Tokyo Metro

Tokyo Metro
Background
Locale	Tokyo metropolitan area
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	9
Number of stations	168
Daily ridership	6.33 million
Website	tokyometro.jp
Operation
Began operation	1927 (1941 as Teito Rapid Transit Authority; 2004 under current name)
Operator(s)	Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. (privately-held company formed in joint partnership by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT))
Technical
Track gauge	1,067 mm (1,435 mm for Ginza & Marunouchi lines)
System map Tokyo Metro lines (Toei and JR lines are shown in faint colours)

Tokyo Metro headquarters above Tokyo Metro Ueno Station

Tokyo Metro (東京メトロ, Tōkyō Metoro) is one of two rapid transit systems making up the Tokyo subway system, the other being Toei. It is the most used subway system in the world in terms of annual passenger rides.

Organization

The old TRTA logo used until 2004

Tokyo Metro is operated by Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. (東京地下鉄株式会社, Tōkyō Chikatetsu Kabushiki-gaisha), a private company jointly owned by the Japanese government and the Tokyo metropolitan government.

The company replaced the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (帝都高速度交通営団, Teito Kōsokudo Kōtsū Eidan), commonly known as Eidan or TRTA, on April 1, 2004. TRTA was administered by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and jointly funded by the national and metropolitan governments. It was formed in 1941, although its oldest lines date back to 1927.

The other metro operator in Tokyo is the government of Tokyo, through the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, which operates the Toei system. Metro and Toei trains form completely separate networks. While users of prepaid rail passes can freely interchange between the two networks, regular ticket holders must purchase a second ticket, or a special transfer ticket, to change from a Toei line to a Metro line and vice versa.

Much effort is made to make the system accessible to non-Japanese speaking users:

• Many train stops are announced in both English and Japanese. Announcements also provide connecting line information.
• Ticket machines can switch between English and Japanese user interfaces.
• Train stations are signposted in English and Japanese (in kanji and hiragana). There are also numerous signs in Chinese (in simplified characters) and Korean.
• Train stations are now also consecutively numbered on each color-coded line, allowing even non-English speakers to be able to commute without necessarily knowing the name of the station. For example, Shinjuku Station on the Marunouchi Line is also signposted as M-08 with a red colored circle surrounding it; even if a commuter could not read the English or Japanese station names on signs or maps, he or she could simply look for the red line and then find the appropriately numbered station on said line.

Many stations are also designed to help blind people as railings often have Braille at their base.

Tokyo Metro stations began accepting PASMO contactless cards in March 2007.

The Tokyo Metro is extremely punctual and has regular trains arriving less than five minutes apart most of the day and night. However, it does not run 24 hours a day. Lines tend to stop service at between midnight and 1:00am and commence again at approximately 5:00am.

Tokyo Metro indicated in its public share offering that it would cease construction once the Fukutoshin Line is completed. Some therefore expect that the line will be the final expansion to the Tokyo Metro network, although several lines such as the Hanzōmon Line have yet to be completed as planned.

Traffic

According to the company, an average of 6.33 million people used the company's nine subway routes each day in 2009. The company made a profit of ¥63.5 billion in 2009.

Lines

Main data

Line color	Mark	Line number	Line	Japanese	Route	Stations served	Length	Opened	Gauge	Current supply
orange		Line 3	Ginza Line	銀座線	Shibuya to Asakusa	19	14.3 km	1927	1,435 mm	600 V DC, third rail
red		Line 4	Marunouchi Line	丸ノ内線	Ogikubo to Ikebukuro	28	24.2 km	1954
			Marunouchi Line Branch Line	丸ノ内線分岐線	Nakano-Sakaue to Hōnanchō	4	3.2 km	1962
silver		Line 2	Hibiya Line	日比谷線	Naka-Meguro to Kita-Senju	21	20.3 km	1961	1,067 mm	1,500 V DC, overhead supply
sky blue		Line 5	Tōzai Line	東西線	Nakano to Nishi-Funabashi	23	30.8 km	1964
green		Line 9	Chiyoda Line	千代田線	Yoyogi-Uehara to Kita-Ayase	20	24.0 km	1969
yellow		Line 8	Yūrakuchō Line	有楽町線	Wakōshi to Shin-Kiba	24	28.3 km	1974
purple		Line 11	Hanzōmon Line	半蔵門線	Shibuya to Oshiage	14	16.8 km	1978
dark aqua		Line 7	Namboku Line	南北線	Meguro to Akabane-Iwabuchi	19	21.3 km	1991
brown		Line 13	Fukutoshin Line	副都心線	Wakōshi to Shibuya	16	20.2 km	2008

