Chōshi Electric Railway Line


The Chōshi Electric Railway Line is a long railway line operated by the privately owned Chōshi Electric Railway between Chōshi and Tokawa stations in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
It is the Chōshi Electric Railway's only line and is facing declining ridership. The company ventured into selling nure-senbei to subsidize its operations, and the profits from confectionery sales are now double those from its railway operations.

Service pattern

All trains stop at all stations, with trains passing on the single line at Kasagami-Kurohae Station. Since 21 November 2013, one train per hour runs during the daytime.
Previously, two to three trains operated per hour throughout the day. In the past, two- or three-car formations were operated on New Year's Day to transport passengers to see the first sunrise of the year at the popular coastal viewing point in Inubōsaki.

Stations

All stations are in Chōshi.
No.StationJapaneseDistance Distance between stations Date openedStatusTransfers
銚子0.0-5 July 1923StaffedSōbu Main Line
Narita Line
仲ノ町0.50.55 July 1923Staffed
観音1.10.65 July 1923Staffed
本銚子1.80.75 July 1923Unstaffed
笠上黒生2.70.91 July 1925Staffed
西海鹿島3.20.51 March 1970Unstaffed
海鹿島3.60.45 July 1923Unstaffed
君ヶ浜4.71.121 June 1931Unstaffed
犬吠5.50.81 September 1935Staffed
外川6.40.95 July 1923Staffed

Rolling stock

In 2007, it was announced that former Keio 3000 series stainless steel EMUs converted to 2-car sets would be purchased to replace the three vintage 700 and 800 series cars still in operation. This plan was however cancelled due to the cost of converting the 1,500 V DC cars to 600 V DC operation. Instead, two pairs of former Iyotetsu 800 series EMU cars were purchased in 2009, and these entered service in July 2010 following conversion work, becoming the 2000 series.
In September 2015, a two-car 700 series EMU was purchased from Iyotetsu for ¥1.3 million. The train entered service on the line in March 2016, following repainting into a two-tone blue livery.

Past rolling stock

  • 0-6-0T steam locomotives 1 and 2
  • Ro 1, RoHa 1, Ha 1, HaNi 1 4-wheel coaches
  • HaFu 1 and HaFu 2 non-powered trailer cars, withdrawn in September 1978 and cut up in 1979
  • 100 series EMU car DeHa 101, built 1939, withdrawn in 1999, and scrapped in September 2009
  • 200 series EMU car DeHa 201,, operated from 1949 until 1978, and officially withdrawn in 1979
  • 300 series EMU car DeHa 301, operated from 1951, withdrawn in 2008, scrapped in October 2009
  • 500 series EMU car DeHa 501, operated from 1972, later sectioned at Inuboh Station, and cut up on-site in July 2012
  • 700 series EMU car DeHa 701, withdrawn in September 2010
  • 700 series EMU car DeHa 702, withdrawn in January 2010
  • 800 series EMU car DeHa 801, withdrawn in September 2010
  • Yu 101 open car,, operated from 4 August 1985, but taken out of service since 2004 due to safety regulations, and stored first at Tokawa Station and then at Kasagami-Kurohae Station before being official withdrawn on 30 June 2012
  • 1000 series EMU car 1001, withdrawn in February 2016
  • 1000 series EMU car 1002, withdrawn in February 2015

History

Chōshi Sightseeing Railway (1913-1917)

The predecessor to the present-day line opened on 28 December 1913 as the Chōshi Sightseeing Railway, operating a distance of 5.9 km between and using steam haulage. The gauge line was laid by a team of 235 army engineers in just 11 days. There were four intermediate stations, at,,, and, and by 1914, eight return services operated daily, with journeys taking 23 minutes. The line used two former JNR 0-6-0T steam locomotives built by Nasmyth, Wilson in the UK. These were numbered 1 and 2.
Faced with poor ridership figures and increases in material costs caused by the outset of the First World War, the operating company announced its intention to close the line and sell off the infrastructure. This was met with violent protests from local residents, which resulted in the arrest of three people, recorded as the first public protest against railway closure plans in Japan. Despite the protests, the railway company terminated services on the line from the afternoon of 20 November 1917, and formally closed the line as of 30 November. The line's trackbed was converted to a dedicated bus route, but the station buildings remained intact. The two steam locomotives, 1 and 2, were sold to Yawata Steel Works, where they were renumbered 200 and 201, and operated until after the Second World War. The line's four passenger coaches were sold to the Rikuu Railway in Aomori Prefecture, ultimately becoming numbers Ro 790, Ha 2555, Ha 2556, and HaNi 3680 in JNR days.

