EMUs introduced on the Tobu Isesaki Line. The last remaining 5070 series EMUs were withdrawn from the start of the revised timetable on 19 October 2004, and the line's maximum speed was raised from 90 km/h to 100 km/h at the same time.
From 17 March 2012, station numbering was introduced on all Tobu lines, with Noda Line stations receiving numbers prefixed with the letters "TD".
From 1 April 2014, the line was rebranded the Tobu Urban Park Line.