Maebashi Station (前橋駅) 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.

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 from the starting point of the line at Oyama Station, and 9.8 km from Takasaki Station. The preceding station of Maebashi-Ōshima is 5.8 km away and the following station of Shin-Maebashi is 3.2 km 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.

Platforms

Source:

Station facilities

History

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. The station started accepting Suica cards on November 18, 2001. In 2020, the station was renovated under the "Ecoste" model. The goal was to reduce emissions by 69 tons (roughly 24% from 2016). 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). The table below shows passenger statistics since the year 2000:

Surrounding area

North exit

South Exit

Bus Terminal

North Exit Bus Rotary

South Exit Bus Rotary (Highway Busses)