Tokyo Subway

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Simplified diagram of the Tokyo Metro and Toei networks

Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line subway train departing Hiroo Station

Toei O-Edo Line subway train arriving at Hikarigaoka Station

Tokyo Waterfront Railway 70-000 series train, heading towards Osaki Station

The Tokyo subway is an integral part of the world's most extensive rapid transit system in a single metropolitan area, Greater Tokyo. While the subway system itself is largely within the city center, the lines extend far out via extensive through service onto suburban railway and other rail lines.

1 Networks
2 System administration
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Networks

Main articles: Tokyo Metro and Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation

As of September 2005, the network including all Tokyo Metro, Toei and TWR lines has 282 subway stations and 12 to 14 subway lines in Tokyo. The Tokyo Metro and Toei networks together carry a combined average of 7.8 million passengers daily^[1].

There are two primary subway operators in Tokyo:

Tokyo Metro. Formerly Teito Rapid Transit Authority (Eidan), privatized in 2004 and presently operating 168 stations and 8 to 10 lines, depending on whether Line 13 and the Marunouchi Line branch are counted separately. The minimum price for one ride is 160 yen.

Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation. An arm of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, operates 106 stations in four "Toei" lines. The minimum price for one ride is 170 yen.

In addition, the Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (TWR) operates a single mostly-underground line with eight stations.

The Yamanote Line is not a subway, but an aboveground commuter line operated by JR East. It acts as a key transportation artery in downtown Tokyo; therefore, it is often marked on Tokyo subway maps.

Many aboveground and underground lines in the Greater Tokyo Area operate through services with the Tokyo Metro and Toei lines so that in a broader meaning they consist a part of the Tokyo subway network.

The Yokohama Subway (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 fully underground Minato Mirai Line via the Tokyu Toyoko Line railway. From 2012, the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line will also have regular through service to the Minato Mirai Line.

[edit] System administration

All three 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 these ramifications:

For single rides, a special transfer ticket is required to cross from one system to another and an additional 90 or 100 yen is charged, regardless of the length of the ride. However, the PASSNET system gets around such issues, 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 uses its own Suica system). The introduction of PASMO in 2007 will finally produce one unified stored fare for most of the Tokyo transit system.

The systems represent the metro network differently in station, train and customer information diagrams. For example, the Toei map represents the Toei Oedo Line as a circle in the centre; the Tokyo Metro's map saves the central ring line for the Marunouchi Line and the JR Yamanote Line.