The transport network in Greater Tokyo includes public and private rail and highway networks; airports for international, domestic, and general aviation; buses; motorcycle delivery services, walking, bicycling, and commercial shipping. While the nexus is in the central part of Tokyo, every part of the Greater Tokyo Area has rail or road transport services. The sea and air transport is available from a limited number of ports for the general public.
Public transport within Greater Tokyo is dominated by the world's most extensive urban rail network (as of May 2014, the article Tokyo rail list lists 158 lines, 48 operators, 4,714.5 km of operational track and 2,210 stations lthough stations recounted for each operator of suburban trains and subways run by a variety of operators, with buses, trams, monorails, and other modes supporting the railway lines. The above figures do not include any Shinkansen services. However, because each operator manages only its own network, the system is managed as a collection of rail networks rather than a single unit. 40 million passengers (counted twice if transferring between operators) use the rail system daily (14.6 billion annually) with the subway representing 22% of that figure with 8.66 million using it daily.http://www.mlit.go.jp/kisha/kisha07/01/010330_3/01.pdf There are in the Tokyo area, or one for each of developed land area. Commuter rail ridership is very dense, at 6 million people per line mile annually, with the highest among automotive urban areas. Walking and cycling are much more common than in many cities around the globe. Private automobiles and motorcycles play a secondary role in urban transport.
Air
Since Tokyo region is densely populated, and the country promoted rail travel, air traffic infrastructure had been comparatively underdeveloped. This however has improved somewhat more recently as expansions at the airports, and Haneda had been reinstated for international flights.
Primary airports
Commercial flights in the region are served predominantly by Haneda Airport in ÅŒta, Tokyo (domestic hub for Japan's major airlines) and
Narita, Chiba
is a city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 131,852 in 63,098 households and a population density of 620 persons per km². The total area of the city is . It is the site of Narita International Airport, one o ...
(main international gateway airport to the region but has also recently become a new hub for some domestic flights). Service improved to level pre-2011 following expansions but remains congested.
Miyakejima Airport
is an airport located east of Miyake villageAIS Japan on the island of
Miyake provide air services.
Ibaraki Airport, located 85 km north of Tokyo, was positioning itself as a hub for low-cost carriers, flights from here to Sapporo seem to be the most popular. Shizuoka Airport, 175 km southwest of Tokyo, aims to be a more convenient alternative for Shizuoka residents than airports in Tokyo or Nagoya, however none of the above airports have shown to take away any significant traffic from Narita or Haneda and continue to play minor roles.
JMSDF
, abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...
)
Helipads
There is also a limited number of helicopter transport services in Tokyo, with one service linking Narita airport with central Tokyo.
Rail
Overview
Statistical Profile
Rail is the primary mode of transport in Tokyo. Greater Tokyo has the most extensive urban railway network and the most used in the world with 40 million passengers (transfers between networks tallied twice) in the metro area daily, out of a metro population of 36 million. There are 882 interconnected rail stations in the Tokyo Metropolis, 282 of which are Subway stations,There are 0.61 commuter rail stations in the Tokyo area per square mile (one for each 1.6 square miles) of developed land area, combined with the high density connecting bus networks, Commuter rail ridership is very dense, at 6 million people per line mile annually, with the highest among automotive urban areas Urban Transport Factbook, Tokyo-Yokohama Suburban Rail Summary /ref> with several hundred more in each of the 3 surrounding densely populated suburban prefectures. There are 30 operators running 121 passenger rail lines (102 serving Tokyo and 19 more serving Greater Tokyo but not Tokyo's city center itself), excluding about 12 cable cars.
