Jomo Line

The line grew out of electric-railway plans drawn up in the late 1910s and early 1920s. A construction licence for the first-phase section between Maebashi and Kiryū — together with a projected line from Ōgo via Isesaki to Honjō — was granted on 7 June 1924. The name "Jōmō" was carried over to the company established in 1926, the Jōmō Electric Railway, which built and has operated the line ever since.

The whole line between Chūō-Maebashi and Nishi-Kiryū opened at once on 10 November 1928, electrified from the start at 1,500 V DC. The projected Ōgo–Isesaki–Honjō branch was never built, and its licence was formally allowed to lapse in 1934.

For its first decades the Jōmō Line was a busy local artery, and it gained through connections with the Tōbu Railway network. When Tōbu's Kiryū Line opened in 1932, through trains began running between Ōta and Chūō-Maebashi; that through service was discontinued in 1935. After the Second World War the link was briefly revived in another form, with Tōbu running a weekend "Akagi Yakō" overnight train from Asakusa to Chūō-Maebashi from 1953 and a through express from 1956, services that were withdrawn by the early 1960s. The line itself was damaged by Typhoon Kathleen in September 1947, which closed it entirely before it was reopened in stages, with full service restored on 2 November 1947.

From the 1960s the rapid spread of car ownership in the rural districts along the route eroded ridership outside the student commute. Freight operations ceased on 1 November 1986, leaving the line a passenger-only operation. Its regular trains are second-hand: the 700-series cars are former Keio 3000-series trains, and the 800-series cars are former Tokyo Metro 03-series trains. The railway also keeps one of its original 1928 cars, Deha 100-type No. 101, on its active roster; well maintained, it still runs charter and special services and hauls occasional engineering trains that spread ballast.

The line continued to add and rename stations — among them Higashi-Shinkawa in 1993 and a station serving a hospital in 1994 — and began one-man (driver-only) operation on 1 June 1999. In recent years it has worked towards contactless ticketing, and on 15 January 2026 it introduced the regional-cooperation IC card "nolbé".

23 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

• Akagi (Gunma)赤城
• Akasaka (Gunma)赤坂
• Araya (Gunma)新屋
• Chuo-Maebashi中央前橋
• Egi江木
• Fujiyamashita富士山下
• Higashi-Nikkawa東新川
• Higoshi樋越
• Joto (Gunma)城東
• Kamiizumi上泉
• Kasukawa粕川
• Katakai片貝
• Kiryu-Kyujo-mae桐生球場前
• Kitahara北原
• Maruyama-shita丸山下
• Mitsumata三俣
• Niisato新里
• Nikkawa新川
• Nishi-Kiryu西桐生
• Ogo大胡
• Shinzo-Kekkan Center心臓血管センター
• Tennojuku天王宿
• Zen膳

• 19247 June: a construction licence is granted for the first-phase Maebashi–Kiryū section (and a projected Ōgo–Isesaki–Honjō line).
• 1926The Jōmō Electric Railway company is established, inheriting the 'Jōmō' name.
• 192810 November: the entire Chūō-Maebashi–Nishi-Kiryū line opens at once, electrified at 1,500 V DC.
• 193218 March: Tōbu Railway's Kiryū Line opens and through trains begin running between Ōta and Chūō-Maebashi.
• 193318 December: Akasaka Station opens.
• 193424 November: the construction licence for the unbuilt Ōgo–Honjō branch is allowed to lapse.
• 19351 December: Tōbu discontinues the through service between Ōta and Chūō-Maebashi.
• 193911 July: Kitahara Station opens.
• 1947September: Typhoon Kathleen closes the whole line; service is restored in stages, with full operation resuming on 2 November.
• 195622 December: Tōbu begins running a through express from Asakusa to Chūō-Maebashi (after the weekend 'Akagi Yakō' overnight train started in 1953); these postwar through services end by the early 1960s.
• 19861 November: freight operations cease, leaving the line passenger-only.
• 199319 October: Higashi-Shinkawa Station opens.
• 19991 June: one-man (driver-only) operation begins.
• 202615 January: the line introduces the regional-cooperation IC card 'nolbé'.