Ryōmō Line

The Ryōmō Line (両毛線, Ryōmō-sen) is a Japanese railway line connecting Oyama in Tochigi Prefecture with Maebashi in Gunma Prefecture. 84.4 km (52.4 mi) long, the line is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The name refers to the fact that Gunma and Tochigi prefectures were once part of an ancient province called Keno (毛野), which was later split into Kōzuke (Gunma) and Shimotsuke (Tochigi). This line connects both halves of the old province.

Ryōmō Line
A JR East 115 series EMU at Ōhirashita in March 2016
Overview
LocaleGunma, Tochigi prefectures
TerminiOyama
Shin-Maebashi
Stations18
Service
Operator(s)JR East
History
Opened1889
Technical
Line length84.4 km (52.4 mi)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed95 km/h (60 mph)
Route map

Services

Most Ryōmō Line services continue beyond Shin-Maebashi and terminate at Takasaki on the Joetsu Line. Local trains run about once in an hour during the day between Oyama and Maebashi and twice or three times as frequently between Maebashi and Takasaki. Some rapid services from Ueno and the Shōnan-Shinjuku Line travel through onto the Ryōmō Line, but they stop at every station.

Akagi limited express services travel to Maebashi from Ueno (four times daily to Maebashi, two or three times daily to Ueno) or Shinjuku (one round trip daily). On the weekdays some Akagi services are branded Swallow Akagi.

Station list
Line Station Japanese Distance (km) Transfers Location
Between
stations		 Total
Ryōmō Line Oyama 小山   0.0 Tohoku Shinkansen, Tohoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line), Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Mito Line Oyama Tochigi
Omoigawa 思川 5.4 5.4  
Tochigi 栃木 5.4 10.8
  • TN Tobu Nikko Line
  • TN Tobu Utsunomiya Line[* 1]
 Tochigi
Ōhirashita 大平下 4.4 15.2  
Iwafune 岩舟 4.1 19.3  
Sano 佐野 7.3 26.6 Tōbu Sano Line Sano
Tomita 富田 4.5 31.1   Ashikaga
Ashikaga Flower Park あしかがフラワーパーク 0.9 32.0  
Ashikaga 足利 6.2 38.2 TI Tobu Isesaki Line (Ashikagashi)
Yamamae 山前 4.5 42.7  
Omata 小俣 4.6 47.3  
Kiryū 桐生 5.6 52.9 Watarase Keikoku Line
Jōmō Line (Nishi-Kiryū)		 Kiryū Gunma
Iwajuku 岩宿 2.3 56.9   Midori
Kunisada 国定 6.4 63.3   Isesaki
Isesaki 伊勢崎 5.8 69.1 TI Tobu Isesaki Line
Komagata 駒形 5.8 74.9   Maebashi
Maebashi-Ōshima 前橋大島 3.2 78.1  
Maebashi 前橋 3.8 81.9 Jōmō Line (Chūō-Maebashi)
Shin-Maebashi 新前橋 2.5 84.4 Joetsu Line (for Shibukawa), Agatsuma Line[* 2]
Joetsu Line
Ino 井野 3.3 87.7   Takasaki
Takasakitonyamachi 高崎問屋町 1.2 88.9  
Takasaki 高崎 2.8 91.7 Joetsu Shinkansen, Hokuriku Shinkansen, Takasaki Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Shinetsu Main Line, Hachiko Line[* 3]
Jōshin Dentetsu Jōshin Line
  1. The official start of the Tobu Utsunomiya Line is at Shin-Tochigi, but all trains travel through on the Tōbu Nikkō Line to Tochigi.
  2. The official start of the Agatsuma Line is at Shibukawa, but all trains travel through on the Joetsu Line to Takasaki.
  3. The official start of the Hachiko Line is at Kuragano, but all trains travel through on the Takasaki Line to Takasaki.

Rolling stock

The following train types are used on the Ryōmō Line.

History

The Oyama to Kiryu section was opened in 1888 by the Ryomo Railway, and extended to Shin-Maebashi the following year. The company merged with the Nippon Railway in 1897, and that company was nationalised in 1906.

References
  1. JR東日本 高崎線・両毛線 E233系3000番代営業運転開始 [JR East E233-3000 series enter revenue service on Takasaki and Ryomo Lines]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine. Vol. 41 no. 343. Japan: Kōtsū Shimbun. November 2012. p. 78.
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