Toei Asakusa Line

; Asakusa Line; 浅草線
	; Toei 5300 series EMU bound for Nishi-Magome Station
Overview
Type	Heavy rail rapid transit
Locale	Tokyo
Termini	Nishi-Magome; Oshiage
Stations	20
Operation
Opened	1960
Owner	Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei)
Depot(s)	Magome
Technical
Line length	18.4 km (11.4 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed	70 km/h (43 mph)
Route map

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Toei Asakusa Line (through services)

Legend

The Toei Asakusa Line (都営地下鉄浅草線, Toei Chikatetsu Asakusa-sen^?) is a subway line of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) network in Tokyo, Japan. The line runs between Nishi-Magome in Ōta and Oshiage in Sumida. The Asakusa Line was the first subway line in Japan to offer through services with a private railway. Today, it has more through services to other lines than any other subway line in Tokyo. The Keihin Electric Express Railway (Keikyū) operates through trains on the Keikyū Main Line to Misakiguchi and the Keikyū Airport Line to Haneda Airport. The Keisei Electric Railway operates through trains on the Keisei Oshiage Line to Inba-Nihon-Idai and the Keisei Main Line to Narita Airport, and the Shibayama Railway runs trains via the Keisei Main Line and the Shibayama Railway Line to Shibayama-Chiyoda.

On maps and signboards, the line is shown in "rose" (O). Stations carry the letter A followed by a two-digit number.

[edit] History

The Toei Asakusa Line was the first subway line constructed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Its planning name is Line 1: it was later named after the famous Asakusa district of Tokyo. In its original plan form, the line would have actually bypassed Asakusa Station entirely. However, the plan was changed to take advantage of the existing Tōbu Isesaki Line and Tokyo Metro Ginza Line connections at Asakusa.

The initial 3.2 km segment between Oshiage and Asakusabashi opened on December 4, 1960. The line then opened in stages from north to south:

May 1962: Asakusabashi to Higashi-Nihonbashi
September 1962: Higashi-Nihonbashi to Ningyōchō
February 1963: Ningyōchō to Higashi-Ginza
December 1963: Higashi-Ginza to Shinbashi
October 1964: Shinbashi to Daimon
June 1968: Daimon to Sengakuji (Through service with Keikyū begins)
November 15, 1968: Sengakuji to Nishi-Magome

From 1998 to 2002, the Asakusa Line was used as part of a rail connection between Tokyo's two major airports, Haneda and Narita. While a few trains still run between the airports (see below), the service has greatly diminished in frequency since 2002.

In 2005, a research group of government, metropolitan and railway company officials proposed that the Asakusa Line be connected to Tōkyō Station via a spur to the north of Takarachō Station. This would provide Tōkyō Station's first direct connection to the Toei subway network. It would also make it possible to reach Haneda Airport in 25 minutes (versus 35 minutes today) and Narita Airport in 40 minutes (versus 57 minutes today).^[1] This plan has yet to be finalized or formally adopted.

[edit] Services

Local trains operate between Nishi-Magome and Sengakuji approximately every ten minutes and are timed to connect to Keikyu through service trains at Sengakuji.
Rapid service (快速 kaisoku) trains operate between Nishi-Magome and Keisei Sakura Station approximately every twenty minutes. They make all station stops on the Asakusa Line.
Limited express (快特 kaitoku) trains operate approximately every twenty minutes. They generally use Keikyu rolling stock and have a southern terminus at　Misakiguchi Station or Keikyu Kurihama Station. They operate as limited express trains only on the Keikyu line, and provide local service on the Asakusa Line and Keisei Oshiage Line. Their northern terminus is generally either Aoto Station or Keisei Takasago Station.
Airport express (エアポート急行 eapōto kyūkō) trains operate approximately every twenty minutes and make all stops (local service) on the Asakusa Line, providing express service on the Keikyu line between Sengakuji and Haneda Airport. Their northern terminus is usually either Inzai-Makinohara Station or Inba-Nihon-Idai Station on the Hokuso Railway.
Airport limited express (エアポート快特 eapōto kaitoku) trains operate approximately every twenty minutes, and skip certain stations while operating on the Asakusa Line. Their northern terminus alternates between "Access Express" (アクセス急行 akusesu kyūkō) service to Narita International Airport and local service to either Aoto or Takasago. The total travel time from Haneda Airport to Narita Airport on this train is approximately one hour and 46 minutes.

[edit] Station list

All stations are located in Tokyo.
The Airport Limited Express stops at stations marked "●", skips those marked "|". All other services stop at every station.

Station Number	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Airport Ltd. Exp.	Transfers	Location
Station Number	Station	Japanese	Between Stations	Total	Airport Ltd. Exp.	Transfers	Location
A-01	Nishi-Magome	西馬込	-	0.0	Keikyū Main Line Thru to Airport Line		Ōta
A-02	Magome	馬込	1.2	1.2			Ōta
A-03	Nakanobu	中延	0.9	2.1		Tōkyū Ōimachi Line	Shinagawa
A-04	Togoshi	戸越	1.1	3.2
A-05	Gotanda	五反田	1.6	4.8		Yamanote Line Tōkyū Ikegami Line
A-06	Takanawadai	高輪台	0.7	5.5			Minato
Keikyū through services:					○Via the Main Line & Airport Line to/from Haneda Airport ○Via the Zushi Line from Shin-Zushi (northbound only) ○Via the Main Line from Uraga (northbound only; southbound trains for Kurihama Line via Horinouchi) ○Via the Main Line & Kurihama Line to/from Misakiguchi
A-07	Sengakuji	泉岳寺	1.4	6.9	●	Keikyū Main Line (Through service to lines/stations listed above)	Minato
A-08	Mita	三田	1.1	8.0	●	Toei Mita Line (I-04) Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line (Tamachi)
A-09	Daimon	大門	1.5	9.5	●	Toei Ōedo Line (E-20) Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line (Hamamatsuchō) Tokyo Monorail (Hamamatsuchō)
A-10	Shimbashi	新橋	1.0	10.5	●	Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (G-08) Tōkaidō Main Line, Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Yokosuka Line Yurikamome (U-01)
A-11	Higashi-Ginza	東銀座	0.9	11.4	｜	Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-09) Underground passage to Ginza, Hibiya and Yūrakuchō stations	Chūō
A-12	Takarachō	宝町	0.8	12.2	｜
A-13	Nihombashi	日本橋	0.8	13.0	●	Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (G-11), Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line (T-10)
A-14	Ningyōchō	人形町	0.8	13.8	｜	Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-13)
A-15	Higashi-Nihombashi	東日本橋	0.7	14.5	●	Toei Shinjuku Line (Bakuro-Yokoyama: S-09) Sōbu Line (Rapid) (Bakurochō)
A-16	Asakusabashi	浅草橋	0.7	15.2	｜	Chūō-Sōbu Line	Taitō
A-17	Kuramae	蔵前	0.7	15.9	｜	Toei Ōedo Line (E-11)
A-18	Asakusa	浅草	0.9	16.8	●	Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (G-19) Tōbu Isesaki Line
A-19	Honjo-Azumabashi	本所吾妻橋	0.7	17.5	｜		Sumida
A-20	Oshiage	押上	0.8	18.3	●	Keisei Oshiage Line (through service to lines/stations listed below) Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line (Z-14) Tōbu Isesaki Line	Sumida
Keisei through services:					○Via the Main Line to/from Narita Airport ○Via the Main Line & Hokusō Railway to/from Inba-Nihon-Idai ○Via the Main Line & Shibayama Railway to/from Shibayama-Chiyoda