# Tobu Kinugawa Line

The Tobu Kinugawa Line (東武鬼怒川線, Tōbu Kinugawa-sen) is a 16.2 km (10.1 mi) long Japanese railway line from Shimo-Imaichi Station to Shin-Fujiwara Station in Nikkō, Tochigi. It is owned and operated by the private railway operator Tobu Railway.
At Shimo-Imaichi Station it connects with the Tobu Nikko Line. At Shin-Fujiwara Station it connects with the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line. Some trains goes beyond the Aizu Kinugawa Line terminus at Aizu-Kōgen Oze-guchi Station onto the Aizu Railway Aizu Line.
The line runs surcharged, reserved-seat limited express services from and to Asakusa and Shinjuku in Tokyo.
The whole line is electrified at 1,500 V DC, but it is single tracked except for a 0.8 km (0.50 mi) double-tracked section at Kinugawa-Onsen Station.

## Stations

All stations are located within Nikkō, Tochigi.
| No. | Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Distance (km) | SPACIA | JR | Revaty Aizu | Revaty Kinu | SL&DL Taiju | Ozatoro Tenbō Ressha YUMEGURI | Transfers |
| No. | Station | Japanese | Between stations | Total | SPACIA | JR | Revaty Aizu | Revaty Kinu | SL&DL Taiju | Ozatoro Tenbō Ressha YUMEGURI | Transfers |
| TN23 | Shimo-Imaichi | 下今市 | - | 0.0 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | | Tobu Nikko Line |
| TN51 | Daiya-Mukō | 大谷向 | 0.8 | 0.8 | ↕ | ↕ | ◆ | ↕ | ↕ | | |
| TN52 | Ōkuwa | 大桑 | 4.0 | 4.8 | ↕ | ↕ | ◆ | ▲ | ↕ | | |
| TN53 | Shin-Takatoku | 新高徳 | 2.5 | 7.3 | △ | ↕ | ● | ▲ | ↕ | | |
| TN54 | Kosagoe | 小佐越 | 2.6 | 9.9 | ↕ | ↕ | ◆ | ▲ | ↕ | | |
| TN55 | Tobu World Square | 東武ワールドスクウェア | 0.7 | 10.6 | ● | ● | ● | ▲ | ↕ | | |
| TN56 | Kinugawa-Onsen | 鬼怒川温泉 | 1.8 | 12.4 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
| TN57 | Kinugawa-Kōen | 鬼怒川公園 | 2.1 | 14.5 | △ | | ● | | | ↓ | |
| TN58 | Shin-Fujiwara | 新藤原 | 1.7 | 16.2 | △ | | ● | | | ● | Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line |

## History

* 1915: Fujiwara Tramway (藤原軌道株式会社, Fujiwara Kidō Kabushiki-gaisha) was licensed to build a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge steam-hauled tramway. It was renamed Shimotsuke Tramway (下野軌道株式会社, Shimotsuke Kidō Kabushiki-gaisha) in the same year.
* 2 January 1917: A 3.6-mile (5.8 km) section from Daiya-gawa Hokugan Station to Kinugawa Nangan Station was opened. The line was extended a further 2.5 miles (4.0 km) the same year.
* March 1919: Ōhara Station to Shimotaki Station section was opened.
* October 1919: Daiya Mukō Imaichi Station to Shin-Imaichi Station section was opened.
* 1 January 1920: Shimotaki Station to Fujiwara Station section was open to complete the whole 10.9-mile (17.5 km) line.
* 6 June 1921: The company name was renamed Shimotsuke Electric Railway Co., Ltd. (下野電気鉄道株式会社, Shimotsuke Denki Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha).
* 9 March 1922: The whole line was electrified at 600 V DC.
* April 1927: The corporate headquarters was relocated to the Tobu Railway headquarters in Tokyo.
* 22 October 1929: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge operation began on all the line.
* 1931: The voltage was raised to 1,500 V.
* 1 May 1943: Shimotsuke Electric Railway was bought out by Tobu Railway. The line became Tobu Kinugawa Line.
* 9 October 1986: Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line through service began.
* 12 October 1990: Aizu Railway Aizu Line through service to Aizu Tajima Station began.
* 18 March 2006: New Kinugawa services to/from Shinjuku commence.
From 17 March 2012, station numbering was introduced on all Tobu lines, with Tobu Kinugawa Line stations adopting the prefix "TN" in orange.
A new station, called Tobu World Square Station, opened between Kosagoe and Kinugawa-Onsen on 22 July 2017 to serve the nearby Tobu World Square theme park. From this date, Tobu World Square Station was numbered "TN-55", and the station numbers for Kinugawa-Onsen to Shin-Fujiwara were adjusted on 21 April 2017, ahead of the opening.

## Future developments
### Steam-hauled services

Tobu has leased former JNR Class C11 steam locomotive C11 207 from JR Hokkaido for use on the 12.4 km section of the Kinugawa Line between Shimo-Imaichi and Kinugawa-Onsen stations from 10 August 2017. Turntables will also be installed at Shimo-Imaichi and Kinugawa-Onsen to turn the locomotive in service. A two-stall engine shed is also being constructed for the steam loco at Shimo-Imaichi.