Narita Line
Narita Line | |||
---|---|---|---|
Overview | |||
Owner | JR East | ||
Locale | Chiba Prefecture | ||
Service | |||
Type | Heavy rail | ||
History | |||
Opened | 1897 | ||
Technical | |||
Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
Electrification | 1,500 V DC overhead | ||
|
The Narita Line (成田線, Narita-sen) is the name for a combination of three railway lines located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
The main line connects Sakura Station and Matsugishi Station (as an alternate route to the Sōbu Main Line), and is sometimes referred to as the Samatsu Line (佐松線, Samatsu-sen). A branch line from Abiko Station to Narita Station is often called the Abiko Line (我孫子線, Abiko-sen), and a second branch, known as the Airport Line (空港線, Kūkō-sen) connects Narita to Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station. The first two lines are owned and operated by JR East; the Airport Line is owned by a separate company, Narita Airport Rapid Railway, which allows JR East and Keisei Railway to use the line for passenger services.
Stations
Main line
Name | Japanese | Distance (km) | Stops | Transfers | Location | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rapid (including Airport Narita) |
Commuter Rapid (through service to Sobu Main Line) |
Town/city | Prefecture | ||||
Chiba | 佐倉 | 0.0 | (from/to Tokyo) |
(from/to Tokyo) |
Sōbu Main Line (through service from Chiba, Tokyo, and Yokosuka Line (Limited Express and Rapid only) | Sakura | Chiba |
Shisui | 酒々井 | 6.4 | Shisui | ||||
Narita | 成田 | 13.1 | Keisei Main Line, Keisei Higashi-Narita Line (Keisei Narita Station) | Narita | |||
Kuzumi | 久住 | 20.0 | (Airport Narita runs through from/to Narita Airport via Airport branch line) | (terminus) | |||
Namegawa | 滑河 | 25.5 | |||||
Shimōsa-Kōzaki | 下総神崎 | 31.6 | Kozaki | ||||
Ōto | 大戸 | 36.1 | Katori | ||||
Sawara | 佐原 | 40.0 | Kashima Line | ||||
Katori | 香取 | 43.6 | Kashima Line | ||||
Suigo | 水郷 | 47.5 | |||||
Omigawa | 小見川 | 52.7 | |||||
Sasagawa | 笹川 | 57.7 | Tonosho | ||||
Shimōsa-Tachibana | 下総橘 | 62.9 | |||||
Shimōsa-Toyosato | 下総豊里 | 66.2 | Chōshi | ||||
Shiishiba | 椎柴 | 71.0 | |||||
Matsugishi | 松岸 | 75.4 | Sōbu Main Line | ||||
Chōshi | 銚子 | 78.6 | Chōshi Electric Railway Line |
Abiko branch line
Name | Japanese | Distance (km) |
Transfers | Location | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Town/city | Prefecture | ||||
Chiba | 我孫子 | 0.0 | Jōban Line (through service to Ueno Station, as rapid) |
Abiko | Chiba |
Higashi-Abiko | 東我孫子 | 3.4 | |||
Kohoku | 湖北 | 6.3 | |||
Chiba | 新木 | 8.9 | |||
Fusa | 布佐 | 12.1 | |||
Kioroshi | 木下 | 14.0 | Inzai | ||
Chiba | 小林 | 18.3 | |||
Ajiki | 安食 | 23.2 | Sakae | ||
Shimōsa-Manzaki | 下総松崎 | 27.3 | Narita | ||
Narita | 成田 | 32.9 | Narita Line (Main line, Airport branch line) Keisei Lines (Keisei-Narita, as above) |
Airport branch line
Name | Japanese | Distance (km) |
Rapid (Airport Narita) |
Transfers | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Narita | 成田 | 0.0 | Narita Line (Main Line, Abiko branch line) Keisei Lines (Keisei-Narita, as above) |
Narita, Chiba | |
Narita Airport Terminal 2·3 | 空港第2ビル | 9.8 | Keisei Main Line Narita Sky Access Line | ||
Narita Airport Terminal 1 | 成田空港 | 10.8 | Keisei Main Line Narita Sky Access Line |
Services
Main line and Airport branch line
Narita Express trains travel on the Narita Line but stop only at Narita Airport Terminal 2·3 and Narita Airport Terminal 1 stations, except during morning and evening rush hours when some trains stop at Narita Station.