Features
The urban rail system in Tokyo does not behave like a single unified network but as separately owned and operated systems with varying degrees of interconnectivity. Expansion continues, albeit with more service and
grade separation
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...
upgrades as opposed to new lines. Each of the region's rail companies tends to display ''only'' its own maps, with key transfer points highlighted, ignoring the rest of the metro area's network. Trains had historically been extremely crowded at peak travel times, with people being pushed into trains by so-called '' oshiya'' ("pushers"), which was common in the boom eras of the 1960s-1980s. Most lines in Tokyo are privately owned, funded and operated, though the Toei Subway is run directly by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Tokyo Metro is owned/funded indirectly by the Tokyo and national governments. Extensive
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 ...
for seamless interconnections between certain lines are also a feature of the network: the Narita-Haneda service run integrates track of 6 separate and independent operators. Suburban rail operations and subway lines are highly integrated. Frequent and high capacity suburban trains from the suburbs commonly continue directly into the subway network to serve central Tokyo, often emerging on the other side of the city to serve another company's surface suburban lines, behaving like a S-train network.
Shinjuku Station
is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busiest rai ...
is the busiest train station in the world by passenger throughput. Tokyo's railways tend to shut down at around midnight, with stations themselves closed up around 1am.
Corporate networks
Since corporations own, fund, promote, and operate their own networks, this tends to result in high fragmentation and ''company stations''. The end user may need to pass through multiple company gates to get to their destination, racking up extra costs in the process (generally the longer the trip, the less charge per kilometer). This is in contrast to other nations where fares are calculated in a more integrated way. For tourists, transferring between multiple operators and paying several times to get to a single destination within the metro area can be quite confusing and expensive. Locals tend to patronize a particular company for a particular destination and walk/bike to and from that company's stations, avoiding the need to transfer and pay another fare to a different company that may have a station closer to the desired destination.
Busiest JR stations
Passengers carried in Greater Tokyo stations daily (2017):
#
Shinjuku Station
is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busiest rai ...
Shinagawa Station
is a major railway station in the Takanawa and Konan districts of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and the private railway operator Keikyu. The Tokaido Shinkan ...
Kita-Senju Station
is a railway station in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan. Kita-Senju is the third-busiest station on the Tokyo Metro network, after Ikebukuro and Otemachi. It is the tenth-busiest JR East station.
Lines
Kita-Senju Station is served by the following lines. ...
217,838
Japan Railway
East Japan Railway Company
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
, or JR East, is the largest passenger railway company in the world. It operates trains throughout the Greater Tokyo area (as well as the rest of northeastern
Honshū
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of HokkaidŠacross the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
Regional railways transport commuters from the suburbs to central Tokyo. These include several private railway networks that own and operate a total of 55 lines serving Tokyo. These same operators indirectly operate another 24 lines outside of Tokyo as well as a few tourist-oriented aerial lifts and funiculars.
* Keihin Electric Express Railway (''Keikyu''): Operates out of
Shinagawa Station
is a major railway station in the Takanawa and Konan districts of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), and the private railway operator Keikyu. The Tokaido Shinkan ...
Shinjuku Station
is a major railway station in the Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. In Shinjuku, it is part of the Nishi-Shinjuku and Shinjuku districts. In Shibuya, it is located in the Yoyogi and Sendagaya districts. It is the world's busiest rai ...
Asakusa Station
is a railway station in the Asakusa district of TaitÅ, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tobu Railway, Tokyo Metro, and Toei Subway. It formed one terminus of the original subway line in Tokyo, now the Ginza Line.
Station layout
There is a connec ...
to Saitama, Gunma, and Tochigi. Twelve lines.
* Tokyu Corporation (''Tokyu''): Operates out of Shibuya Station and Meguro Station to southern Tokyo and Yokohama. Eight lines.
*
Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company
The is a third-sector railway operating company in Japan. It was established on 15 March 1991 to construct the 58.3 km Tsukuba Express (then known as the ''JÅban Shinsen'') commuter railway line from in Tokyo to in Ibaraki Prefecture
...
Odaiba
today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built in this area for defensive purposes in the 1850s. Reclaimed land offshore Shinagawa was dramatically expanded durin ...
Odaiba
today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built in this area for defensive purposes in the 1850s. Reclaimed land offshore Shinagawa was dramatically expanded durin ...
