Tokyo Metro

Infobox Public transit
name = Tokyo Metro
東京メトロ

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imagesize = 200px
locale = Tokyo metropolitan area
transit_type = Rapid transit
began_operation = 1927 "(1941 as Teito Rapid Transit Authority; 2004 under current name)"
system_length = km to mi|203.4|abbr=yes
lines = 9
stations = 168
track_gauge = 1,067 mm (1,435 mm for Ginza & Marunouchi lines)
transit_type=Rapid transit
operator = Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. (privately-held company formed in joint partnership by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT))

nihongo|Tokyo Metro|東京メトロ|Tōkyō Metoro is one of two metro systems making up the Tokyo subway system, the other being Toei.

Organization

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

It replaced the Nihongo|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.
* Ticketing 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 the familiar 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. It does not however run 24 hours a day. Lines tend to stop service between midnight and 1:00am and commence again 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.

Lines

Main Data

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

Depots

Rolling stock

Tōkyō 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 - Yūrakuchō Line, 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

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

Crowding

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.

ee also

* List of rapid transit systems

References

External links

* [http://www.tokyometro.jp/e/index.html Tokyo Metro]
* [http://www.tokyo-subway.net/english/index.html Tokyo Metro Connections]
* [http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2024/2280875028_9228b628c7_b_d.jpgTokyo Subway Route Map]
* [http://www.japanesebooks.jp/tokyo-transit.html Tokyo subway transit map on GoogleMaps]