Tobu Railway Co., Ltd. (東武鉄道, Tobu) is a Japanese railway company headquartered in Oshiage, Sumida ward, Tokyo. It runs 12 railway lines in Tokyo and four other prefectures of the Kantō region, and is the core company of the Tobu Group.
History
Tobu was set up in 1895 to 1897. On 6 April 1895 the promoters filed their petition to found the company. On 22 June 1896 the company received a provisional licence. On 16 October 1896 the founding meeting was held and the first directors were chosen. On 3 September 1897 the full licence for the Kita-Senju to Ashikaga route was granted. On 1 November 1897 the company was registered. The first line, from Kita-Senju to Kuki, opened on 27 August 1899. This line is now the Isesaki Line (伊勢崎線). In 1905, after weak business results, Nezu Kaichirō (根津嘉一郎, the first) became president. In March 1906 the House of Representatives passed a railway nationalisation bill that named Tobu for purchase. On 25 March 1906 the House of Peers amended the bill to exclude Tobu, so the company survived.
Tobu grew by merger. On 30 March 1912 it merged the Sano Railway, which is now the Sano Line (佐野線). In March 1913 it merged the Ōta Light Railway, which is now the Kiryū Line (桐生線). On 22 July 1920 it merged on equal terms with the Tōjō Railway (東上鉄道), which ran what is now the Tōjō Main Line (東上本線). Tobu was the surviving company. The Kantō earthquake of 1 September 1923 damaged the company. On 1 October 1929 the Nikko Line (日光線) was fully opened, and it ran electric trains over 100 km for the first time in Japan. On 25 May 1931 trains began running into Asakusa-Kaminarimon station (now Asakusa). There Tobu connected with the Tokyo Underground Railway (東京地下鉄道), which Hayakawa Tokujirō had opened in 1927 with support from Nezu. On 11 August 1931 the Utsunomiya Line opened.
In January 1937 the company merged the Jōshū Railway (上州鉄道). In August 1938 the Land Transport Coordination Act made Tobu the merging body for northern Kantō. On 1 June 1939 Tobu Motor (東武自動車) took over the company's bus operations. On 4 January 1940 the first president, Nezu Kaichirō, died. In 1941 Hara Kunizō left to lead the Teito Rapid Transit Authority, and Nezu Kaichirō (the second) became president on 1 July 1941. He stayed in the post until June 1994. In 1943 and 1944 the company merged the Shimotsuke Electric Railway (下野電気鉄道), the Ogose Railway (越生鉄道) and the Sōbu Railway (総武鉄道). On 10 March 1945 the Tokyo air raids damaged the Isesaki Line area around Asakusa. On 13 April 1945 air raids damaged the area around Ikebukuro on the Tōjō Main Line. On 25 March 1946 the Keishi Line (啓志線) was completed, and it ran trains for the Allied occupation forces. On 31 May 1947 the company merged the Nikko tram line and Tobu Motor. On 6 August 1948 the Nikko and Kinugawa express began, the second private express service in Japan after Kintetsu. On 1 February 1949 express trains ran every day. In May 1949 the company was listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. On 5 October 1950 the Nikko cable line opened, and the total route length reached 591.6 km, the longest in Tobu history.
In April 1952 express trains moved to reserved seats, and the Ōya tram line closed. On 1 July 1959 the Yaita Line closed, and on 22 July 1959 the non-electrified Keishi Line closed. In October 1960 the 1720 series, called the Deluxe Romancecar (DRC), began running on the Nikko and Kinugawa express, in fierce competition with Japanese National Railways (国鉄) for Nikko tourists. On 31 May 1962 the Isesaki Line began through running with the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (帝都高速度交通営団, Eidan; now Tokyo Metro) Hibiya Line (日比谷線). On 1 July 1966 steam locomotives stopped running on the main line. On 25 February 1968 the Nikko tram line closed, which ended all tram lines. On 1 April 1968 partial automatic train stop came into use. On 11 July 1972 air-conditioned cars began service on the Isesaki and Tōjō lines. On 2 July 1974 the Isesaki Line between Kita-Senju and Takenotsuka became quadruple track, the first private railway in Kantō to do so.
On 28 March 1981 Tōbu Zoo Park (東武動物公園) opened. On 1 June 1983 the Kumagaya Line closed, which ended all of the company's non-electrified sections. On 9 October 1986 the Kinugawa Line began through running with the Yagan Railway (野岩鉄道) Aizu-Kinugawa Line. On 1 June 1990 the 100 series began on the Nikko and Kinugawa express, named Spacia (スペーシア). In June 1994 Nezu Kaichirō (the second) stepped back as chairman, and Uchida Ryūji became the fifth president. On 25 March 1997 the Sōka to Koshigaya section became quadruple track, the longest such section of any private railway in Japan. In June 1999 Uchida resigned, and Nezu Kaizumi became the sixth president.
On 30 September 2002 the bus division was closed, and from 1 October 2002 bus operations passed to four companies. On 19 March 2003 the Isesaki Line began through running with the Teito Rapid Transit Authority Hanzōmon Line (半蔵門線) and the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line (田園都市線). On 18 March 2006 the Nikko and Kinugawa express services began through running with JR East's Utsunomiya Line, and the Nikko, Kinugawa and Spacia Kinugawa trains were set up. On 18 March 2007 the PASMO IC card was introduced, and it became usable with Suica. On 14 June 2008 the Tōjō Line began through running with the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line (副都心線). On 14 July 2008 construction began on the Tokyo Skytree radio tower on the former Gyōbashi station site. On 11 March 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake halted all Tobu lines, which were running again the next day. The Hibiya, Yūrakuchō and Hanzōmon through running services stopped and resumed on 26 March, 1 April and 2 April 2011. On 22 May 2012 the Tokyo Skytree and Tokyo Skytree Town opened. On 16 March 2013 the Tōjō Line began through running with the Tokyu Toyoko Line and the Yokohama Minatomirai Line, via the Fukutoshin Line.
On 21 April 2017 the 500 series Liberty trains began running on the Isesaki, Nikko, Kinugawa and Noda Line express services. Because of COVID-19, some express trains were suspended until 5 June 2020. On 6 June 2020 the reserved-seat THライナー service started on the Isesaki Line. On 18 March 2023 the Tōjō Line began through running with the Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line and Sōtetsu lines. On 23 June 2023 Tsuzuki Yutaka became the seventh president. On 8 March 2025 the 80000 series entered service on the Noda Line. On 13 March 2026 sales of magnetic commuter passes ended. On 1 April 2026 Tobu Interteck, Tobu Engineering and Tobu Station Service were merged into the company. On 26 September 2026 the 90000 series entered service on the Tōjō Line.
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Written by an AI from the company's history on Japanese Wikipedia, nothing else, and checked by a program for dates and numbers that are not in those facts. It can still be wrong. Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; this text is shared under the same licence.
