Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line

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Hanzōmon Line 08 series rolling stock

Hanzōmon Line (Click on image to enlarge)

A Connecting information board

The Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line (東京地下鉄半蔵門線, Tōkyō Chikatetsu Hanzōmon-sen^?) is a metro line in Tokyo, Japan, administered by the Tokyo Metro. Its color on maps is purple. Stations on the Hanzōmon Line carry the letter Z followed by a number.

The 16.8 km line serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chiyoda, Chūō, Kōtō and Sumida. Hanzōmon Line trains interoperate with the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line from Shibuya Station and with the Tōbu Isesaki Line from Oshiage Station. Through-service trains between Tōkyū Chūō-Rinkan and Tōbu Minami-Kurihashi cover a total distance of 98.5 km in a single run.

The Hanzōmon Line has interchanges with all other Tokyo Metro and Toei lines, except the Hibiya Line, but you can transfer to it on the Tobu Isesaki Line through service at Kita-Senju Station. It interchanges with the Ginza Line at four stations.

The line is named after the west gate of the Imperial Palace (Hanzōmon), which in turn is named after ninjutsu master Hattori Hanzō. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, as of June 2009 the Hanzōmon Line is the sixth most crowded subway line in Tokyo, at its peak running at 173% capacity between Shibuya and Omotesandō stations.^[1]

[edit] Development

The Hanzōmon Line was first planned in 1971, along with the Chiyoda Line and Yūrakuchō Line, as a reliever line for the heavily congested Ginza Line. Its initial routing was from Futako-Tamagawa Station on the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line to a new station in the Fukagawa district of Kōtō Ward. In 1985, a second draft plan from the Ministry of Transportation moved the Hanzōmon Line's final terminus to Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. During the planning stage, it was known as Line 11.

Construction began in 1972 and most of the line was expected to open in 1975. However, the poor economy in Japan had depressed the Teito Rapid Transit Authority's receipts during that time, which considerably delayed the construction of new lines. On August 1, 1978, the first section of the Hanzōmon Line opened from Shibuya to Aoyama-itchōme, and through service with the Den-en-toshi Line commenced.

The line was extended to Nagatachō in September 1979 without major incident. However, the next extension posed political problems, as the original plan had the line run directly under the Imperial Palace to Ōtemachi. TRTA decided to divert the route around the north side of the Imperial Palace, which required the construction of three new stations. An eminent domain battle erupted with landowners along the proposed route, which delayed the completion of the next stage of the line. Hanzomon Station opened in December 1982, and the full extension around the Imperial Palace, terminating at Mitsukoshi-mae, was completed in January 1989.

Since then, there have been further extensions to Suitengu-mae (November 1990) and finally Oshiage (March 19, 2003). The Ministry of Transportation estimated in 2000 that the line would be completed (i.e. extended to Matsudo) in 2015. However, Tokyo Metro stated in its initial public offering that its construction operations would cease once the Fukutoshin Line is completed, which casts some doubt as to whether the Matsudo extension will actually be built.

[edit] Stations

• The Hanzōmon/Den-en-toshi and other lines at Shibuya are not directly connected. A transferring passenger must exit the fare area and either retrieve his transfer ticket or purchase a new one. The Ginza and Toyoko lines are 3 floors above, JR lines are in an adjacent building, and Keio lines are across the (very busy) street. For transfers between the Ginza and Hanzōmon Lines, Omotesandō, where the two lines run on the same platforms, is a more convenient transfer point.
• All Hanzōmon Line trains operate beyond Shibuya to Chūō-Rinkan on the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line. Shibuya is the fare boundary between the two lines, so a 2-stop trip from Omote-sando to Ikejiri-ohashi is calculated as 2 trips!

[edit] Rolling stock

[edit] Current fleet

Class	Image	Top speed (km/h)	Number	Built
Tōkyō Metro 08 series		120	10-car x6	2002 - 2003
Tōkyō Metro 8000 series		100	10-car x19	1980 - 1994
Tōkyū 2000 series		120	10-car x3	1992 - 1993
Tōkyū 5000 series		120	10-car x14	2002 -
Tōkyū 8500 series		120	10-car x33	1975 - 1991
Tōkyū 8590 series		120	10-car x2	1980 - 1989
Tōbu 30000 series		120	4+6-car x6	1996 - 2003
Tōbu 50050 series		120	10-car x10	2005 -

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tokyo Metro website (English)