Tokyo Metro

The Tokyo Metro (Japanese: 東京メトロ, Tōkyō Metoro) is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.52 million passengers (as of 2023), the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city; the other being the Toei Subway, with 2.85 million average daily rides.
Tokyo Metro is operated by the Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. (東京地下鉄株式会社, Tōkyō Chikatetsu kabushiki-gaisha), a joint-stock company jointly owned by the Government of Japan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The company, founded as a part of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy of converting statutory corporations into joint-stock companies, replaced the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (帝都高速度交通営団, Teito Kōsokudo Kōtsū Eidan, lit. "Imperial Capital Highspeed Transportation Management Foundation"), 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 as a part-nationalization of the Tokyo Underground Railway and Tokyo Rapid Railway (now both form the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line), although its oldest lines date back to 1927 with the opening of the Tokyo Underground Railway the same year. Upon its establishment, the TRTA's legal form was a "management foundation" (経営財団, keiei zaidan, abbreviated to and hence eidan (営団)), a form of entity established by the government of the wartime cabinet of the Empire of Japan with both public and private sector investments. Private sector investments to the TRTA were prohibited in 1951 when it was converted into an ordinary statutory corporation. In 2024, the company made its initial public offering, raising $2.3 billion in what became Japan's biggest IPO since 2018.
The other major subway operator is Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei Subway) which is owned solely by the government of Tokyo. Tokyo Metro and Toei trains form completely separate networks, although Tokyo Metro Namboku Line and Toei Mita Line share the same track between Meguro Station and Shirokane-takanawa Station. Users of prepaid rail passes and Suica/Pasmo smart cards can freely interchange between the two networks (as well as other rail companies in the area), but fares are assessed separately for legs on each of these systems and regular ticket holders must purchase a second ticket, or a special transfer ticket, to change from a Toei line to a Tokyo Metro line and vice versa. Though, most Tokyo Metro (and Toei) line offer through service to lines outside of central Tokyo run by other carriers, and this can somewhat complicate the ticketing.
Much effort has been made to make the system accessible to non-Japanese speaking users:
Many stations are also designed to help blind people as railings often have Braille at their base, and raised yellow rubber guide strips are used on flooring throughout the network.
Tokyo Metro stations began accepting contactless (RFID) Pasmo stored value cards in March 2007 to pay fares, and the JR East Suica system is also universally accepted. Both these passes also can be used on surrounding rail systems throughout the area and many rail lines in other areas of Japan. Due to the complexity of the fare systems in Japan, most riders converted to these cards very quickly even though there is an additional charge to issue it.
The Tokyo Metro is extremely punctual and has regular trains arriving 3 to 6 minutes apart most of the day and night. However, it does not run 24 hours a day. While through service with other companies complicates this somewhat, the last train generally starts at midnight and completes its service by 00:45 to 01:00, and the first train generally starts at 05:00.
Tokyo Metro also owns a number of commercial developments which mostly consist of shopping developments at major stations. It also owns the Subway Museum near Kasai Station on the Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line which opened on July 12, 1986, and features a few retired trains which once operated on the Ginza and Marunouchi Lines as well as a maintenance vehicle and some train simulators.
In 2024, Tokyo Metro was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, debuting as the exchange's largest IPO in six years and with a market capitalization of roughly 1 trillion yen. The Government of Japan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government each sold half of their shares, with the former using the proceeds to repay bonds funding reconstruction after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
In 2017, Tokyo Metro opened its affiliate in Hanoi, Vietnam, as part of preparations to be the service operator of Hanoi Metro. The Hanoi Metro opened in 2021.
In November 2024, GTS Rail Operations (a consortium comprising Go-Ahead Group, Tokyo Metro and Sumitomo Corporation) was chosen from four bidders to operate the Elizabeth line in London, england for seven years from May 2025 with an option to extend for two years.
Tokyo Metro indicated in its public share offering that it would cease line construction once the Fukutoshin Line was completed. That line was completed in March 2013 with the opening of the connection with the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line at Shibuya Station, allowing through service as far as Motomachi-Chūkagai Station in Yokohama. There are several lines such as the Hanzōmon Line that still have extensions in their official plans, and in the past, these plans have tended to happen, though often over several decades.
In March 2022, Tokyo Metro received permission to add two new extensions to the network. Under these plans, the Yūrakuchō Line would receive a new branch from Toyosu Station to Sumiyoshi Station with three new stops (including one at Toyocho Station on the Tōzai Line) to better serve the Toyosu urban development zone, and the Namboku Line would receive an extension from Shirokane-Takanawa Station to Shinagawa Station, where it would connect with the Tokaido Shinkansen and the under construction Chūō Shinkansen in addition to serving the surrounding business district. Both extensions are expected to open in the 2030s.
Pasmo and Suica are accepted on the Tokyo Metro, as well as on railway stations operated by other companies. Transfers between Tokyo Metro subway lines and Toei Subway lines are usually not free, but a discount is given when using the Pasmo or Suica cards to transfer between lines.
According to the company, an average of 6.33 million people used the company's nine subway routes each day in 2009. The company made a profit of ¥63.5 billion in 2009.
Altogether, the Tokyo Metro is made up of nine lines operating on 195.1 kilometers (121.2 mi) of route.
Note: Line numbers are for internal usage only and not listed on subway maps. Note: Excluding the 8.3 km (5.2 mi) stretch between Wakoshi and Kotake-mukaihara shared with Yurakucho Line.
All lines except the Ginza and Marunouchi lines have trains that run through line termini onto tracks owned by other companies.
There are a total of 180 unique stations (i.e., counting stations served by multiple lines only once) on the Tokyo Metro network. Most stations are located within the 23 special wards and fall inside the Yamanote Line rail loop — some wards such as Setagaya and Ōta have no stations (or only a limited number of stations), as rail service in these areas has historically been provided by the Toei Subway or any of the various major private railways (大手私鉄).
Major interchange stations, connecting three or more Tokyo Metro lines, include the following:
Other major stations provide additional connections to other railway operators such as the Toei Subway, JR East, and the various private railways, including (but not limited to) the following:
As of 1 April 2016, Tokyo Metro operates a fleet of 2,728 electric multiple unit (EMU) vehicles, the largest fleet for a private railway operator in Japan.
Trains from other operators are also used on Tokyo Metro lines as a consequence of inter-running services.
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.