Maebashi Station

Maebashi Station (前橋駅, Maebashi-eki) is a passenger railway station in the city of Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is one of two main railway stations of central Maebashi; the other is Chūō Maebashi Station of the private railway operator Jōmō Electric Railway. In 2020, the station was renovated into an "Ecoste" station, a station with a focus on environmental conservation.^[1]

Maebashi Station 前橋駅
Maebashi Station, South exit, January 2007
General information
Location	2 Omotechō, Maebashi-shi, Gunma-ken 371-0024 Japan
Coordinates	36.3837°N 139.0735°E / 36.3837; 139.0735
Operated by	JR East
Line(s)	Ryōmō Line
Distance	81.9 kilometres (50.9 mi) from Oyama
Platforms	2 island platforms
Other information
Status	Staffed (Midori no Madoguchi)
Website	Official website
History
Opened	20 November 1889; 135 years ago (1889-11-20)
Passengers
FY2021	7,901 daily
Services
Preceding station JR East Following station Shin-Maebashi towards Tokyo Takasaki Line Local Ryōmō Line through-service Terminus Shin-Maebashi towards Odawara Shōnan–Shinjuku Line Rapid Shin-Maebashi towards Takasaki Ryōmō Line Maebashi-Ōshima towards Oyama
Location Maebashi Station Location within Gunma Prefecture Show map of Gunma Prefecture Maebashi Station Maebashi Station (Japan) Show map of Japan

Synopsis

Maebashi Station is the main station for the city of Maebashi, which is the prefectural capital city of Gunma Prefecture. Even though it is the main station of the capital city of Gunma, its lack of important train lines (Such as Shinkansen, Takasaki Line, Joetsu Line) make Takasaki Station the most important station in Gunma Prefecture. In addition, despite being the main station of Maebashi, Chūō Maebashi Station is closer to the city center.

Lines

Maebashi Station is served by the Ryōmō Line, and is located 81.9 km (50.9 mi) from the starting point of the line at Oyama Station, and 9.8 km (6.1 mi) from Takasaki Station. The preceding station of Maebashi-Ōshima is 5.8 km (3.6 mi) away and the following station of Shin-Maebashi is 3.2 km (2.0 mi) away. Some Shōnan Shinjuku Line and the Ueno-Tokyo Line services also originate at this station.

Station layout

The station consists of two elevated island platforms serving three tracks, with the station building underneath. The station has coin lockers and a Midori no Madoguchi ticket office. It has many accessibility features such as escalators, elevators, mobility scooter access, wheelchair-accessible bathrooms, and a Braille fare table.^[2]

• 
  Ticket Gate July 2021
• 
  Platforms 1 and 2 July 2021
• 
  Platform 3 July 2021

Platforms

Source:^[3]

1 2	■ Ryōmō Line	for Isesaki, Kiryū, and Oyama
	JS Shōnan-Shinjuku Line	for Takasaki and Shinjuku
	JU Takasaki Line via (Ueno-Tokyo Line)	for Takasaki and Tokyo
3	■ Ryōmō Line	for Takasaki

Station facilities

• VIEW ALTTE (JR East ATM)
• NewDays [ja] Maebashi
• Bakery
• E'site Maebashi
  • McDonald's JR Maebashi Station
  • VentoMaebashi
  • Maebashi Station Tourist Information Center
  • Maebashi Station Bus Information Center
  • Pizzeria Pesca JR Maebashi Station South Exit
  • Gunma Bank [ja], Towa Bank [ja] ATM corner

History

Maebashi Station in the early 20th century

Maebashi Station was opened by Ryōmō Railway on November 20, 1889. From August 20, 1884, Nippon Railway operated another Maebashi Station on the other side of the Tone River, but this station was closed on December 26, 1889, when a bridge across the river was completed and Nippon Railway trains began sharing the Ryōmō Railway station. Ryōmō Railway was merged into Nippon Railway on January 1, 1897, and Nippon Railway was nationalized on November 1, 1906.^[4]

The station started accepting Suica cards on November 18, 2001.^[5]

In 2020, the station was renovated under the "Ecoste" model. The goal was to reduce CO₂ emissions by 69 tons (roughly 24% from 2016).^[1]

In the past, Maebashi was one of the origin stations for the Akagi limited express service to Tokyo's Ueno or Shinjuku stations. However, since 13 March 2021, all Akagi services stop at Takasaki instead of continuing on to Maebashi.

