 the  is a railway loop line in tokyo, japan, operated by east japan railway company (jr east). it is one of tokyo's busiest and most important lines, connecting most of tokyo's major stations and urban centres, including the yÅ«rakuchÅ/ginza area, shibuya, shinjuku, marunouchi and ikebukuro, with all but two of its 29 stations connecting to other railway or underground (subway) lines. the "yamanote line" as an official line name indicates the tracks between shinagawa and tabata that is used by local trains on their own tracks as well as the parallel yamanote freight line which is used by saikyÅ line and shÅnan-shinjuku line trains, some limited express services, and freight trains. however, in everyday usage the "yamanote line" refers to the entire 34.5&nbsp;km loop line served by local trains. (this article uses the same definition.) == service outline== trains run from 04:26 to 01:18 the next day at intervals as short as 2.5 minutes during peak periods and four minutes at other times. a complete loop takes 59 to 65 minutes. all trains stop at each station. trains are put into and taken out of service at Åsaki (which for timetabling purposes is the line's start and terminus) and sometimes ikebukuro. certain trains also start from tamachi in the mornings and end at shinagawa in the evenings. trains which run clockwise are known as  and those counter-clockwise as . (trains travel on the left in japan, as with road traffic.) the line also acts as a fare zone destination for jr tickets from locations outside tokyo, permitting travel to any jr
1067_mm_gauge_railways_in_Japan Lines_of_East_Japan_Railway_Company Rail_transport_in_Tokyo Railway_lines_opened_in_1885 Railway_loop_lines Rapid_transit_in_Japan