Ayame limited express services run between Tokyo and Chōshi, or Kashima-Jingū on the Kashima Line. They stop at Sakura, Narita, Namegawa, Sawara, and all stations past Sawara as local trains.
Rapid commuter trains run between Tokyo and Narita Airport Terminal 1, stopping at all stations between Tsuga and Narita Airport Terminal 1.
Abiko branch line
Rapid service trains on the Abiko branch line stop at all stations.
Rolling stock
- 209-2000/2100 series EMUs (local services)
- 211-3000 series EMUs (local services since 21 October 2006)[1]
- E231 series EMUs (Abiko branch line services)
- E217 series EMUs (rapid services)
- E257-500 series (Ayame limited express services)
- E259 series (Narita Express limited express services)
-
209-2000 series EMU, December 2010
-
211-3000 series EMU, June 2008
-
E231 series EMU, January 2003
-
E217 series EMU on an Airport Narita service, August 2009
-
E257-500 series EMU, November 2006
-
E259 series EMU, May 2009
Past
- 103 series EMUs (Abiko branch line services until March 2006)
- 113 series EMUs (until September 2011)
- 183 series EMUs (Ayame limited express services)
- 253 series EMUs (Narita Express limited express services until June 2010)
-
103 series EMU, January 2003
-
113 series EMU, May 2010
-
183 series EMU on an Ayame service, November 2005
-
253 series EMU on a Narita Express service, March 2006
History
The Sakura - Narita - Namegawa section of the line was opened on 19 January 1897, by Sobu Railway Co., extended to Sawara the following year. The Narita - Abiko branch opened in 1901. The company was nationalised in 1920, and the Sawara - Matsugishi section opened between 1931 and 1933.[citation needed]
The Sakura - Narita section was electrified (at 1,500 V DC overhead) in 1968, with automatic signalling commissioned at the same time.[citation needed] CTC signalling was commissioned between Narita and Katori in 1970,[citation needed] and the Abiko branch was electrified from 1 October 1973.[2] The Natira - Matsugishi section was electrified in 1974, and freight services ceased between 1984 and 1986.
The Sakura - Narita section was duplicated in 1986, and the Airport branch opened in 1991 as an electrified, CTC-signalled line.
Former connecting lines
- Narita station -
The Narita Electric Railway Co. operated a 5km 1372mm gauge line electrified at 600 VDC from Fudoson (adjacent to the Narita temple) to Sogo between 1910 and 1944 that connected at this station.
In 1911 the Narita Railway Co. opened a 21km, 600mm (~1'11.5") gauge line to Tako. The line closed in 1918. In 1917 the company opened a 14km, 600mm gauge line from Sanrizuka (9km from Narita) to Yachimata on the Sobu Main Line. Between 1926 and 1928 the Narita Railway Co. reopened the Tako line, converted it to 1067mm gauge, and extended it 9km to Youkaichiba, also on the Sobu Main Line. The line to Yachimata was also converted to 1067mm gauge in 1928, and closed in 1940. The Tako line closed in 1944.
Accidents
In the early hours of 10 March 2011, a freight train carrying ethylene oxide derailed and overturned on the Narita Line near Namegawa Station.[3]
References
This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia
- ^ "10/21, 房総211系, 営業運転開始". Japan Railfan Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 47, no. 549. Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. January 2007. p. 179.
{{cite magazine}}
: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
ignored (|trans-title=
suggested) (help) - ^ Segawa, Yutaka (October 1973). 成田線・東金線ならびに関西本線の電化開業について. The Railway Pictorial (in Japanese) (284). Japan: Denkisha Kenkyūkai: 11–13.
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: Unknown parameter|trans_title=
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suggested) (help) - ^ 貨物列車:JR成田線滑河駅近くで横転 けが人いない模様. Mainichi.jp (in Japanese). Japan: The Mainichi Newspapers. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
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