Tokyo subway

Tokyo Subway
Background
Locale	Tokyo, Japan
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	13
Number of stations	290
Daily ridership	8.7 million
Operation
Began operation	December 30, 1927
Operator(s)	Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd., Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei)
Technical
System length	310.3 km (192.8 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (1,435 mm for Ginza, Marunouchi, Toei Asakusa & Toei Ōedo Lines, 1,372 mm for Toei Shinjuku Line)
System map

The history of Tokyo Subway

The Tokyo subway (東京の地下鉄, Tōkyō no chikatetsu^?) is an integral part of the world's most extensive rapid transit system in a single metropolitan area, Greater Tokyo^{[citation needed]}. While the subway system itself is largely within the city center, the lines extend far out via extensive through services onto suburban railway lines.

Networks [edit]

As of 2013, the entire network of Tokyo Metro and Toei has 290 stations and 13 lines. The Tokyo Metro and Toei networks together carry a combined average of over eight million passengers daily.^[1] Despite being ranked first in worldwide subway usage, subways make up a small fraction of heavy rail rapid transit in Tokyo alone—only 274 out of 882 railway stations, as of 2007.^[2] The Tokyo subway at 8.7 million daily passengers only represents 22% of Tokyo's 40 million daily rail passengers (see Transport in Greater Tokyo).^[3]

There are two primary subway operators in Tokyo:

• Tokyo Metro. Formerly Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA), privatized in 2004 and presently operating 184 stations and nine lines. The minimum price for one ride is 160 yen.
• Toei Subway (Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation). An arm of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, operates 106 stations in four lines. The minimum price for one ride is 170 yen.

Line color	Mark	Line number	Line	Japanese
Tokyo Metro
orange		Line 3	Ginza Line	銀座線
red		Line 4	Marunouchi Line	丸ノ内線
			Marunouchi Line Branch Line	丸ノ内線分岐線
silver		Line 2	Hibiya Line	日比谷線
sky blue		Line 5	Tōzai Line	東西線
green		Line 9	Chiyoda Line	千代田線
gold		Line 8	Yūrakuchō Line	有楽町線
purple		Line 11	Hanzōmon Line	半蔵門線
teal		Line 7	Namboku Line	南北線
brown		Line 13	Fukutoshin Line	副都心線
Toei Subway
rose		Line 1	Asakusa Line	浅草線
blue		Line 6	Mita Line	三田線
leaf green		Line 10	Shinjuku Line	新宿線
ruby		Line 12	Ōedo Line	大江戸線

In addition, but not formally designated as subways:

• The Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (TWR) operates a single mostly-underground line with eight stations, and 200,200 daily passengers in 2010 ^[4]
• Saitama Railway Line which is essentially an extension of the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line operates a single mostly-underground line with eight stations.

The Yamanote Line and the Chūō-Sōbu Line are not subway lines, but above-ground busy commuter lines which operate with metro-like frequencies and trains owned by JR East. They act as key transportation arteries in central Tokyo, and are often marked on Tokyo subway maps.

The Yokohama Subway, Minatomirai Line (and the planned Kawasaki Subway) also operate in the Greater Tokyo Area, but they are not directly linked to the Tokyo subway network. However, on special occasions (typically holiday weekends), the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line and Namboku Line operate special Minato Mirai (みなとみらい号, Minatomirai-gō^?) direct through services onto Yokohama's Minatomirai Line via the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line railway. From 2013, the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line will also have regular through service to the Minatomirai Line.

System administration [edit]

Both Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway systems are closely integrated with a unified system of line colors, line codes, and station numbers. However, the separate administration of metro systems has some ramifications:

• For single rides across Metro and Toei systems, a special transfer ticket is required. It costs 70 yen less than the sum of the Metro fare and the Toei fare, calculated based on the shortest possible route between the origin and destination stations.^[5] The Passnet system simplified such ticketing problems, by allowing one stored-fare card to be used on most of the rail operators in the Greater Tokyo Area (with the noticeable exception of JR East which continued to use its own Suica system). The new PASMO system was introduced in 2007 and completely replaced the Passnet in 2008, finally allowing for one unified stored fare system for most of the Tokyo transit system, including JR East. The fare charged by the stored fare system is the same as for the users of paper tickets.
• The systems represent the metro network differently in station, train, and customer information diagrams. For example, the Toei map represents the Toei Ōedo Line as a circle in the centre, whereas the Tokyo Metro's map saves the central ring line for the Marunouchi Line and the JR Yamanote Line. As well, each system's lines are generally rendered with thicker lines on their respective system maps.

