EMUs, rebuilt from 5400 series, from March 1971 until 1992 3070 series EMUs, rebuilt from 5300 series, from 1974 until 1992 5000 series 6-car (including 2+4-car) EMUs, rebuilt from 7800 series, from March 1983 until November 1994 2080 series 6-car EMUs x2, from May 1988 until November 1992 History The line first opened as the on 9 May 1911, from Kashiwa to Nodamachi (now Nodashi), a distance of 14.7 kilometres (9 miles 10 chains) using steam haulage. In 1923, the line was privatized and the operator was named (separate from the present Hokusō Railway), and also opened its own line from Funabashi Station to Kashiwa Station, a distance of 19.6 km (12 mi 14 ch). The company gradually extended the line to Ōmiya, and changed its name in 1929 to (not to be confused with the present Sōbu Main Line). The line was completed in 1930 with the completion of the bridge over the Edo River. On 1 March 1944, the company merged with the Tobu Railway, and the line became the Tobu Noda Line. 6-car trains were introduced from November 1972. Electrification was commenced in 1929 between Kasukabe and Ōmiya, and while the section from Kashiwa to Funabashi was still unelectrified when the operation of the line was taken over by Tobu in 1944, the remaining section was electrified by 1 March 1947. The Omiya to Kasukabe section was double-tracked between 1957 and 2011, the Nodashi to Umesato section in 2011, the Unga to Sakasai section between 1960 and 1991, and the Mutsumi to Funabashi section between 1964 and 1999. Six-car 8000 series EMUs were phased in from 1997, displaced by new 30000 series EMUs introduced on the Tobu Isesaki Line. The last remaining 5070 series EMUs were withdrawn from the start of the revised timetable on 19 October 2004, and the line's maximum speed was raised from 90 km/h to 100 km/h at the same time. From 17 March 2012, station numbering was introduced on all Tobu lines, with Noda Line stations receiving numbers prefixed with the letters "TD". From 1 April 2014, the line was rebranded the . See also List of railway lines in Japan References External links Tobu Urban Park Line information page Urban Park Line Rail transport in Saitama Prefecture Railway lines in Chiba Prefecture Railway lines opened in 1911 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan 1911 establishments in Japan