The is a subway line in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Japan, operated by
Tokyo Metro
The is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.84 million passengers, the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city; the other being the Toe ...
. The official name is . It is 14.3 km long and serves the wards of
Shibuya
Shibuya ( 渋谷 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station.
As of April 1 ...
,
Minato,
Chūō,
Chiyoda, and
Taitō
is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. In English, it is known as Taitō City.
As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 186,276, and a population density of 18,420 persons per km2. The total area is . Thi ...
. It is the oldest subway line in Asia.
The line was named after the
Ginza
Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...
commercial district in
Chūō, Tokyo
is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward that forms part of the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Chūō City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyobashi and Nihonbashi wards following Tokyo C ...
, under which it passes. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using the color orange(), and its stations are given numbers using the letter "G".
Operations
Almost all Ginza Line trains operate on the line's full length from Asakusa to Shibuya. However, two trains depart in the early morning from Toranomon, and some late-night trains from Shibuya are taken out of service at Ueno. Along with the
Marunouchi Line
The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The line runs in a U-shape between Ogikubo Station in Suginami and Ikebukuro Station in Toshima, with a branch line between Nakano-Sakaue Station and Hōnanchō Station. The offic ...
, it is self-enclosed and does not have any
through services A through service is a concept of passenger transport that involves a vehicle travelling between lines, networks or operators on a regularly specified schedule, on which the passenger can remain on board without alighting. It may be in form of eith ...
with other railway lines.
On weekdays, trains run every two minutes in the morning peak, every 2 minutes and 15 seconds in the evening peak, and every 3 minutes during the daytime. The first trains start from Shibuya and Asakusa at 05:01, and the last ones reach Shibuya at 00:37, and Asakusa at 00:39.
Station list
Being the oldest line on the
Tokyo Metro
The is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.84 million passengers, the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city; the other being the Toe ...
, stations are also the closest to the surface—generally no more than one and a half stories underground. The western end of the line enters
Shibuya Station
is a railway station in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, operated jointly by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Keio Corporation, Tokyu Corporation, and Tokyo Metro. With 2.4 million passengers on an average weekday in 2004, it is the fourth-busiest ...
located on the third-floor of a building that is located in a depression.
History
The Ginza Line was conceived by a businessman named
Noritsugu Hayakawa
was a Japanese businessman. He is renowned for funding the construction of Japan's first subway system, now known as the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, which opened in 1927.
Biography Early life
Hayakawa was born into a family of politicians in Miyosak ...
, who visited London in 1914, saw the
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
and concluded that Tokyo needed its own underground railway. He founded the with Baron
Furuichi Kōi
Baron was a civil engineer, president of '' Kōka Daigaku'', the present college of engineering of the University of Tokyo, and founding president of the Tokyo Underground Railway(東京地下鉄道), "the first underground railway in the Ori ...
in 1920, and began construction on September 27, 1925, after raising ¥6.2 million of the ¥35 million initially required to fund the project.
![Groundbreaking ceremony of Tokyo Underground Railway 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Groundbreaking_ceremony_of_Tokyo_Underground_Railway_2.jpg)
Originally, the Ginza Line was proposed to open from Shimbashi to Asakusa all at once, but because of a recession following the
Great Kanto Earthquake
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
, it became difficult to raise funds for the line. The portion between and was completed on December 30, 1927, and publicized as "the first underground railway in the Orient".
Upon its opening, the line was so popular that passengers often had to wait more than two hours to ride a train for a five-minute trip.
On January 1, 1930, the subway was extended by 1.7 km to temporary
Manseibashi Station
can refer to two closed railway stations all in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. One was a railway station on the Japanese Government Railways Chūō Main Line and the other was a subway station in the Tokyo Subway network.
Both stations were closed by ...
, abandoned on November 21, 1931 when the subway reached , 500 meters further south down the line. The
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
slowed down construction, but the line finally reached its originally planned terminus of on June 21, 1934.
In 1938, the , a company tied to the predecessor of today's
Tokyu Corporation
The is a Japanese multinational ''keiretsu'' ( conglomerate) holding company headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Its main operation is , a wholly owned subsidiary operating railways in the Greater Tokyo Area.
History
The oldest predecessor ...
, began service between and , later extended to Shimbashi in 1939. The two lines began through-service interoperation in 1939 and were formally merged as the
Teito Rapid Transit Authority
The is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.84 million passengers, the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city; the other being the Toei ...
("Eidan Subway" or "TRTA") in July 1941 in accordance with the .