Through services to other lines

	Line	Through Lines
G	Ginza Line	none
M	Marunouchi Line
H	Hibiya Line	Tōkyū Tōyoko Line ( Naka-Meguro to Kikuna)
		Tōbu Isesaki Line ( Kita-Senju to Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen)
T	Tōzai Line	JR East Chūō-Sōbu Line (Chūō Main Line) ( Nakano to Mitaka)
		JR East Chūō-Sōbu Line (Sōbu Main Line) ( Nishi-Funabashi to Tsudanuma)
		Toyo Rapid Line (Nishi-Funabashi to Tōyō-Katsutadai)
C	Chiyoda Line	Odakyu Odawara Line and Odakyu Tama Line (Yoyogi-Uehara to Karakida and Hon-Atsugi)
		JR East Jōban Line (Ayase to Toride)
Y	Yūrakuchō Line	Tōbu Tōjō Line (Wakōshi to Shinrinkōen)
		Seibu Yūrakuchō Line via the Seibu Ikebukuro Line (Kotake-Mukaihara Station to Hannō)
Z	Hanzōmon Line	Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line (Shibuya to Chūō-Rinkan)
		Tōbu Isesaki Line and Tobu Nikkō Line (Oshiage to Minami-Kurihashi and Kuki)
N	Namboku Line	Tokyu Meguro Line (Meguro to Hiyoshi)
		Saitama Rapid Railway Line (Akabane-Iwabuchi to Urawa-Misono)
F	Fukutoshin Line	Tōbu and Seibu line (same stations served as the Yūrakuchō Line)
		Minatomirai Line via Tōkyū Tōyoko Line (Shibuya to Motomachi-Chūkagai, planned and under construction)

• Namboku Line shares tracks of the section from Meguro to Shirokane-Takanawa with Toei Mita Line, 2.3 km.

Stations

The busiest stations in the Tokyo Metro network in 2009 were: (station statistics for subway passengers only)

Station	Average passengers per day
Ikebukuro Station	482,723
Kita-Senju Station	299,196
Ōtemachi Station	280,381
Ginza Station	256,452
Shibuya Station	223,307
Shinjuku Station	219,606
Shimbashi Station	217,641
Ueno Station	207,635
Takadanobaba Station	185,153
Nihombashi Station	174,693

Other major transfer stations include Akasaka-mitsuke, Hibiya, Kasumigaseki, Kudanshita, Nagatachō, Omotesandō, Tameike-Sannō and Yotsuya.

Depots

Name	Location	Car Series Housed	Lines
Ueno	Taitō, north of Ueno Station	01	Ginza
Shibuya	Shibuya, west of Shibuya Station	01	Ginza
Nakano	Nakano, south of Nakano-Fujimichō Station	01, 02	Marunouchi, Ginza
Koishikawa	Bunkyō, between Myōgadani Station and Kōrakuen Station	01, 02	Marunouchi
Senju	Arakawa, north of Minami-Senju Station	03	Hibiya
Takenotsuka	Adachi, south of Takenotsuka Station	03	Hibiya
Fukagawa	Kōtō, south of Tōyōchō Station	05, 07	Tōzai
Gyōtoku	Ichikawa, south of Myōden Station	None (inspections only)	Tōzai
Ayase	Adachi, north of Kita-Ayase Station	06, 5000, 6000	Chiyoda, Namboku, Yūrakuchō, Saitama Rapid
Wakō	Wakō, north of Wakō-shi Station	7000, 10000	Fukutoshin, Yūrakuchō
Shin-Kiba	Kōtō, southeast of Shin-Kiba Station	None (inspection and renovation only)	Chiyoda, Hanzōmon, Namboku, Tōzai, Yūrakuchō
Saginuma	Kawasaki, inside Saginuma Station	08, 8000	Hanzōmon
Ōji	Kita, north of Ōji-Kamiya Station	9000	Namboku

Rolling stock

A 01 series train for Shibuya at Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line

Tokyo Metro owns the following types of rolling stock.

• 01 series – Ginza Line
• 02 series – Marunouchi Line
• 03 series – Hibiya Line
• 05 series – Tōzai Line
• 06 series – Chiyoda Line
• 07 series – Tōzai Line
• 08 series – Hanzōmon Line
• 5000 series – Chiyoda Line
• 6000 series – Chiyoda Line
• 7000 series – Yūrakuchō Line, Fukutoshin Line
• 8000 series – Hanzōmon Line
• 9000 series – Namboku Line
• 10000 series – Yūrakuchō Line, Fukutoshin Line
• 15000 series – Tōzai Line
• 16000 series – Chiyoda Line

The following trains are on order.

• 1000 series – Ginza Line (from spring 2012)

Trains from other operators are also used on Tokyo Metro lines as a consequence of through services.

Crowding

A sign on the Hibiya Line denoting that this area is for women only during morning peak hours

As is common with rail transport in Tokyo, Tokyo Metro trains are severely crowded during peak periods. During the morning peak period, platform attendants (oshiya) are sometimes needed to push riders and their belongings into train cars so that the doors can close.

On some Tokyo Metro lines, the first or last car of a train is reserved for women during peak hours.

See also

• List of rapid transit systems

External links

• Tokyo Metro
• Tokyo Metro Connections
• Tokyo Metro Subway Map (PDF)