The Tōkaidō Main Line (東海道本線 Tōkaidō-honsen) is the busiest trunk line of JR, connecting Tokyo Station and Kobe Station. It is 589.5 km long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The Tokaido Shinkansen runs largely parallel to the line.
The term "Tokaido Main Line" is largely a holdover from pre-Shinkansen days: now, various portions of the line have different names, which are officially used in JR. Today, there are no passenger trains that operate over the entire length of the line (other than certain overnight services; see below), so longer intercity trips require several transfers along the way.
The Tokaido Main Line is operated by three JR companies:
- East Japan Railway Company (Tokyo-Atami)
- Central Japan Railway Company (Atami-Maibara)
- West Japan Railway Company (Maibara-Kobe)
Table of contents |
2 Trains |
Stations
Tokyo Area
The section of the Tokaido Main Line nearest Tokyo has several overlapping names. The Tokyo-Yokohama portion is part of the Keihin-Tohoku Line, while the Tsurumi-Ofuna stretch is part of the Yokosuka Line, and the Shimbashi-Ofuna stretch is part of the Shonan-Shinjuku Line. Many Japanese rail fans call trains on the eastern section "Shonan densha" to avoid confusion.Tokaido Line
Biwako Line
Past Maibara, the Biwako Line also turns into the Hokuriku Line.Kyoto Line
Kobe Line
The JR Kobe Line continues as far west as Himeji Station, although the Kobe-Himeji portion is technically part of the Sanyo Main Line (which goes all the way to Fukuoka's Hakata Station).
- Osaka Station
- Tsukamoto Station
- Amagasaki Station
- Tachibana Station
- Koshienguchi Station
- Nishinomiya Station
- Ashiya Station
- Konan-Yamate Station
- Settsu-Motoyama Station
- Sumiyoshi Station
- Rokkomichi Station
- Nada Station
- Sannomiya Station
- Motomachi Station
- Kobe Station
Trains
In addition to standard local, rapid, and special rapid service trains, the Tokaido Line also hosts a number of limited express services.
Daytime trains
Overnight trains
Most overnight trains on the Tokaido Line go from Tokyo to western Honshu, or even as far as Kyushu.
- Asakaze (Tokyo-Shimonoseki)
- Fuji (Tokyo-Oita)
- Hayabusa (Tokyo-Kumamoto)
- Moonlight Nagara (Tokyo-Ogaki)