The is a railway line in Japan operated by the
Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It connects
Kōzu Station in
Odawara to
Numazu via
Gotemba.
The ''
Mt. Fuji'' limited express service runs between
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
's
Shinjuku Station
is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busies ...
and Gotemba via
Matsuda.
Station list
Rolling stock
Local services
*
211 series
The is a suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in 1985 by the Japanese National Railways (JNR). It is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). It was formerly operat ...
*
313 series
Limited express ''Mt. Fuji'' (formerly named ''Asagiri'') services
*
Odakyu 60000 series MSE (from March 2012)
Past
*
113 series
The is a Japanese suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in 1963 by Japanese National Railways (JNR), currently operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) and Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and formerly also op ...
*
Odakyu 3000 series SE (until 1991)
*
115 series
The is a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type developed by Japanese National Railways (JNR) and now operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West), and the Shinano Railway.
Operations
JR East
JR East operated their last 115 series tr ...
(until 2007)
*
E231 series (until March 2012)
*
371 series
The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in Japan between 1991 and 2014. Originally used on '' Asagiri'' limited express services in conjunction with Odakyu Electric Railway, from 2012 ...
(''Asagiri'' services, until March 2012)
*
Odakyu 20000 series RSE (''Asagiri'' services, until March 2012)
History
The present-day Gotemba Line was built as part of the original route of the
Tōkaidō Main Line
The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parall ...
connecting
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
with
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
. The portion between Kōzu and Numazu was opened on February 1, 1889, although it was not officially named the "Tokaido Line" until 1896. Portions were double tracked from 1891 and the double tracking was completed by 1901.
The line took an indirect route between Kōzu and Numazu in order to avoid the Hakone Mountains, which affected the potential journey time between Tokyo and Osaka. A more direct route had been planned as early as 1909, but technical difficulties delayed the completion of the
Tanna Tunnel until December 1, 1934. With the opening of the tunnel, the route of the Tōkaidō Main Line became via
Atami Station, leaving the section between Kōzu Station and Numazu Station as a
spur line
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industr ...
renamed as the Gotemba Line.
In 1943, due to the reduced traffic on the Gotemba line, and the urgent requirement for steel in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the line was returned to a single track railway.
Diesel multiple units
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are als ...
replaced
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
hauled passenger trains in 1955, and a cooperative agreement was reached with the privately owned
Odakyu Electric Railway
, commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its '' Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone.
The Odakyu Electric Railway Compa ...
to operate
express train
An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than local trains that stop at most or all of the stations along ...
s directly from
Shinjuku Station
is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busies ...
in Tokyo in the same year. The line was
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
from 1968, and regularly scheduled freight services were discontinued at most stations by 1982.
A new
Centralized traffic control
Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system con ...
system was installed in December 1989, with a programmed route control system implemented from March 1990. Installation for the
TOICA automated
turnstile
A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...
system was completed at all stations in 2010.
Former connecting lines
* Gotemba station - A 19 km 762mm gauge horse tramway opened to Kawaguchiko in 1898, closed in 1905 but was reopened in 1909. It connected to the
Tsuru horse tramway, providing a connection to Otsuki station on the
Chuo Main Line until 1919, when it was truncated by 9 km, completely closing 10 years later.
* Shimo-Togari station - The
Izu Railway Co. opened a line to Shuzenji in 1898, electrifying the line at 1500V DC in 1918. In 1934 following the opening of the
Tanna Tunnel and associated realignment, the line was truncated to Mishima-Hirokoji station on the
Tokaido Main Line.
References
*
{{Central Japan Railway Company Lines
Lines of Central Japan Railway Company
Railway lines in Kanagawa Prefecture
Rail transport in Shizuoka Prefecture
1067 mm gauge railways in Japan
Railway lines opened in 1889