Jōsō Line


The Jōsō Line is a railway line in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kantō Railway. It is a non-electrified line which connects Toride to Shimodate.
The Jōsō Line connects with the Tsukuba Express line, which opened in 2005, at Moriya Station, the only interchange other than at its two termini.
In fiscal 1999, the Jōsō Line carried an annual total of 14.16 million passengers, making it the busiest non-electrified private line in Japan.

Services

Almost all services on the Line are Local trains, stopping at every station. Approximately 5 services in each direction each day operate as Rapid trains, only stopping at major stations.
Travel from Toride to stations north of Mitsukaido generally requires a change of train at Mitsukaido, though connection times are short.

Toride to Mitsukaido

Services operate approximately every 10-15 minutes during morning & evening peak hours and every 20 minutes at other times. Travel time is approximately 30 minutes.

Mitsukaido to Shimodate

Services operate approximately every 30-60 minutes, with some extra services between Mitsukaido and Shimotsuma. Travel time is approximately 50-60 minutes.

Stations

Rolling stock

The Jōsō Railway opened the line on 1 November 1913. In 1945, the company merged with the Tsukuba Railway to form the Jōsō Tsukuba Railway, which merged with the Kanto Railway in 1965.
Originally all single-track, of the line was doubled between Toride and Mitsukaidō by 15 November 1984. However, due to the limitations brought by the Kakioka Magnetic Observatory located in Ishioka, this line is still not electrified.
The KiHa 310 vehicles are scheduled for withdrawal in July 2023.