Mito Line

The Mito Line (水戸線, Mito-sen) is a railway line connecting Oyama Station in Tochigi Prefecture and Tomobe Station in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The line is 50.2 km (31.2 mi) long and is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).

Mito Line
An E501 series EMU between Kasama and Shishido stations in March 2014
Overview
Native name	水戸線
Status	Operational
Locale	Tochigi, Ibaraki prefectures
Termini	Oyama Tomobe
Stations	16
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	JR East
Rolling stock	E501 series/E531 series EMUs
History
Opened	16 January 1889; 136 years ago (16 January 1889)
Technical
Line length	50.2 km (31.2 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	20 kV, 50 Hz AC (overhead catenary)
Route map Legend Oyama and (Tōhoku / Utsunomiya, Ryōmō) Crossings' details Kishapoppo-dori Prefectural Road 33 Nishinire River National Route 4 Otabayashi Crossings' details 2x Prefectural Road 17 Yūki 3x Higashi-Yūki Crossings' details Ta River Kinugawa River 2x Kawashima Crossings' details Prefectural Road 304 2x Tamado Crossings' details 3x National Route 50 National Route 294 Shimodate Mooka Railway Mooka Line Jōsō Line Crossings' details Gogyo River Prefectural Road 7 Prefectural Road 14 2x Kokai River Kyowakosen Bridge 2x 4x Niihari Crossings' details 2x Kannon River 3x Yamato Crossings' details 2x Sakura River 3x Kita-Kantō Expressway Prefectural Road 41 2x Iwase Crossings' details 2x 2x 3x Haguro Crossings' details 3x Prefectural Road 64 Fukuhara Crossings' details Inada River Inada River 2x Inada Crossings' details 2x Fruits Line National Route 355 Kasama Crossings' details Prefectural Road 42 National Route 355 5x National Route 355 Shishido 3x Tomobe (Jōban Line) ■ Ueno–Tokyo Line   Jōban Line This diagram: view talk edit

Joban Line E501 series and E531 series ten car sets continue on to Iwaki, Fukushima while the 5 car sets go to Oyama. They separate at Tomobe.

Services are often run as one-man trains.

Station list

• All trains stop at every station.^[1]
• Trains can pass one another at stations marked "◇" and "∨" and cannot pass at stations marked "｜".

Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Transfers		Location
		Between stations	Total
Oyama	小山	-	0.0	Tōhoku Shinkansen JU Tōhoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) JS Shonan-Shinjuku Line ■ Ryomo Line	∨	Oyama	Tochigi
Otabayashi	小田林	4.9	4.9		｜	Yūki	Ibaraki
Yūki	結城	1.7	6.6		◇
Higashi-Yūki	東結城	1.7	8.3		｜
Kawashima	川島	2.1	10.4		◇	Chikusei
Tamado	玉戸	2.1	12.5		｜
Shimodate	下館	3.7	16.2	Mooka Railway Mooka Line Jōsō Line	◇
Niihari	新治	6.1	22.3		◇
Yamato	大和	3.6	25.9		｜	Sakuragawa
Iwase	岩瀬	3.7	29.6		◇
Haguro	羽黒	3.2	32.8		◇
Fukuhara	福原	4.2	37.0		◇	Kasama
Inada	稲田	3.1	40.1		◇
Kasama	笠間	3.2	43.3		◇
Shishido	宍戸	5.2	48.5		｜
Tomobe	友部	1.7	50.2	Jōban Line (some through services for Mito)	◇

Rolling stock

• E501 series five-car EMUs
• E531 series five-car EMUs

• 
  A 5-car E501 series EMU on the Mito Line in December 2008
• 
  A 5-car E531 series EMU on the Mito Line in March 2015

Former rolling stock

• 415 series four-car EMUs (until March 2016)^[2]

• 
  A 4-car 415-1500 series EMU on the Mito Line in March 2016

History

The Mito Railway Co. opened the line on 16 January 1889^[3] operating between Oyama and Mito Stations. On 1 March 1892, the Mito Railway Co. merged with the Nippon Railway.

On 1 July 1895, the Joban Line was opened by the Nippon Railway, joining the Mito Line at Tomobe Station. The company was nationalised in 1906.^{[citation needed]}

On 12 October 1909, the Japanese Government Railways renamed the Tomobe to Mito section as part of the Joban Line, resulting in the current "Mito Line" being the section between Oyama and Tomobe.^{[citation needed]}

The line was completely electrified on 1 February 1967.^{[citation needed]}

Former connecting lines

The former handcar line to Kasama Inari shrine

Kasama Station: A 1.4 km 610 mm (2 ft) gauge handcar line to the Kasama Inari shrine operated between 1915 and 1930.^{[citation needed]}