Jōsō Line

The Jōsō Line (常総線, Jōsō-sen) is a railway line in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kantō Railway. It is a non-electrified line which connects Toride to Shimodate.^[1]

Jōsō Line
A Kantō Railway KiHa 2300 series two-car DMU in July 2008
Overview
Native name	常総線
Status	In operation
Owner	Kantō Railway
Locale	Ibaraki Prefecture
Termini	Toride Shimodate
Stations	25
Service
Operator(s)	Kantō Railway
Rolling stock	KiHa 2300 series DMU, KiHa 2100 series DMU, KiHa 0 series DMU, KiHa 310 series DMU, KiHa 5020 series DMU, KiHa 5010 series DMU, KiHa 5000 series DMU, KiHa 2400 series DMU, KiHa 2200 series DMU, DD502 series steam train
History
Opened	1 November 1913 (1913-11-01)
Technical
Line length	51.1 km (31.8 mi)
Number of tracks	Single and double
Character	Fairly urban with some rural areas
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Minimum radius	290 m
Electrification	None
Operating speed	90 km/h (56 mph)

A Jōsō Line train, 2016

The Jōsō Line connects with the Tsukuba Express line, which opened in 2005, at Moriya Station, the only interchange other than at its two termini.

In fiscal 1999, the Jōsō Line carried an annual total of 14.16 million passengers (38,000 per day), making it the busiest non-electrified private line in Japan.^[1]

Services

Almost all services on the Line are Local trains, stopping at every station. Approximately 5 services in each direction each day operate as Rapid trains, only stopping at major stations.^[2][3]

Travel from Toride to stations north of Mitsukaido generally requires a change of train at Mitsukaido, though connection times are short.

Toride to Mitsukaido

Services operate approximately every 10-15 minutes during morning & evening peak hours (every 15 minutes on weekends & holidays) and every 20 minutes at other times. Travel time is approximately 30 minutes.^[2][3]

Mitsukaido to Shimodate

Services operate approximately every 30-60 minutes, with some extra services between Mitsukaido and Shimotsuma. Travel time is approximately 50-60 minutes.^[2][3]

Stations

Name	Japanese	Between stations (km)	Distance (km)	Track	Rapid	Transfers	Location
Toride	取手	-	0.0	Double	●	Jōban Line	Toride	Ibaraki
Nishi-Toride	西取手	1.6	1.6		●
Terahara	寺原	0.5	2.1		●
Shin-Toride	新取手	1.3	3.4		●
Yumemino	ゆめみ野	0.8	4.2		●
Inatoi	稲戸井	1.2	5.4		●
Togashira	戸頭	0.9	6.3		●
Minami-Moriya	南守谷	1.1	7.4		●		Moriya
Moriya	守谷	2.2	9.6		●	Tsukuba Express
Shin-Moriya	新守谷	1.8	11.4		｜
Kokinu	小絹	1.6	13.0		｜		Tsukubamirai
Mitsukaidō	水海道	4.5	17.5		●		Jōsō
				Single
Kita-Mitsukaidō	北水海道	1.8	19.3		｜
Nakatsuma	中妻	1.6	20.9		｜
Mitsuma	三妻	3.0	23.9		｜
Minami-Ishige	南石下	3.3	27.2		｜
Ishige	石下	1.6	28.8		●
Tamamura	玉村	2.2	31.0		｜
Sōdō	宗道	2.0	33.0		｜		Shimotsuma
Shimotsuma	下妻	3.1	36.1		●
Daihō	大宝	2.6	38.7		｜
Tobanoe	騰波ノ江	2.3	41.0		｜
Kurogo	黒子	2.6	43.6		｜		Chikusei
Ōtagō	大田郷	3.7	47.3		｜
Shimodate	下館	3.8	51.1		●	Mito Line Mooka Railway Mooka Line

Rolling stock

• KiHa 0 series (ex-JNR KiHa 20)
• KiHa 100 series (driver-only-operation version of KiHa 300)
• KiHa 300 series (ex-JNR KiHa 30)
• KiHa 310 series (ex-JNR KiHa 16/17)
• KiHa 350 series (ex-JNR KiHa 30/35/36) (1987–2012)
• KiHa 2100 series (introduced 1993)
• KiHa 2200 series (introduced 1997)
• KiHa 2300 series (introduced 2000)
• KiHa 2400 series (introduced 2004)
• KiHa 5000 series (introduced 2009)
• KiHa 5010 series (from February 2017)^[4]

• 
  A KiHa 310 series DMU in February 2017
• 
  A KiHa 350 series DMU in November 2007
• 
  KiHa 5010 series DMU car 5012 in March 2017

History

The Jōsō Railway opened the line on 1 November 1913. In 1945, the company merged with the Tsukuba Railway to form the Jōsō Tsukuba Railway, which merged with the Kanto Railway in 1965.^{[citation needed]}

Originally all single-track, 17.5 kilometres (11 mi) of the line was doubled between Toride and Mitsukaidō by 15 November 1984.^[1] However, due to the limitations brought by the Kakioka Magnetic Observatory located in Ishioka, this line is still not electrified.

The KiHa 310 vehicles are scheduled for withdrawal in July 2023.^[5]