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2021, the station was used by an average of 7,901 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).^[6]

The table below shows passenger statistics since the year 2000:

Passenger statistics
Year	Average Daily Boarding Passengers	Year	Average Daily Boarding Passengers	Year	Average Daily Boarding Passengers
2000	10,593[7]	2010	9,422[8]	2020	7,304[9]
2001	10,334[10]	2011	9,294[11]	2021	7,901[6]
2002	10,011[12]	2012	9,693[13]
2003	9,961[14]	2013	10,107[15]
2004	9,742[16]	2014	10,035[17]
2005	9,571[18]	2015	10,188[19]
2006	9,511[20]	2016	10,353[21]
2007	9,607[22]	2017	10,490[23]
2008	9,853[24]	2018	10,682[25]
2009	9,567[26]	2019	10,511[27]

Surrounding area

North exit

• Taxi stand
• Aquel Maebashi
• ORIX car rental
• Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Maebashi Branch
• Towa Bank Head Office Sales Department
• Sumitomo Mitsui Bank Maebashi Branch
• Mizuho Bank Maebashi Branch
• Resona Bank Maebashi Branch
• Ashikaga bank Maebashi Branch
• Tochigi Bank Maebashi Branch
• Yokohama Bank Maebashi Branch
• Taiko Bank Maebashi Branch
• Mizuho Trust & Banking Maebashi Branch
• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Maebashi Branch
• Maebashi Omotemachi Post Office
• Maebashi Police Station Ekimae Koban
• La Fontaine (Wedding Hall)
• Daishi Hokuetsu Bank Maebashi Higashi Branch

South Exit

• Taxi stand
• Toyoko Inn Maebashi Ekimae
• Chuo Sogo Gakuin Vocational Education Center
• Maebashi Civic Cultural Center
• Maebashi Bunka Fashion College
• TEPCO Maebashi branch office
• Gunma Bank Maebashi Station South Branch
• Maebashi Minamimachi Post Office
• Gunma Red Cross Blood Center Blood Donation Room Maebashi Heartland (Daido Seimei Building 1F)
• Gunma Nikken Technical College
• Keyaki Walk Maebashi

Bus Terminal

North Exit Bus Rotary

Bus stand	Direction	Operating Companies	Destination
1	Towards Gunma Prefectural Office and Maebashi Park	Kanetsu Transportation	Maebashi Park, Shikishima Park Bus Terminal
		Nippon Chuo Bus	Maebashi Park, Shikishima Park Bus Terminal
		Nagai Transport	Maebashi Park
2	Towards Shibukawa and Gundai Hospital	Kanetsu Transportation	Shibukawa Station, Pediatric Medical Center, Gunma University Aramaki Campus, Gundai Hospital
3	Towards Shikishima park, Gumma-Sōja Station and Central Maebashi	Kanetsu Transportation	Kawaramachi, Gunma Sport Complex Center
		Nippon Chuo Bus	Gumma-Sōja Station, Chūō-Maebashi Station
		Mai Bus	Shin-Maebashi Station
4	Towards Isesaki, Tamamura, southern and eastern Maebashi	Kanetsu Transportation	Keyaki Walk
		Nippon Chuo Bus	Ishiseki Town, Jonan Sports Park, Komagata Statio North exit, Keyaki Walk
		Gunma-bus	Red Cross Hospital
		Nagai Transport	Tamamura Town Hall, Gokan Town Entrance
5	Towards Takasaki, Yoshioka and western Maebashi	Kanetsu Transportation	Gunma Onsen, Gunma Prefectural Museum of Literature
		Gunma Chuo Bus	Takasaki Station West Exit
		Nippon Chuo Bus	Momoisen, Shintou Onsen
		Gunma-bus	Misato, Aeon Mall Takasaki
		Joshin Kanko Bus	Takasaki Station West Exit
6	Towards Shin-Maebashi Station, Mount Akagi and northern Maebashi	Kanetsu Transportation	Fujimi Onsen, Akagi National Youth Exchange House, Mt. Akagi Visitor Center
		Gunma Chuo Bus	Shin-Maebashi West Exit
		Nippon Chuo Bus	Fujimi Onsen, Fujimi Community Center
		Nagai Transport	Mine Park, Osakako, Ogikubo Park

South Exit Bus Rotary (Highway Busses)

Highway Bus at Maebashi Station

Operating Companies	Destination
Kanetsu Transportation / Chiba Kōtsū	Narita Airport
Airport Transport Service / Nippon Chuo Bus	Haneda Airport
Nippon Chuo Bus	Osaka Toyama Station/Kanazawa Station Sendai Station Shinjuku Station/Akihabara Station/Tokyo Station
Kanetsu Transportation / FUJIKYU BUS	Fuji-Q Highland

See also

• List of railway stations in Japan