The "Ginza Line" name was applied in 1953 to distinguish the line from the new
Marunouchi Line
The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The line runs in a U-shape between Ogikubo Station in Suginami and Ikebukuro Station in Toshima, with a branch line between Nakano-Sakaue Station and Hōnanchō Station. The offic ...
. In the postwar economic boom, the Ginza Line became increasingly crowded. The new
Hanzōmon Line began to relieve the Ginza Line's traffic in the 1980s, but the Ginza Line is still quite crowded as it serves major residential, commercial, and business districts in central Tokyo. According to a 2018 release of
Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation
the Ginza Line is the seventh most crowded subway line in Tokyo, running at 160% capacity between
Akasaka-Mitsuke and
Tameike-Sannō stations.
Automatic train control
Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver d ...
(ATC) and
train automatic stopping controller (TASC) were activated on the Ginza Line on July 31, 1993, replacing the previous mechanical
automatic train stop
Automatic train stop or ATS is a system on a train that automatically stops a train if certain situations occur (unresponsive train operator, earthquake, disconnected rail, train running over a stop signal, etc.) to prevent accidents. In some scena ...
(ATS) system. This allowed for an increase in the maximum operating speed limit from to , which came into effect on August 2, 1993. The newest station on the line,
Tameike-Sannō Station, opened in 1997 to provide a connection to the newly built
Namboku Line.
The line, station facilities, rolling stock, and related assets were inherited by
Tokyo Metro
The is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.84 million passengers, the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city; the other being the Toe ...
after the privatization of the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA) in 2004.
Rolling stock
![Tokyo Metro 1000 20130406-01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Tokyo_Metro_1000_20130406-01.JPG)
Since April 2012,
the Ginza Line uses a fleet of 40 six-car
Tokyo Metro 1000 series
The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metro in Japan on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line since April 2012.
The first trainset was delivered in September 2011 ahead of entry into revenue servi ...
EMUs which have a maximum speed of 80 km/h. Each car is 16 m long and 2.55 m wide, with three doors on each side. They are powered by a
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
electrified at 600 V
DC. Both the Ginza Line and the
Marunouchi Line
The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The line runs in a U-shape between Ogikubo Station in Suginami and Ikebukuro Station in Toshima, with a branch line between Nakano-Sakaue Station and Hōnanchō Station. The offic ...
are the only Tokyo Metro lines to use and third rail electrification, while subsequent lines employ
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
() rails and 1,500 V DC
overhead power supply
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipmen ...
to accommodate through services.
Cars are stored and inspected at Shibuya Depot located after Shibuya Station and at , a facility located northeast of Ueno Station with both above-ground and underground tracks. The facility is capable of holding up to 20 6-car formations. Major inspections are carried out at Tokyo Metro's Nakano depot on the Marunouchi Line, forwarding over a connecting track at Akasaka-Mitsuke.
Former rolling stock
* 100 series (1938–1968)
* 1000 series (TRTA) (1927–1968)
* 1100 series (1930–1968)
* 1200 series (1934–1986)
* 1300 series (1949–1986)
* 1400 series (1953–1985)
* 1500 series (1954–1986)
* 1500N series (1968–1993)
* 1600 series (1955–1986)
* 1700 series (1956–1986)
* 1800 series (1958–1986)
* 1900 series (1958–1987)
* 2000 series (1958–1993)
*
01 series 6-car EMUs, from 1983 until March 2017
The last remaining 01 series trains were withdrawn from regular service on 10 March 2017.
File:Ginza Line 117 Scan10021.JPG, A 100 series EMU car
File:Eidan type 1000 train.jpg, One of the original 1000 series cars operated on the Tokyo Underground Railway between Ueno and Asakusa. The last car was retired in 1968.
File:TRT-1001-Tokyo-Metro-Museum.jpg, Original 1000 series car preserved at Tokyo Subway Museum
File:Ginza Line 1249 1951 Scan10021.JPG, A Ginza Line 1200 series EMU in 1951
File:TRTA Ginza Line 2000 Shibuya 19770625.jpg, A Ginza Line 2000 series set in 1977
File:Tokyo-Metro-Series01-130F.jpg, A Ginza Line 01 series EMU
References
* Shaw, Dennis and Morioka, Hisashi, "Tokyo Subways", published 1992 by Hoikusha Publishing
External links
Ginza Line overview(Tokyo Metro)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginza Line
Lines of Tokyo Metro
Metro Ginza Line
Railway lines opened in 1927
Standard gauge railways in Japan
1927 establishments in Japan
600 V DC railway electrification