Tobu Kinugawa Line

The line began not as a railway but as a 762 mm gauge tramway. Its forerunner was a tramway that carried materials for building a power station, and in 1915 Shimotsuke Tramway (下野軌道) was incorporated to build the line. The first public section, from Daiya-mukō-Imaichi to Nakaiwa, opened on 2 January 1917 with steam traction. A local mining boom prompted an extension later that year, further sections opened in 1919, and by the start of 1920 the through route from Shin-Imaichi to Fujiwara was complete.

The operator took the name Shimotsuke Electric Railway (下野電気鉄道) on 6 June 1921, and in March 1922 the whole line was electrified at 600 V DC and converted from a tramway into a railway, with several stations renamed in the process. Through the 1920s the company added and renamed stations, and in 1927 the station serving the hot springs was renamed Kinugawa Onsen.

Two upgrades followed at the turn of the decade. On 22 October 1929 operation on 1,067 mm gauge began in place of the original 762 mm between Shimo-Imaichi and Shin-Takatoku, and a realigned route at the southern end tied the line directly into the Tobu Nikkō Line at Shimo-Imaichi. The rest of the line, from Shin-Takatoku to Shin-Fujiwara, was converted on 9 May 1930. In 1931 the supply voltage was raised from 600 V to 1,500 V, since 600 V would have hindered future through running.

On 1 May 1943 the Shimotsuke Electric Railway was bought by Tobu Railway, and the route took its present identity as the Tobu Kinugawa Line. As a Tobu line it became a destination for limited expresses from Tokyo: a weekend limited express to Kinugawa Onsen ran from 1948, and the "Kinu" limited express (鬼怒, later written in hiragana as きぬ) was introduced in 1949. Over the following decades stations were suspended, reopened, relocated and closed; in 1964 the former Kinu-Tateiwa station became a signal point and Kinugawa Onsen station was relocated, the short double-track section dating from this work.

The line's reach northward was extended by connections with neighbouring railways. On 9 October 1986 the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line opened beyond Shin-Fujiwara and through services with Tobu began, and from 12 October 1990 those services were extended over the newly electrified Aizu Railway Aizu Line toward Aizu-Tajima. At the Tokyo end, direct limited expresses to and from Shinjuku over JR tracks — the "Kinugawa" and "Spacia Kinugawa" services — were inaugurated on 18 March 2006, giving the onsen resort a one-seat link to Tokyo via JR as well as Tobu's own Asakusa route. Tobu-wide station numbering, with the orange "TN" prefix, was applied from 17 March 2012.

In the 2010s the line was developed as a sightseeing route. Tōbu World Square Station opened on 22 July 2017, and on 10 August 2017 Tobu inaugurated the "SL Taiju" steam service over the roughly 12.4 km between Shimo-Imaichi and Kinugawa Onsen. Its first locomotive was C11 207, a former JNR Class C11 leased from JR Hokkaido, and C11 325 of the same class also hauls the train. Turntables and an engine shed were planned to support the service. Regular diesel-hauled "DL Taiju" services began in 2020. Limited expresses and local trains make up most of the line's services.

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

• Daiyamuko大谷向
• Kinugawa-Koen鬼怒川公園
• Kinugawa-onsen鬼怒川温泉
• Kosagoe小佐越
• Okuwa (Tochigi)大桑
• Shimo-Imaichi下今市
• Shin-Takatoku新高徳
• Shinfujiwara新藤原
• Tobu World Square東武ワールドスクウェア

• 1915Shimotsuke Tramway (下野軌道) is incorporated to build a 762 mm gauge tramway in the Kinugawa area (succeeding an industrial tramway used for power-station construction).
• 19172 January: the first section, Daiya-mukō-Imaichi to Nakaiwa, opens as a steam-hauled 762 mm gauge tramway.
• 1919/1920The Shin-Imaichi–Fujiwara through line is completed after stage-by-stage extensions through 1917–1919. The year is given as 1919 or 1920.
• 19216 June: the operator is renamed the Shimotsuke Electric Railway (下野電気鉄道).
• 1922March: the whole line is electrified at 600 V DC and converted from a tramway to a railway; several stations are renamed.
• 192719 February: the station serving the hot springs (former Ōtaki) is renamed Kinugawa Onsen.
• 192922 October: operation on 1,067 mm gauge begins in place of 762 mm, and the realigned route is tied directly into the Tobu Nikkō Line at Shimo-Imaichi.
• 19309 May: the gauge conversion to 1,067 mm is completed through to Shin-Fujiwara.
• 1931The supply voltage is raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC.
• 19431 May: the Shimotsuke Electric Railway is purchased by Tobu Railway; the route becomes the Tobu Kinugawa Line.
• 19648 October: Kinu-Tateiwa station becomes a signal point and Kinugawa Onsen station is relocated; the 0.8 km double-track section dates from this work.
• 19869 October: the Yagan Railway Aizu Kinugawa Line opens beyond Shin-Fujiwara and through services with Tobu begin.
• 199012 October: through services are extended over the newly electrified Aizu Railway Aizu Line toward Aizu-Tajima.
• 200618 March: direct limited expresses to/from Shinjuku over JR tracks ("Kinugawa" and "Spacia Kinugawa") are inaugurated.
• 201217 March: Tobu-wide station numbering is introduced, the Kinugawa Line taking the orange "TN" prefix.
• 201722 July: Tōbu World Square Station opens; 10 August: the "SL Taiju" steam service begins over the ~12.4 km Shimo-Imaichi–Kinugawa Onsen section, hauled by former JNR Class C11 locomotive C11 207 (leased from JR Hokkaido).