Minowabashi Station
is a station on the Tokyo Sakura Tram. This is the terminus of the line. It is close to Minowa Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.
Lines
*Tokyo Sakura Tram
Surrounding area
* Minowa Station ( Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line
The is a subway ...
.
**
Nippori-Toneri Liner
The is an automated guideway transit (AGT) system between Nippori Station in Arakawa and Minumadai-shinsuikÅen Station in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan. The line opened on 30 March 2008. It is operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation ...
Toyo Rapid Railway
Toyo may refer to:
Places
*TÅyÅ, KÅchi, a town in Japan
*TÅyo, Ehime, a former city in Japan
*Toyo Province, a Japanese province divided in 683
*TÅyÅ, Kumamoto, a village located in Yatsuhiro District, Kumamoto, Japan
* TÅyÅ, Tokyo, a ...
Railway companies that serve other parts of Greater Tokyo include:
*
Chiba Urban Monorail
The is a two-line suspended monorail system located in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is owned and operated by , a so-called " third-sector" company established on March 20, 1979. Investors include the city of Chiba.
The first segment ...
: Serving the city of
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
Kamakura
is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939.
Kamak ...
Kanazawa Seaside Line
The is an automated guideway transit line operated by which operates between Shin-Sugita in Isogo Ward to Kanazawa-Hakkei in Kanazawa Ward in Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipa ...
Sakura
A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...
Minatomirai Line
The Minatomirai 21 Line (ã¿ãªã¨ã¿ã‚‰ã„21ç·š ''Minato-mirai-21-sen''), commonly known as the Minatomirai Line (ã¿ãªã¨ã¿ã‚‰ã„ç·š ''Minatomirai-sen''), is a subway line in Yokohama, Japan that runs from Yokohama Station to Motomachi-ChÅ«k ...
Below is the annual ridership of each major operator as of the 2017 fiscal year.Daily Average Ridership in 2017 ''Train Media (sourced from JR East)'' Retrieved March 5, 2019. Transfers between operators are not counted unless they pass through a ticketing gate (not simply a platform).
Buses and trams
Public buses in Greater Tokyo usually serve a secondary role, feeding bus passengers to and from train stations. Exceptions are long distance bus services, buses in areas poorly served by rail (not many exist), and airport bus services for people with luggage. Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation operates Toei buses mainly within the
23 special wards
are a special form of Municipalities of Japan, municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Act, Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparable to other ...
while private bus companies (mostly the subsidiaries of the large train operators listed above) operate other bus routes, as do other city governments, such as Kawasaki City Bus, Yokohama City Bus, etc. Toei buses have a fixed fare of 210 yen per ride, while most other companies charge according to distance. Some train operators offer combined bus/train tickets; special fares apply for children, seniors and the disabled. Some routes feature non-step buses with a kneeling function to assist mobility-impaired users.
Tokyo Toden, Tokyo's tram network, previously boasted 41 routes with 213 kilometers of track. Now Tokyo has one tram line and one light rail line.
Taxis
Taxis also serve a similar role to buses, supplementing the rail system, especially after midnight when most rail lines cease to operate. People moving around the city on business often choose taxis for convenience, as do people setting out in small groups.
, taxis cost ¥710 (~$7.89 at ¥90/$1 USD) for the first two kilometers, and ¥90 for every 288 meters thereafter, or approximately ¥312.5 per kilometer. Most companies tend to raise fares by 20% between 22:00-5:00, but other companies have kept fares low to compete in a crowded market.
Roads
Local and regional highways
National, prefectural and metropolitan, and local roads crisscross the region. Some of the major national highways are:
*
Route 1
The following highways are numbered 1.
For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads.
For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads.
For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads.
For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads.
For roads numbered ...
Route 4
Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries:
International
* AH4, Asian Highway 4
* European route E04
* European route E004
* Cairo – Cape Town Highway
Albania
* SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...
carries traffic north all the way to
Sendai
is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the TÅhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...
and
Aomori
is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the TÅhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...
