Chūō Line (Rapid)

Basic data

Operator: East Japan Railway Company (Services and tracks)

Tokyo – Takao: 53.1 km (33.0 mi)

Double-tracked section: Entire line

Railway signalling: ATS

CTC center: Tokyo Operations Control Center

Services

Although the Chūō Line (Rapid) designation only refers to the section between Tokyo and Takao stations, many trains continue on past Takao to Ōtsuki. These include both limited express and various special rapid services. For details, see the Chūō Main Line article. In addition, Chūō Line (Rapid) trains do not stop at some stations between Ochanomizu and Nakano stations; for information on those services, see the Chūō-Sōbu Line article.

The Chūō Line (Rapid) uses the two express tracks on the four-track section between Ochanomizu and Mitaka stations. Past Mitaka, trains use both tracks on the remaining double-track section. Since the express tracks do not have platforms at several stations in central Tokyo, even the slowest services of the Chūō Line (Rapid) skip such stations and are therefore called "Rapid" (快速). In addition to the basic type of "Rapid", there are some variations of the service types with fewer stops.

Rapid

This service is the most common on the Chūō Line (Rapid) route; they stop at all stations west of Nakano. After Nakano, it stops at Shinjuku, Yotsuya, Ochanomizu, and Kanda stations before arrival in Tōkyō Terminal. On weekends and holidays, trains do not stop at Asagaya, Kōenji, or Nishi-Ogikubo stations. The signature color of the rolling stock, station signs and line diagrams is orange (■).

Chūō Special Rapid • Ōme Special Rapid

Four services per hour in off-peak hours make limited stops between Tokyo and Tachikawa, and stop at all stations west of Tachikawa. Chūō Special Rapid stays on the Chūō Main Line to Takao and Ōtsuki while Ōme Special Rapid spurs to the Ōme Line. The service's signature color on service diagrams is blue (■) for Chūō Special Rapid and green (■) for Ōme Special Rapid. This service stops at Mitaka and Kokubunji between Nakano and Tachikawa stations. It continues from Nakano as a rapid service.

Commuter Rapid

Commuter Rapid service operates weekday evening. The service's signature color on service diagrams is purple (■). It stops at Ogikubo and Kichijōji in addition to the stops of Chūō Special Rapid.

Commuter Special Rapid

Weekday morning services for Tokyo; two from Ōtsuki, two from Ōme and one from Takao. It stops at all stations until Takao, Hachiōji, Tachikawa, Kokubunji, and Shinjuku and continues as a rapid service from Shinjuku. Services from Ōme from the Ōme Line stops at all stations on the Ōme Line. The service's signature color on service diagrams is pink (■).

Chūō/Ōme Liners

The Chūō Liner and Ōme Liner services run on weekday peak periods only. There is one Chūō Liner from Takao for Tokyo in the morning and six in the evenings from Tokyo for Takao and Hachioji and in the past terminating in Ōtsuki. The Ōme Liner has one service during the morning from Ōme and two in the evening from Tokyo. Unlike other rapid services, the Chūō/Ōme Liners require the purchase of a liner ticket in addition to the base fare; all seats are unreserved, but the number of liner tickets sold is limited to the number of seats available. Liner services are provided by E257 series 11-car or 9-car EMUs (introduced in July 2002) and E351 series 12-car EMUs (introduced in March 2008).

Chūō Liners stop at: Tokyo - Shinjuku - Tachikawa - Hachiōji - (Takao) Ōme Liners stops at: Tokyo - Shinjuku - Tachikawa - Haijima - Kabe - Ōme

All stations are located in Tokyo.

For information on the Chūō Line west of Takao, please see the Chūō Main Line article.

Information on the Azusa, Kaiji, and other limited express and seasonal trains can be found on their respective pages.

Legend

●・○: All trains stop (○: mornings and evenings only)

｜: All trains pass

◆: All trains pass on weekends and holidays

◇: Outbound trains originating from Shinjuku pass

∥: Trains do not run over this section of track

Rolling stock

Rapid・Commuter Special Rapid・Chūō Special Rapid・Ōme Special Rapid ・Commuter Rapid

E233 series (from December 2006)

Chūō Liner / Ōme Liner

E257 series (from July 2002)

E351 series (from March 15, 2008)

Rolling stock used in past

72 series

101 series

103 series

201 series

Chūō Liner / Ōme Liner

183 series (March 14, 1991 - March 14, 2008)

History

Most of the route of the Chūō Line (Rapid) was built by the Kōbu Railway and later acquired by the Japanese Government Railways in 1906.

Operation of electric multiple unit (EMU) trains on the Chūō Main Line began in 1904. By 1930, the EMU service had reached Tokyo to the east and Asakawa (now Takao) to the west. In 1933, two tracks were added to the existing double-tracked section between Ochanomizu and Iidamachi stations (later closed) to complete the four-track line between Ochanomizu and Nakano. On these additional tracks, express trains (急行電車, kyūkō densha), which skipped all stations except Yotsuya and Shinjuku, were introduced the same year. The express service was renamed "Rapid" (快速, kaisoku) service in March 1961.

Initially, the operation of express/rapid services was limited to weekday peak periods only. Express service began on weekends on March 5, 1944; daytime non-peak operation began on November 9, 1959, but it was limited to weekdays only until April 28, 1966.

Manseibashi Station, located between Kanda and Ochanomizu, was closed in 1943. On the section east of Takao, only Nishi-Kokubunji Station (opened in 1973) and Nishi-Hachiōji Station (opened in 1939) were opened after the start of rapid services.

August 20, 1979: 201 series EMUs introduced

March 16, 1991: Ohayō Liner Takao/Ōme and Home Liner Takao/Ōme begin operation

April 10, 1993: Kokubunji Station added to Ōme Special Rapid stops; Commuter Special Rapid begins operation

December 1, 1997: Chūō Main Line-bound 115 series EMUs no longer service Shinjuku Station

October 5, 2005: Women-only cars introduced

December 26, 2006: E233 series EMUs introduced

Future developments

In February 2015, JR East announced plans to introduce Green (first class) cars on Chuo Line (Rapid) and Ome Line services from fiscal 2020. This will involve adding two bilevel Green cars to 10-car E233 series EMU sets, forming 12-car sets. Work will be involved in lengthening station platforms and depot facilities to handle the longer trains.

High suicide rate

The Chuo Rapid Line is known for a high number of suicides, primarily due to the high speed at which some trains pass through stations on the line.