Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line

Route map

Chūō Line (Rapid) Mitaka JR East: Chūō-Sōbu Line 0.0 T-01 Nakano Chūō-Sōbu Line Chūō Line (Rapid) E Toei Oedo Line 2.0 T-02 Ochiai Kanda River Yamanote Line Seibu Shinjuku Line 3.9 T-03 Takadanobaba F Fukutoshin Line 5.6 T-04 Waseda 6.8 T-05 Kagurazaka Y Yūrakuchō Line E Toei Oedo Line N Namboku Line Imperial Palace moat Chūō-Sōbu Line Chūō Line (Rapid) 8.0 T-06 Iidabashi 8.7 T-07 Kudanshita S Toei Shinjuku Line Z Hanzōmon Line Imperial Palace moat Imperial Palace moat Imperial Palace moat Imperial Palace moat 9.7 T-08 Takebashi Z Hanzōmon Line Imperial Palace moat I Toei Mita Line C Chiyoda Line 10.7 T-09 Ōtemachi M Marunouchi Line Sōbu Line (Rapid) Chūō Line (Rapid) Yamanote Line Tōhoku Shinkansen G Ginza Line 11.5 T-10 Nihombashi A Toei Asakusa Line 12.0 T-11 Kayabachō H Hibiya Line Kamejima River Sumida River Ōshima River Kawanishi tributary E Toei Oedo Line 13.8 T-12 Monzen-Nakachō Heikyū River 14.9 T-13 Kiba Dai-Yoko River Fukagawa Depot and workshop 15.8 T-14 Tōyōchō Shiohama Canal JR Freight Sōbu Main Line Etchūjima Freight Branch 17.0 T-15 Minami-Sunamachi Arakawa-Nakagawa Bridge Arakawa River Arakawa-Nakagawa Bridge Naka River 19.7 T-16 Nishi-Kasai 20.9 T-17 Kasai Old Edo River Tokyo Chiba 22.8 T-18 Urayasu 24.0 T-19 Minami-Gyōtoku 25.5 T-20 Gyōtoku 26.8 T-21 Myōden Gyōtoku Depot Edo River 28.9 T-22 Baraki-Nakayama Shinma River Chūō-Sōbu Line Sōbu Line (Rapid) 30.8 T-23 Nishi-Funabashi Musashino Line Keiyō Line Tōyō Rapid Railway Line Tsudanuma Tōyō-Katsutadai

The Tokyo Metro Tozai Line (東京メトロ東西線, Tōkyō Metoro 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

The Tōzai Line features through services on both ends. Trains run through onto the East Japan Railway Company (JR East)'s Chūō-Sōbu Line for Mitaka at the western end and onto the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line for Tōyō-Katsutadai at the eastern end, 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" (T), 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 Tokyo Metro 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

• Local trains stop at every station. Rapid trains stop at stations marked "●" and do not stop at those marked "｜". Some weekday westbound trains do not stop at stations marked "↑".

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.

• Tokyo Metro
  • 05/05N series (since 1988)
  • 07 series (since 2006) (transferred from Yūrakuchō Line)
  • 15000 series (since 2010)
• Tōyō Rapid Railway
  • 2000 series (since 2004)
• East Japan Railway Company (JR East)
  • E231-800 series (since 2003)

• 
  From left, 07 series, 05N series, 05 series, stainless steel 5000 series, aluminium 5000 series
• 
  Toyo Rapid 2000 series
• 
  JR East E231-800 series in December 2009

Past

• Tokyo Metro
  • 5000 series (from 1964 until 2007)
  • 8000 series (from 1987 until 1988, temporary, built for Hanzōmon Line)
• JR East
  • 301 series (from 1966 until 2003)
  • 103-1000 series (from 1989 until 2003)
  • 103-1200 series (from 1971 until 2003)
• Tōyō Rapid
  • 1000 series (from 1996 until 2006)

• 
  5000 series with stainless steel body
• 
  5000 series with aluminium body
• 
  JR East 301 series in February 2003
• 
  JR East 103-1200 series
• 
  Tōyō Rapid 1000 series in September 2006

Depots

05N series EMU at Fukagawa Workshop

Lineup of Tōzai Line trains at Fukagawa Depot, September 2005

• Fukagawa Depot (深川検車区)
• Gyōtoku Depot (深川検車区行徳分室)
• Fukagawa Workshop (深川工場)

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 Japanese National Railways (today part of the JR Group) - a first for a Tokyo subway line - began in 1969 connecting the Chūō and Sōbu lines. This is a rare situation in Tokyo, as the only other subway line with through services onto JR lines is the Chiyoda Line.

The Tōyō Rapid Railway Line, effectively an eastward extension of the line, opened in 1996. It nevertheless remains a private entity to which the Tōzai lines offers through services with.

Chronology

• March 16, 1966: The line is extended at both ends. It now runs between Nakano and Takebashi.
• April 28, 1966: Through service to the Chūō Line of JNR commences as far as Ogikubo.
• October 1, 1966: Takebashi to Ōtemachi section opens.
• September 14, 1967: Ōtemachi to Tōyōchō section opens.
• March 29, 1969: Tōyōchō to Nishi-Funabashi section opens and Rapid service begins (non-stop between Tōyōchō and Nishi-Funabashi).
• April 8, 1969: Through service on the Chūō Line is extended to Mitaka, and through service begins on the Sōbu line to Tsudanuma.
• April 8, 1972: Through service on the Sōbu Line is withdrawn except during rush hours.
• 1975: Another type of Rapid service is introduced, calling at Urayasu between Tōyōchō and Nishi-Funabashi.
• October 1, 1979: Nishi-Kasai station opens.
• March 27, 1981: Minami-Gyōtoku station opens.
• 1986: Commuter Rapid service is introduced, running non-stop between Urayasu and Nishi-Funabashi.
• (April 1, 1987: JNR is privatised. The Chūō and Sōbu lines become the property of JR East.)
• (March 20, 1995: The Tokyo subway Sarin gas attack occurred on the Chiyoda, Marunouchi, and Hibiya lines.)
• 1996: The Rapid service that runs non-stop between Tōyōchō and Nishi-Funabashi ceases.
• April 27, 1996: Tōyō Rapid Line opens between Nishi-Funabashi and Tōyō-Katsutadai. Through service begins.
• January 22, 2000: Myōden station opens.
• April 1, 2004: Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA or Eidan) becomes Tokyo Metro.
• November 20, 2006: Women-only cars are introduced during morning rush hours.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line.

• Tokyo Metro website (in English)