JR East E233-3000 series

JR Central 313-5000 series

JR West 225-100 series

JR Freight Class EF210](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/JR///Central///Tokaido///Line.svg///JRW///kinki-A.svg) Name: Tōkaidō Main Line
Other Name: Biwako Line (JR West, Maibara – Kyoto) · JR Kyoto Line (JR West, Kyoto – Osaka) · JR Kobe Line (JR-West, Osaka – Kobe)
Native Name: 東海道本線
Native Name Lang: ja
Color: FFA500
Type: Heavy rail
Locale: Kantō, Tōkai, Kansai regions
Start: Tokyo
End: Kōbe
Stations: 166 (passenger only)
Open: October 14, 1872
Operator: JR_logo_(east).svg JR East · JR_logo_(central).svg JR Central · JR_logo_(west).svg JR West · JR_logo_(freight).svg JR Freight
Tracklength: 589.5 km
Electrification: 1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Speed Km /h: 130
Map State: collapsed
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The Tōkaidō Main Line is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo and Kobe stations, is 589.5 km long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallels the line. The term "Tōkaidō Main Line" is largely a holdover from pre-Shinkansen days; now various portions of the line have different names which are officially used by JR East, JR Central, and JR West. Today, the only daily passenger train that travels the entire length of the line is the combinedSunrise Izumo/Sunrise Seto service which runs overnight. During the day, longer intercity trips using the line require several transfers along the way. The Tokaido Main Line is owned and operated by three Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies:

History

Completion and early days, 1872–1913

The Tōkaidō route takes its name from the ancient road connecting the Kansai region (Kyoto, Osaka) with the Kantō region (Tokyo, then Edo) through the Tōkai region (including Nagoya). Its name meant "Tōkai road", or the road running through Tōkai. The Tōkaidō Line does not follow the old road exactly, since the latter diverges at Nagoya toward the Mie Prefecture coastline; to follow it by train, the Kansai Main Line and Kusatsu Line would have to be followed from Nagoya to Kusatsu. Japan's largest population centers are all along this route: Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. Since construction of the line, these centers have since grown to occupy an ever more dominant role in the country's government, financial, manufacturing, and cultural life. Historically, one of the first priorities of Japanese railway planners was to build a line from Tokyo to the Kansai region, either following the Tokaido route or the northern Nakasendō route. This decision remained unresolved as regional needs were addressed. The first railway in Japan was the line from Shimbashi to Sakuragicho in Yokohama, which opened in 1872; another segment of today's Tokaido Main Line, between Kyoto and Kobe, opened in 1877. In 1883, the government decided to use the Nakasendō route, and construction of several segments commenced (including the modern-day Takasaki Line). Railways were opened between Ogaki and Nagahama (1884) and between Nagoya and Kisogawa (1886) in line with the Nakasendo plan. However, by 1886, it was clear that the Tokaido route would be more practical, and so the Nakasendo plan was abandoned. The lines between Kisogawa and Ogaki, Yokohama and Kozu, and Hamamatsu and Obu were completed in 1887, and the first line from Tokyo to Kobe was completed in 1889, when Kozu and Hamamatsu were connected through the present-day Gotemba Line corridor. The final segments were completed between Kasumigahara and Otsu. At the time, there was one Tokyo–Kobe train in each direction per day, taking over 20 hours each way. The "Tokaido Line" name was formally adopted in 1895. In October 1895, following the Sino-Japanese War, through service to the Sanyo Railway (now the San'yō Main Line) began. Express service between Tokyo and Kobe began in 1896, sleeper service in 1900, and dining car service in 1901. In 1906, all privately run main lines were nationalized under the newly created Japanese Government Railways, which at the time had a network of just over 7000 km of track.

