Tobu Tojo Line (東上本線), also called the Tojo Line (東上線), runs from Ikebukuro Station in Toshima ward, Tokyo, to Yorii Station in Yorii, Saitama Prefecture. It is a line of Tobu Railway (東武鉄道).
History
Interest in railways in the Kawagoe area grew in the late Meiji period (明治20年代以降). Before that, boats on the Iruma River (入間川) and the Shingashi River (新河岸川) carried goods and people. In 1903 the promoters of the Tojo Railway (東上鉄道) filed a provisional licence application with the Ministry of Communications (逓信省). The name Tōjō (東上) joins the first letters of Tokyo (東京) and Kōzuke (上野国, also called 上州), because the first target town, Shibukawa, is in Kōzuke. On 6 October 1908 the company received a provisional licence for a line from Sugamo in Tokyo to Shibukawa. The company was founded on 11 November 1911 with Nezu Kaichirō (根津嘉一郎) as president. Its registered head office was at the office of Tobu Railway (東武鉄道) in Tokyo, though its actual head office was in Kawagoe.
On 16 November 1912 the company received the full licence for a line from Ōtsuka Tsujimachi in Koishikawa, Tokyo, to Shibukawa. The first section, from Ikebukuro to Tamensawa (田面沢) near Kawagoe, opened on 1 May 1914. Trains reached Sakado (坂戸) on 27 October 1916. On 27 July 1920 the Tojo Railway merged with Tobu Railway as an equal merger, and the Tojo Railway was dissolved. Its line became the Tojo Main Line (東上本線) of Tobu Railway. Construction went on. Sakado to Bushū-Matsuyama (武州松山, now Higashi-Matsuyama) opened on 1 October 1923. Bushū-Matsuyama to Ogawamachi opened on 5 November 1923, and Ogawamachi to Yorii opened on 10 July 1925. This completed the line from Ikebukuro to Yorii. Work on an extension north from Yorii toward Takasaki stopped when the Railway Ministry decided to build the Hachikō Line (八高線) itself. The licence for Yorii to Takasaki expired in 1924, and the plan was dropped.
On 1 October 1929 the line was electrified from Ikebukuro to Kawagoe-shi, and on 29 December 1929 from Kawagoe-shi to Yorii. On 1 July 1943 Tobu bought the Ogose line (越生線, Ogose Railway) between Sakado and Ogose. On 13 April 1945 Tokyo air raids damaged the Ikebukuro area. Higashi-Horinouchi station (東武堀之内駅) was destroyed, and Kanaikubo station (金井窪駅) was closed on 15 April 1945. In July 1945 Kawagoe station was strafed. Double tracks were added in stages. Ikebukuro to Kamiitabashi was doubled on 13 March 1935, Kamiitabashi to Narimasu on 29 December 1935, and Narimasu to Shiki on 5 May 1937. More sections were doubled on 1 March 1954. On 3 April 1949 one-way through running onto the Chichibu Railway (秩父鉄道) began. Steam locomotive operation ended on 1 April 1959.
On 2 May 1965 Kawagoe-shi to Sakado was doubled. Automatic train stop equipment (ATS) went into use from 1 April 1968, starting at Ikebukuro. The system covered the whole line by 1 May 1977. On 1 March 1971 Morinkōen station opened. Tobu's first air-conditioned cars began service on 11 July 1972. All cars on the Tojo Line were air-conditioned on 22 October 1985. Freight service ended on 21 October 1986. On 25 August 1987 through running with the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line (有楽町線) began from Narimasu and Wakōshi. On 8 June 1988 that through service was extended when the Yurakucho Line opened between Shintomichō and Shinkiba (新木場).
On 1 March 1992 automatic ticket gates started at four stations. On 31 March 1992 one-way through running onto the Chichibu Railway ended. On 15 November 1993 Fujimi-no station opened, and the maximum speed rose from 95 km/h to 100 km/h. On 7 December 1994 the new line of the Yurakucho Line, now the Fukutoshin Line (副都心線), began through running at Ikebukuro. On 1 April 2001 the whole line got an operations management system. On 14 June 2008 through running with Tokyo Metro's Fukutoshin Line began. A new seat-limited TJ Liner (TJライナー) was added, and the express was abolished in favour of a rapid express (快速急行).
On 11 March 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake (東日本大震災) led the company to halt the whole line the same day. Service resumed from Ikebukuro to Fujimi-no at 5:54 on 12 March, and the whole line was running by 7 am that day. On 16 March 2013 through running with the Tokyu Toyoko Line and the Minatomirai Line (みなとみらい線) began via Tokyo Metro's Fukutoshin Line. On 1 May 2014 the line marked 100 years since it opened, counting from its predecessor, the Tojo Railway. On 31 January 2015 T-DATC (東武型デジタルATC), a new train safety system, started between Kawagoe-shi and Ogawamachi. By 26 September 2015 it covered the whole line from Ikebukuro to Ogawamachi. On 26 March 2016 platform doors were used on this line for the first time, at Wako-shi station. Through services with the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line and Tokyu lines began, known as F Liner (Fライナー). On 18 May 2016 a local train from Narimasu to Ikebukuro derailed just after leaving Naka-Itabashi station. Ikebukuro to Kami-Itabashi was closed all day, and service resumed the next morning.
On 16 March 2019 the TJ Liner changed to reserved seating, and a Kawagoe express was added. On 12 October 2019 the line was suspended in the early afternoon ahead of Typhoon 19. Service resumed on 13 October, and the last section, Sakado to Morinkōen, reopened at 16:49 that day. On 31 October 2020 Minami-Yorii station opened, between Tobu-Takezawa (東武竹沢) and Obusuma (男衾). On 20 January 2021 late-night trains from Ikebukuro were cut because of the COVID-19 emergency declaration. In March 2021 a trial moved unsold farm produce by train from a direct-sales stall in Higashi-Matsuyama to Ikebukuro. The full service started on 2 August 2021. On 20 December 2021 work started on a grade separation near Ōyama station. On 18 March 2023 through running with the Sōtetsu Line began, via the Fukutoshin Line, Tokyu Toyoko Line and Tokyu Shin-Yokohama Line. The line still runs from Ikebukuro to Yorii.
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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.