Chuo Line

"Chuo" in Japanese means 'Central' but actually this line serves the west of Tokyo and eventually heads out into the central part of Honshu and Yamanashi Prefecture. It's a curious animal somehow. At Tokyo Station the Chuo Line is platfoms 1 and 2 and they are about 30' higher than the main part of the station. Trains come out down the ramp northwards and run due north for about a mile before curving west to follow the line of what was once the vast moat of Edo Castle for a few miles to Shinjuku.

Along the line of the moat the tracks run beside the Sobu line. This is Ichigaya Station - our Sobu locals stop here but the Chou Line by-passes the station as a fast line.

Most Chuo Line 'locals' are made up of 102 Class trains which handle a lot of the Tokyo commuter traffic. Here's one on a steamy evening last week, the hot dull weather so typical of Manto in July. But occasionally long distance expresses also weave their way between these trains, notably the 'Super Azusa' units headed for Kofu.

This must be one of the busiest stretches of railway in the world. In the rush hour services run here on a three minute headway on each line, so that's a train passing every forty seconds or so!