Reciprocal operation [edit]

As is common with Japanese subway systems, many above-ground and underground lines in the Greater Tokyo Area operate through services with the Tokyo Metro and Toei lines, in a broader sense they are considered a part of the Tokyo subway network, allowing it to reach farther out into the suburbs.

Tokyo Metro [edit]

Toei Subway [edit]

1995 sarin attack [edit]

In 1995, Aum Shinri Kyo, a doomsday cult, attacked the subway system with sarin nerve gas at Kasumigaseki Station and a few others, leading to 12 deaths and 1,034 people injured.

See also [edit]

• Tokyo Metropolitan Subway Construction Company

References [edit]

Further reading [edit]

• Gibson, William (1999). All Tomorrow's Parties. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-14579-6. 
• Wolf, Michael (2010). Tokyo Compression. Hong Kong & Berlin: Asia One Books & Peperoni Books. ISBN 978-3-941825-08-6. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tokyo Subway

• Combined Metro and Toei map (PDF)
• Urbanrail.net page on Tokyo subways
• Rail & Subway Map Central Tokyo online map

v t e Mass transit in the Greater Tokyo Area JR East lines (Tokyo urban/suburban area) ■ Chūō ■ Rapid ■ Local ■ Hachikō ■ Itsukaichi ■ Jōban ■ Karasuyama ■ Kawagoe ■ Keihin-Tōhoku ■ Keiyō ■ Mito ■ Musashino ■ Nambu ■ Narita ■ Negishi ■ Nikkō ■ Ōme ■ Ryōmō ■ Sagami ■ Saikyō Akabane ■ ■ Shōnan-Shinjuku ■ Sōbu ■ Rapid ■ Local ■ Sotobō ■ Takasaki ■ Tōgane ■ Tōhoku Utsunomiya ■ Tōkaidō ■ Tsurumi ■ Uchibō ■ Yamanote ■ Yokohama ■ Yokosuka Tokyo Metro lines Chiyoda Fukutoshin Ginza Hibiya Marunouchi Namboku Tōzai Yūrakuchō Hanzōmon Toei subway lines Asakusa Ōedo Mita Shinjuku Major private lines Keikyu Keikyū Main Airport Daishi Kurihama Zushi Keio Keio Keio New Dōbutsuen Inokashira Keibajō Sagamihara Takao Keisei Keisei Main Chiba Chihara Higashi-Narita Kanamachi Narita Sky Access Oshiage Odakyu Enoshima Odawara Tama Seibu Ikebukuro lines ■ Ikebukuro ■ Sayama ■ Seibu Chichibu ■ Seibu Yūrakucho ■ Toshima Shinjuku Lines ■ Shinjuku ■ Haijima ■ Kokubunji ■ Seibu-en ■ Tamagawa ■ Tamako Sotetsu Sotetsu Main Izumino Tobu Tobu main lines Daishi Isesaki Kameido Kinugawa Kiryū Koizumi Nikkō Noda Sano Skytree Utsunomiya Tojo lines Tojo Ogose Tokyu ■ Den-en-toshi ■ Ikegami ■ Meguro ■ Oimachi ■ Tokyu Tamagawa ■ Toyoko Other commuter rail lines Hokusō Kantō Jōsō Ryūgasaki Nagareyama Rinkai Saitama Rapid Shibayama Shin-Keisei Tōyō Rapid Tsukuba Express Minatomirai Kodomonokuni Minatomirai 21 Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Green Other lines Monorails Chiba Monorail Disney Resort Shōnan Monorail Tama Monorail Tokyo Monorail People movers New Shuttle Seaside Nippori-Toneri Yamaguchi Yūkarigaoka Yurikamome Streetcars ■ Enoden ■ Setagaya ■ Toden Arakawa Cable cars and aerial tramways Ōyama Cable Car Hodosan Ropeway Takaotozan Railway Nokogiriyama Ropeway Mount Tsukuba Cable Car Mount Tsukuba Ropeway Akechidaira Ropeway Ikaho Ropeway Mitake Tozan Cable Car Fuji-Hakone-Izu subregion 3 cable 5 ropeways 5 rail lines Major terminals Rail Akihabara Chiba Ikebukuro Kawasaki Kita-Senju Ōmiya Ōtemachi Shibuya Shinagawa Shinjuku Tachikawa Tokyo Ueno Yokohama Airports Haneda Int'l Narita Int'l Chofu Ibaraki Ports Yokohama Tokyo Miscellaneous Shinkansen Pasmo Suica Transportation in Greater Tokyo Rail transport in Japan Construction projects Sōtetsu JR Link Line Tōhoku Through Line