Tobu Railway
is a
commuter railway company in the
Greater Tokyo Area of
Japan as well as an intercity and regional operator. It offered
freight service until
September 30,
2003. It operates in
Tokyo,
Saitama,
Chiba,
Tochigi, and
Gunma Prefectures. The name "Tobu" is formed from 東 (
Tō meaning east) and 武 (
bu, from first character of 武" meaning
Musashi, the initial network area.)
Excluding the
Japan Railway companies, Tobu's 463.3-
kilometre rail system is the second longest in Japan after the
Kinki Nippon Railway.
Tobu has two isolated networks which are connected by the
Chichibu Railway for ferrying of its
railroad cars.
The Tobu Main Line network has a
tree topology whose root is
Asakusa Station in
Tokyo and the trunk
Isesaki Line, branching
Kameido Line,
Taishi Line,
Noda Line,
Tobu Nikko Line which further branches into the
Tobu Utsunomiya Line,
Kinugawa,
Sano,
Koizumi and
Kiryu Lines. It offers surcharged, seat-reserved express services from
Tokyo to
Nikko and
Kinugawa.
The Tojo Line network from
Ikebukuro Station in
Tokyo Tojo Main Line runs northwest through central
Saitama. A branch, the
Tobu Ogose Line, runs to Ogose joining at Sakado station.
The Tobu Group of which the company stands at the center also is engaged in road transportation (bus/taxi), real estate, and retail.
Tobu Main Lines
*
Isesaki Line (
Asakusa Station "
Isesaki Station)
*
Nikko Line*
Kameido Line*
Daishi Line*
Noda Line*
Tobu Nikko Line*
Tobu Utsunomiya Line*
Kinugawa Line*
Sano Line*
Koizumi Line (
Nishi-Koizumi station "
Tatebayashi Station ,
Higashi-Koizumi Station "
Ota Station)
*
Kiryu line (
Ota Station "
Akagi Station)
Tobu Tojo Line
*
Tojo Main Line (
Ikebukuro Station "
Yorii Station)
*
Tobu Ogose Line (
Sakado Station "
Ogose Station)