Chōshi Railway (1922-1948)

On 10 October 1922, the Chōshi Railway Company was formed, and the line was reopened from 5 July 1923 using the former Chōshi Sightseeing Railway trackbed and structures between Chōshi and Inuboh Stations, with an extension south to. Rolling stock consisted of two petrol-engined locomotives and two two-axle carriages. The locomotives proved unreliable, however, and the line was electrified at 600 V DC from 1 July 1925, with a fleet of three electric cars purchased from the former Ina Electric Railway.
Services on the line were suspended from 20 July 1945, following air raid damage. A C class steam tank locomotive was borrowed from JNR to resume operations on the line from December 1945, and electric train operations resumed from 4 April 1946.

Chōshi Electric Railway (1948-)

On 20 August 1948, the operating company was renamed Chōshi Electric Railway.
In 1956, a private track was laid directly from Chōshi Station to the nearby Yamasa soy sauce factory, which virtually eliminated freight operations handled by the Chōshi Electric Railway. And, this company was invested by Chiba Kotsu which has been an affiliated company of Keisei Electric Railway on 1 November 1960 and had been a subsidiary of Keisei Group since then until 1990.
In 1963, a decision was made to close the line, but this decision was overturned following opposition from the local communities and funding from Chōshi City. To the present day, the line is largely subsidized by Chiba Prefecture and Chōshi City.
Freight operations on the line were discontinued from 1 February 1984. On 21 December 1989, Chiba Kotsu transferred a 52% share of this company which was owned by Chiba Kotsu to Choden Kosan which was managed by Uchino Komuten. That's because this railway line was competitive with a lot of bus routes which were operated by Chiba Kotsu of the parent company, which caused that a bus company and railway company both were in red. After that this company got to a subsidiary of Choden Kosan in January 1990 by transferring right to management. From 1 April 1995, operations on the line switched to wanman driver-only operation because this company would extremely decrease expenditures. But, the pure loss of the management had increased because Uchinoya Komuten of a parent company had nine hundred ninety billion yen as debt and took an application of bankruptcy.
From 21 November 2013, services were cut back from two trains per hour to one train per hour during the daytime.
In 2019, the company announced the production of a movie called "Don't Stop the Train! – The Cursed 6.4 km –". The 84 minute long horror comedy is set on the Chōshi Electric Railway line and was first shown in cinemas in 2020.
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in early 2020 and the associated dramatic decline in passenger numbers, the company has started to produce and publish short videos about the railway on YouTube. The channel is called Chōshi Electric Railway Fierce Channel and contains videos about various places on and around the railway, such as the railway shed, the main office and various stations along the line. The videos often feature different staff members, mainly Katsuki Takemoto, Riho Sodeyama and more recently also Kazuki Fukushima, a young station attendant.
As part of its "Gakeppuchi Project" tourism campaign, the Chōshi Electric Railway branded the line as the Inubō Gakeppuchi Line from 1 April 2025. The branding is planned to be used until the end of March 2026.

Accidents

A head-on collision occurred in June 1995 north of Kasagami-Kurohae Station between DeHa 701 on a down service and DeHa 1001 on an up service. Both cars sustained front-end damage. DeHa 701 was returned to service in April 1996 following repairs and repainting back into the standard livery of dark brown and red.
On 11 January 2014, at 08:19, 2000 series 2-car EMU set 2002 from Tokawa to Choshi derailed on points on the approach to Kasagami-Kurohae Station. Two of the train's bogies were derailed, but the train remained upright and none of the nine passengers on board were injured.

Passenger statistics

The annual passenger statistics for past years are as shown below.
Fiscal yearPassengers per year
19551,740,000
19601,604,000
19651,609,000
19701,364,000
19751,550,000
19801,454,000
19851,336,000
19901,031,000
1995932,000
2000739,000
2005654,000
2009714,000

In popular culture

Tokawa Station on the line was used as a filming location for the 1985 NHK TV drama series Miotsukushi.
The line formed the backdrop for the 2015 novel written by Midori Yoshino. The book was made into a film, titled, released in Japan in 2017.
The line is seen in Season 2, Episode 5 of the Anime called The Devil is a Part-Timer! where the 6 main characters ride the line to Inubo station.