The Takasaki Line (高崎線) is a main line run by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It runs from Ōmiya station in Saitama City to Takasaki station in Gunma. Trains also run through from Ōmiya towards Ueno and Tokyo.
History
Japan's first working railway opened between Shimbashi and Yokohama in 1872. Silk and silk cloth from Gunma were exported through Yokohama port, so a route from Gunma to the port was needed. The line was also planned as part of a main railway from Tokyo towards Kyoto and Osaka. Ueno was chosen as the terminal. It sat on the edge of a plateau, and land from Kan'ei-ji temple could be used there. The British engineer Boyle proposed a route through Ōji, Akabane, Ōmiya, Kōnosu, Kumagaya and Takasaki, and the railway chief Inoue Masaru chose it. The government had little money. So Nippon Railway (日本鉄道), a company funded with private money, mostly from former lords and nobles, was set up to build it. Its first section, Ueno to Kumagaya, opened in 1883. It was Japan's first private railway. Ōmiya station did not exist yet.
The line reached Shinmachi and then Takasaki on 1 May 1884. The last section, Takasaki to Maebashi, opened on 20 August 1884 and completed the line. On 25 June 1884, an opening ceremony took place at Ueno with Emperor Meiji present, and he rode the line there and back. In 1885 Ōmiya station opened as the junction for the second line, which later became the Tohoku Main Line (東北本線). That year a government line from Akabane to Shinagawa also opened. It is now the Yamanote Line (山手線) and Saikyō Line (埼京線). In 1889 the Ryomo Railway reached Maebashi, and the old Maebashi station was moved. The Nippon Railway was nationalised under the Railway Nationalisation Act in 1906. In 1909 the line was officially named the Takasaki Line and placed in the Tohoku Main Line group. Before that, it went by other names. Early trains were called Ueno–Kumagaya trains, and a 1894 guide called it the Nakasendō Line.
Between 1927 and 1930 the line was doubled, section by section, from Ōmiya towards Takasaki. In 1943 a marshalling yard was opened at Takasaki. In September 1947, Typhoon Kasurin (カスリーン台風) brought heavy rain. There was a landslide between Kitahonjuku and Kōnosu, and flooding between Fukiage and Kumagaya. Miyahara station opened on 15 July 1948. The Tohoku Main Line south of Ōmiya was electrified in 1932, and a commuter service similar to the later Keihin-Tohoku Line (京浜東北線) started. After the war, housing estates were built along the line and the population grew fast. The whole line was electrified on 1 April 1952. Japanese National Railways (JNR) used 80 series trains, and then three-door 115 series trains, for commuting.
In the 1960s JNR was losing money and held back new trains. Commuter trains were short of capacity, and crowding became constant. Passenger anger led to the Ageo incident in 1973. After that JNR added 115 series trains, and at rush hours three-door cars ran in 15-car trains. Track capacity could not be raised any further. Express trains from the Joetsu Line (上越線) and Shinetsu Line (信越線) ran through this line in large numbers. After electrification, express trains such as Toki (とき) and Asama (あさま) ran between Ueno and Niigata at a top speed of 120 km/h. The Joetsu Shinkansen opened on 15 November 1982, and the Joetsu Line express trains moved to it and were cut. In 1985 Shinkansen trains began to run into Ueno. Takasaki Line expresses were cut sharply, and the line became mainly local trains. During Shinkansen construction, a commuter new line between Akabane and Ōmiya was offered to local people as compensation. It was first designed to run north from Ōmiya and join this line at Miyahara. The depot site was hard to buy, so the Kawagoe Line (川越線) was electrified instead. The new line opened in 1985 as the Saikyō Line. Land bought for the link was later reused, partly as car parks and partly as housing.
On 1 April 1987, JNR was split up and the line passed to East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Kita-Ageo station opened on 17 December 1988. On 3 October 1993 ATS-P was installed between Ōmiya and Miyahara. On 1 October 1997 the Hokuriku Shinkansen opened early between Takasaki and Nagano. The Asama and Hakuchō limited express trains ended. Rolling stock also changed. The 211 series 3000 番台 trains from the late 1980s had all long seats, which increased capacity. From the 2000s, E231 series trains with mostly long seats, some box seats and four doors came in. Double-deck green cars were added to some 211 and E231 trains. The E231 series entered service on the line on 1 September 2001, and the last 115 series trains ran on 30 November 2001.
On 1 December 2001, some trains began running through Shinjuku to the Tokaido Line (東海道線), as the Shonan-Shinjuku Line (湘南新宿ライン). Through services grew in the 2000s, and local through services north of Takasaki were stopped gradually. In 2004, green cars were added to local trains from 8 July 2004, and green car service began on 16 October 2004. The Tokyo area train management system (ATOS) was installed between Ōmiya and Jinbohara on 19 December 2004. On 13 March 2010 the Hokuriku sleeper train was removed, and the Noto express became a special train. On 1 September 2012 E233 series trains entered service to replace the 211 series. The Akebono sleeper express ended regular service on 14 March 2014, and the 211 series also ended on that day. On 14 March 2015 the Ueno–Tokyo Line began. The Tohoku Main Line tracks between Tokyo and Ueno were restored, and many Ueno trains ran through Tokyo to the Tokaido Line. The Takasaki Line's starting station moved from Ueno to Tokyo, though some trains still started at Ueno.
On 15 March 2016, at about 3:55 am, a fire caused by electrical leakage broke out in the yard at Kagohara station. Signal equipment was burned. Trains did not run between Kumagaya and Okabe all day until 17 March, and elsewhere trains ran less often. Through running to the Tokaido Line was stopped. At the end of fiscal 2017, 15-car trains became able to run into Fukaya, Okabe and Honjo stations. During disruptions, coupling and uncoupling at Kagohara could be skipped when needed. On 13 March 2021 the timetable change abolished the commuter express (通勤快速). On 1 July 2026 JR East changed from a branch system to business headquarters. The Ōmiya station area went to the Ōmiya Business HQ. From the Takasaki area, the section from Miyahara to Jinbohara went to the Kumagaya Business HQ, and Shinmachi to Takasaki went to the Gunma Business HQ.
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Written by an AI from the line'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.