Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line

Tōzai Line

Overview
Locale Tokyo, Chiba prefectures
Termini Nakano
Nishi-Funabashi
Stations 23
Daily ridership 1,321,656 (FY2010)[1]
Operation
Opened December 23, 1964
Owner Tokyo Metro
Depot(s) Fukagawa, Gyōtoku
Rolling stock 05/05N series, 07 series, 15000 series, 2000 series, E231-800 series
Technical
Line length 30.8 km (19.1 mi)
Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification 1,500 V DC overhead catenary
Operating speed 100 km/h (62 mph)
Route map

The Tōzai Line (東西線 Tōzai-sen) is a rapid transit line in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by Tokyo Metro. Its name literally means East-West Line. The line runs between Nakano Station in Nakano, Tokyo and Nishi-Funabashi Station in Funabashi, Chiba. The Tōzai Line was referred to as Line 5 during the planning stages, thus the seldom-used official name is Line 5 Tōzai Line (5号線東西線 Go-gō-sen Tōzai-sen).

Overview

Trains run through onto the East Japan Railway Company (JR East)'s Chūō-Sōbu Line for Mitaka and the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line for Tōyō-Katsutadai, making the line an alternative route to the Chūō-Sōbu between Nakano and Nishi-Funabashi.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, as of June 2009 the Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line was the most crowded subway line in Tokyo, at its peak running at 199% capacity between Kiba and Monzen-Nakachō stations.[2] Women-only cars were introduced on the line during morning rush hours starting on November 20, 2006.

On maps, diagrams and signboards, the Tōzai Line is shown using the color "sky blue" (▉), and its stations are given numbers using the letter T.

Services

The Tōzai Line was the first Tokyo Metro line on which express services run: three types of rapid trains skip some stations east of Tōyōchō. The Fukutoshin Line began services on June 14, 2008 and also features express services.

Through services to Mitaka via the JR East Chūō-Sōbu Line and Tōyō-Katsutadai via the Tōyō Rapid Railway run all day. During the morning and evening peak periods, through services run to Tsudanuma via the JR East Sōbu Main Line.

Station list

Station
No.		 Station Japanese Distance (km) Comm. Rapid Rapid Transfers Location
Between
stations		 From T-01
T-01 Nakano 中野[* 1] - 0.0 ● ● Chūō-Sōbu Line (through service to Mitaka), Chūō Line (Rapid) Nakano Tokyo
T-02 Ochiai 落合 2.0 2.0 ● ●   Shinjuku
T-03 Takadanobaba 高田馬場 1.9 3.9 ● ● Yamanote Line
Seibu Shinjuku Line
T-04 Waseda 早稲田 1.7 5.6 ● ● Toden Arakawa Line (Waseda)[* 2]
T-05 Kagurazaka 神楽坂 1.2 6.8 ● ●  
T-06 Iidabashi 飯田橋 1.2 8.0 ● ● Tokyo Metro Namboku Line (N-10), Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line (Y-13)
Toei Ōedo Line (E-06)
Chūō-Sōbu Line		 Chiyoda
T-07 Kudanshita 九段下 0.7 8.7 ● ● Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line (Z-06)
Toei Shinjuku Line (S-05)
T-08 Takebashi 竹橋 1.0 9.7 ● ●  
T-09 Ōtemachi 大手町 1.0 10.7 ● ● Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (M-18), Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line (C-11), Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line (Z-08)
Toei Mita Line (I-09),
T-10 Nihombashi 日本橋 0.8 11.5 ● ● Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (G-11)
Toei Asakusa Line (A-13)		 Chūō
T-11 Kayabachō 茅場町 0.5 12.0 ● ● Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (H-12)
T-12 Monzen-Nakachō 門前仲町 1.8 13.8 ● ● Toei Ōedo Line (E-15) Kōtō
T-13 Kiba 木場 1.1 14.9 ● ●  
T-14 Tōyōchō 東陽町 0.9 15.8 ● ●  
T-15 Minami-Sunamachi 南砂町 1.2 17.0 ● ｜  
T-16 Nishi-Kasai 西葛西 2.7 19.7 ● ｜   Edogawa
T-17 Kasai 葛西 1.2 20.9 ● ｜  
T-18 Urayasu 浦安 1.9 22.8 ● ●   Urayasu Chiba
T-19 Minami-Gyōtoku 南行徳 1.2 24.0 ↑ ｜   Ichikawa
T-20 Gyōtoku 行徳 1.5 25.5 ↑ ｜  
T-21 Myōden 妙典 1.3 26.8 ↑ ｜  
T-22 Baraki-Nakayama 原木中山 2.1 28.9 ↑ ｜   Funabashi
T-23 Nishi-Funabashi 西船橋[* 3] 1.9 30.8 ● ● Tōyō Rapid Railway Line (through services for Tōyō-Katsutadai)
Chūō-Sōbu Line (some through services mornings/evenings for Tsudanuma), Musashino Line, Keiyō Line
Keisei Main Line (Keisei-Nishifuna)
  1. ↑ Nakano is shared by Tokyo Metro and JR East; JR East manages the station.
  2. ↑ Both the Tokyo Metro and Toei stations are displayed on station maps as being distant from one another, and they are not announced as transfer points for one another.
  3. ↑ Nishi-Funabashi is shared by Tokyo Metro, Tōyō Rapid Railway, and JR East; JR East manage the station.

Rolling stock

Present

Tōzai Line trains are 20 m long 10-car formations, with four doors per side and longitudinal seating. The maximum operating speed is 100 km/h.

Past

Depots

05N series EMU at Fukagawa Workshop
Lineup of Tōzai Line trains at Fukagawa Depot, September 2005

History

Tokyo Metro 05 series EMU crossing a bridge between Minami-Sunamachi and Nishi-Kasai

The Tōzai Line was planned by a review committee of the then Ministry of Transportation in 1962 and numbered Line 5. Its name literally means "East-West Line", and it was primarily planned to relieve traffic on the busy Sōbu Main Line as well as provide a straight crosstown connection through north-central Tokyo. Although this corridor is now served by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) Shinjuku Line and JR Keiyō Line as well, the Tōzai Line continues to operate beyond capacity due to its accessibility to other lines, as well as to growing condominium developments in eastern Tokyo.

The Takadanobaba to Kudanshita section opened in 1964, and the remainder opened in stages until its completion in 1969. Through service with the then Japan National Railways began in 1969 connecting the Chūō and Sōbu lines.

The Tōyō Rapid Railway Line, effectively an eastward extension of the line, opened in 1996.

Chronology

References

  • Shaw, Dennis and Morioka, Hisashi, "Tokyo Subways", published 1992 by Hoikusha Publishing
  1. ↑ Tokyo Metro station ridership in 2010 Train Media (sourced from Tokyo Metro) Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  2. ↑ Metropolis, "Commute", June 12, 2009, p. 07. Capacity is defined as all passengers having a seat or a strap or door railing to hold on to.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line.
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