Nihonbashi
is a business district of ChÅ«Å, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The current ...
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
Route 20
Route 20, or Highway 20, may refer to:
International
* European route E20
Australia
* Sturt Highway (NSW/VIC/SA)
* Yarra Bank Highway
Brazil
* BR-020
Canada
* Alberta Highway 20
* British Columbia Highway 20
* Manitoba Highway 20
*New Br ...
crosses Tokyo from east to west, continuing into Yamanashi Prefecture.
The datum from which distances are reckoned is in Nihonbashi.
Private and commercial automobiles account are owned by fewer individuals than in other parts of the country. Tokyo, with a population of over 13 million, in 2014 registered a bit less than 4 million vehicles. Tokyo's average car size is larger than the rest of the country, with only 20.1% being kei cars. However it has followed the national trend of kei car popularity increasing almost every year.Kanagawa prefecture also followed a similar trend but to a lower degree, the other two suburban prefectures were similar to the national averages. This is in contrast to Okinawa (opposite extreme in Japan), where there are almost as many registered vehicles as people, however 55.7% were kei cars in 2014.http://www.zenkeijikyo.or.jp/topics/1412fukyuu.html(社団法人全国軽自動車å”会連åˆä¼š 2015å¹´7月6æ—¥)
Maritime transport
Passenger ferries
The notable route which serves as internal transport is
Tokyo-Wan Ferry
is a Japanese car ferry operator. Its line links Yokosuka, Kanagawa and Futtsu, Chiba, across Tokyo Bay in 40 minutes. Headquartered in Yokosuka, the company started its service in 1957. In 1960, this company became an affiliated company of Ke ...
, the car-passenger
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
Tokyo Mizube Line
The is a water bus service in Tokyo. A public company called operates the lines on Tokyo riverside. The services include public lines listed below, as well as event cruises and chartered ships. All lines close on Monday (or the next day if Monda ...
in Tokyo,
The Port Service
is a passenger ship operating company in Yokohama.
Founded in 1953, the company operates seabuses, an excursion cruise ship, and a restaurant ship, all within the Port of Yokohama. The services include public lines listed below, as well as char ...
and
Keihin Ferry Boat
The is a ship operating company in Yokohama. Founded in 1963, the company operates water buses and an excursion cruise ship, both within the Port of Yokohama. The services include public lines listed below, as well as event cruises and chartered ...
in Yokohama.
Out of the bay, the car-passenger ferries to the
Izu Islands
The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ō ...
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
HokkaidÅ
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates HokkaidÅ from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
serve from ÅŒarai, Ibaraki. There are some other freight ferries (which can carry less than 13 passengers) serving out of the Bay.
Shipping
Shipping plays a crucial role for inbound and outbound freight, both domestic and international. The Port of Tokyo and Port of Yokohama are both major ports for Japan and Greater Tokyo.
Other modes
Greater Tokyo is little different from the rest of Japan in regarding other modes of transport. It is home to the majority of Japan's automated bicycle systems and has a number of bicycle sharing systems.
Transport in Greater Nagoya
Transport in Greater Nagoya (ChÅ«kyÅ) is similar to that of the Tokyo and Osaka, but is more automobile oriented, as the urban density is less than Japan's two primary metropolises, and major automobile manufacturers like Toyota are based here. ...
*
Transport in Fukuoka-Kitakyūshū
Transport in Fukuoka-Kitakyushu is similar to that of other large cities in Japan, but with a high degree of private transport. The region is a hub of international ferry services and has a high degree of air connectivity and a considerable rail t ...
JR East official website, showing the map of the Suica/PASMO accepting area, which roughly corresponds with Greater Tokyo Area
Greater TÅkyÅ Railway Network unofficial railway map of Greater Tokyo
Tokyo Railway Map bilingual railway map of central Tokyo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transportation In Greater Tokyo