Capacity expansion and route changes, 1914–1945

On 20 December 1914, Tokyo Station opened and succeeded Shinbashi Station as the Tokyo-side terminus of the line. On the same day, an electrified commuter line was inaugurated along the section between Tokyo Station and today’s Yokohama Station, which is now part of the Keihin–Tōhoku Line. Automatic couplers were introduced on all freight wagons in 1926. In 1930, the first Tsubame ("swallow") express was introduced, reducing the Tokyo - Kobe travel-time to nine hours - a significant reduction from the twenty hours required in 1889 and fifteen in 1903. By the start of the Taishō era, route changes on several stretches of the line were deemed necessary to accommodate growing demand. The route bypassing Osakayama (between Ōtsu and Kyoto Stations), in use since 1878, was closed when the current, less steep route with two long tunnels was completed on 25 September 1919. The mountainous Gotemba stretch required an even larger-scale route change, culminating in the completion of the Tanna Tunnel in 1934 after 15 years of construction. The new route through the tunnel is 11.2 kilometres long, compared to the old Gotemba route, which took a 60.2-kilometre detour around the Tanna Basin. With the opening of the tunnel, the section between Tokyo and Numazu was fully electrified, as steam locomotives were unable to operate through the long tunnel safely. Electrification also progressed on the other end of the line around the same time, in 1934. Commuter rapid services between Kyoto and Kobe, using 52 Series streamliner EMUs, began in 1937. However, further electrification of the line was overshadowed by the Second World War and did not resume until after the war. For security reasons, the army preferred to keep the middle portion of the line unelectrified, as unelectrified tracks were much easier to repair in the event of an enemy attack. During the war, the line's focus shifted towards freight services. Express services were significantly reduced, and sleepers and restaurant cars were withdrawn from service in 1944. JNR Class D52 locomotives were introduced for wartime freight transport, but their poor manufacturing quality led to several boiler explosion accidents.

As the main transport artery of postwar Japan, 1945–1964

In the immediate aftermath of the war, almost all surviving express train carriages were requisitioned by the Allied Occupation Forces. Services such as the Allied Limited (Tokyo–Moji), Dixie Limited (Tokyo–Hakata), and the BCOF Train (Tokyo–Kure) operated on the Tōkaidō Line. Express trains for Japanese nationals resumed in April 1947, with sleeper services following in July 1948. In 1949, the Limited Express Heiwa, a successor to the pre-war Tsubame service, and the sleeper express Ginga both began operating between Tokyo and Osaka. In January 1950, Heiwa was renamed Tsubame. Makeshift D52 freight locomotives were converted into C62 express locomotives, the largest and fastest steam engines in Japan's rail history, to haul these services. One of the C62s, C62 17, holds the narrow-gauge steam world speed record, which was achieved on the Tokaido line near Nagoya on 15 December 1954, and is preserved at the SCMaglev and Railway Park. On 19 November 1956, the line was fully electrified. The Tokyo–Osaka express trains, Tsubame and Hato, began to be hauled by JNR EF58 locomotives for the entire length of the route, reducing travel time from 8 hours to 7 hours and 30 minutes. With no concerns about smoke polluting the carriages, these trains were painted light green and nicknamed Aodaishō (green snakes, referring to the Japanese rat snake). On 1 October 1958, the Kodama, the first limited express service operated by EMUs rather than locomotive-hauled carriages, commenced. This service further reduced travel time to 6 hours and 50 minutes. The Series 151 EMUs marked a significant milestone in railway technology, as EMUs were previously considered unsuitable for high-speed and long-distance services due to issues like noise, vibration, and cost. Since then, all non-sleeper express rolling stock, including the Shinkansen, has been designed as EMUs. On the same day, the Asakaze sleeper express entered service with the newly built Series 20 carriages. These carriages were fully air-conditioned and nicknamed the 'hotel on the rail'. Because these sleeper carriages and their successors were painted blue, sleeper trains in Japan came to be known as Blue Trains.

After the opening of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, 1964–1987

The capacity constraints on the Tokaido Main Line had been clear prior to World War II, and work started on a new standard gauge "bullet train" line in 1940. Intercity passenger traffic between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka largely transferred to the Tōkaidō Shinkansen after it was completed in 1964. Since then, the Tokaido Main Line has been used as a commuter and freight line, serving a very small number of long-distance passenger trains (mainly overnight and sleeper services).

Privatisation, 1987–present

Following the Hanshin earthquake on 17 January 1995, the line was shut down between Takatsuki and Kobe, with certain segments remaining impassable until 1 April of that year. On 20 August 2016, station numbering was introduced, with stations between Tokyo and Osaki assigned station numbers of JT01 to JT07. Numbers increase towards in the southbound direction towards Osaki. Station numbers would be assigned to stations beyond Osaki as far as Atami in 2018. On the evening of 5 August 2023, a JR East Tokaido Line service struck a utility pole near Ofuna and lost power, resulting in a suspension of service. Four people, including the driver, sustained minor injuries. Service was restored on the morning of 6 August 2023.

