The Sōbu Line (Rapid) is a railway service on the Sōbu Main Line in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Tokyo Station in Chūō, Tokyo with Chiba Station in Chūō-ku, Chiba via the cities of Ichikawa, Funabashi, and Narashino.

Services

Rapid services on the Sōbu Line are primarily operated between Tokyo and Chiba, although there are many through services onto the Yokosuka Line as well as some through services operated from the Yokosuka Line via Tokyo terminating at Tsudanuma. During weekday morning peak periods Tokyo-bound trains arrive once every 3.2 minutes; this is reduced to 10 Chiba-bound trains per hour during weekday evening peak periods. At other times there are approximately six trains per hour. There are many through services operated onto other lines. For information on the Narita Express, Shiosai, and other limited express services, see their respective articles. Sōbu Line (Rapid) trains travel through onto the Yokosuka Line to Ōfuna, Zushi, and Kurihama. Trains also travel through beyond Chiba to as far as:

Past services

Home Liner Chiba

Before 16 March 2019, there were five Home Liner Chiba commuter liner services that operated every weekday evening, four of which started from Tokyo and another which started at Shinjuku. Stations served: (Shinjuku – Akihabara) / Tokyo – Tsudanuma – Inage – Chiba

Limited Express Ayame

Commuter Rapid

Commuter Rapid services were abolished with the timetable revision on 12 March 2022. Prior to this they ran on weekday peak hours only, stopping at Tōkyō, Shin-Nihombashi, Bakurochō, Kinshichō, Funabashi, and Chiba.

Station list

Note: Special Rapid service was discontinued on 4 March 2017.

Rolling stock

Rapid service

Limited express service

Former rolling stock

History

On 20 August 2016, station numbering was introduced with stations being assigned station numbers between JO19 and JO28. Numbers increase towards in the eastbound direction towards Chiba.