Basic data

Station list

JR East

The section between Tokyo and Atami is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and it is located in the Greater Tokyo Area. It has local services and a rapid service called Rapid Acty. It runs on dedicated tracks parallel to the Yamanote Line between Tokyo and Shinagawa, the Keihin–Tōhoku Line between Tokyo and Yokohama, and the Yokosuka Line between Yokohama and Ōfuna. Some Shōnan–Shinjuku Line trains share the segment south of Yokohama to Ōfuna and Odawara. Until 12 March 2021, there were also commuter rapid and Shōnan Liner services. The Ueno–Tokyo Line, a JR East project, extended the services of the Utsunomiya Line, the Takasaki Line, and the Joban Line to Tokyo Station, allowing for through services to and from the Tōkaidō Line from March 2015. Almost all trains along this section of the line have bi-level "Green Cars" with forward-facing seats, with each set of trains having 2 of them. Green Cars can be used after paying an additional fee. A new station between Ōfuna and Fujisawa is being planned to serve passengers near the former JR Freight ''Shōnan Freight Terminal. C''onstruction is expected to start in early 2022. The new station is expected to open for service in 2032. Legend:

JR Central

The point between JR East and JR Central operation is divided at Atami Station. The section of the line between Atami and Maibara is operated by JR Central, and covers the Tōkai region: Shizuoka Prefecture, Aichi Prefecture, and Gifu Prefecture. Some services from Odawara on the JR East section continues to travel on this section until Numazu Station.

Shizuoka Block

Nagoya Block Main Line

Maibara is shared by JR Central and JR West; JR West manages the station Before March 2016, JR West operated trains from Maibara as far as Ogaki on JR Central territory. After the two companies realized this invasion, on 25 March 2016, all JR West departures were changed to JR Central trains to Maibara station.

Branch lines

Both the Mino-Akasaka and Tarui branch lines separate from the Main Line at Minami-Arao Junction, located 3.1 km west of Ōgaki Station.

Mino-Akasaka Branch Line

Tarui Branch Line

Between Ōgaki and Sekigahara, there is a 25 per mil grade. In 1944, a single track bypass (in brown on the diagram) was built to avoid this steep slope of the main line. The old section, informally referred to as the "Shin-Tarui Line", remains largely unused, and Shin-Tarui Station was closed in 1986. Today, the only rail vehicles that travel on this section of track are freight trains and westbound express trains (the Shirasagi, Hida #36, and Sunrise Seto/Izumo services).

JR West

The western part of the Tōkaidō Main Line from Maibara to Kōbe is operated by JR West and forms the main trunk of the company's Urban Network in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. Although the line is divided into three segments, known as the Biwako Line, JR Kyoto Line, and JR Kobe Line, they are part of a single contiguous network, with many services traversing multiple sections. The Biwako Line includes a segment of the Hokuriku Main Line. Some services on the Kosei, JR Takarazuka and Gakkentoshi lines run through onto the Tōkaidō Main Line.

Biwako Line

The section between Maibara and Kyoto is known as the Biwako Line.

JR Kyoto Line

The section between Kyoto and Osaka is known as the JR Kyoto Line. Trains from the Biwako and Kosei lines travel through onto the JR Kyoto Line and continue west towards the JR Kobe Line at Osaka. Legend: Local trains stop at all stations. Rapid trains in the morning skip some stops between Kyoto and Takatsuki.

JR Kobe Line

The westernmost section between Osaka and Kōbe is part of the JR Kobe Line, which continues west to Himeji on the San'yō Main Line. Although Kōbe is the official terminus of the Tōkaidō Main Line, most trains continue to Nishi-Akashi, Himeji and beyond. ●: Trains stop at all times ｜: Trains pass at all times ▲: Eastbound trains pass in the morning ○:Trains stop at morning of Weekdays only

Former connecting lines

Kanagawa Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

Aichi Prefecture

Gifu Prefecture

Hyōgo Prefecture

Limited express services

In addition to standard local, rapid, and special rapid service trains, the Tōkaidō Main Line also hosts a number of limited express services.

Daytime trains

Overnight trains

Overnight trains on the Tōkaidō Line go from Tokyo to western Honshū and Shikoku.

Discontinued trains

Rolling stock for local and rapid services

JR East

JR Central

JR West

Former rolling stock