List of urban rail systems in Japan
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The list of urban rail systems in Japan lists
urban rail transit Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, ...
systems in Japan, organized by , including number of stations, length (km), and average daily and annual ridership volume. Data is shown only for those areas designated as by the Statistics Bureau of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Central Common Government Of ...
.


Considerations

There are several considerations for the data presented in this list.


Station count

Data is broken down at the line level, then rolled up for each specific railway operator. The total station count for each operator is a "unique station" count—an interchange or transfer station between two lines operated by the same company is counted as a single station. As a result, summing together the station counts for all of the lines under a single railway operator will generally yield a value greater than the total station count cited for the operator. Some station pairs are officially considered interchanges by their respective railway operators despite having different names (e.g., Tameike-Sannō and Kokkai-gijidō-mae 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 Toei ...
and Tenjin and Tenjin-Minami on the
Fukuoka City Subway The serves Fukuoka, Japan. It consists of three subway lines, the Kūkō, or Airport Line, the Hakozaki Line and the Nanakuma Line). The lines are operated by the Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau. Unlike most other public operators in Japa ...
). As such stations have different names, however, they are counted as separate stations in this list.


Length

In a similar fashion to the station count, length is counted as route kilometers, but only considers "unique" segments. The following considerations are relevant for the lengths referenced in the tables.


Intra-company considerations

Generally, multiple-track sections classified under the same line name and without operational segregation into separate lines are only counted once, not twice. Examples include the quadruple-track sections of the
Keihan Main Line The is a railway line in Japan operated by Keihan Electric Railway. The line runs between Sanjō Station in Kyoto and Yodoyabashi Station in Osaka. There are through services to the Keihan Ōtō Line and the Keihan Nakanoshima Line. Trains from ...
and
Tōbu Isesaki Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway company Tobu Railway, extending from Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen Station in Saitama to Isesaki Station in Gunma Prefecture. The Isesaki Line can refer to the entire section between Asakusa ...
, which are only counted once because fast (i.e., limited-stop) and slow (i.e., local or all-stop) services are branded together as a single line, not separately as distinct lines. Other cases include
double junction A double junction is a railway junction where a double-track railway splits into two double track lines. Usually, one line is the main line and carries traffic through the junction at normal speed, while the other track is a branch line that ca ...
s where a double-track
branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...
ties into a double-track
main line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
, permitting interlining of the branch line with the main line. Examples include
Keiō Sagamihara Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway operator Keio Corporation, connecting Hashimoto Station in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture and Chōfu Station in Chōfu, Tokyo. Station list Rapid and Semi express services stop ...
trains that continue past Chōfu Station onto the
Keiō Line The is a 37.9-km railway line in western Tokyo, Japan, owned by the private railway operator Keiō Corporation. It connects Shinjuku, Tokyo, with the suburban city of Hachiōji. The Keiō Line is part of a network with interchanges and throug ...
. In this situation, the trackage of the Keiō Sagamihara Line is counted as only the section between Chōfu and Hashimoto Station, while the double-track section east of Chōfu is counted under the Keiō Line, following traditional conventions for railway line nomenclature in Japan. Likewise, double-track segments shared by lines under the same operator are only counted once. Examples include the
Yamanote Freight Line and are traditional names for two areas of Tokyo, Japan. Yamanote refers to the affluent, upper-class areas of Tokyo west of the Imperial Palace.Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version While citizens once considered it as ...
between
Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second largest ...
and Ōsaki, a segment shared by the
Saikyō Line The Saikyō Line ( ja, 埼京線, ) is a Japanese railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Ōsaki Station in Shinagawa, Tokyo, and Ōmiya Station in Saitama Prefecture. The line's name is an abbreviation of ...
and Shōnan-Shinjuku Line. In this situation, the trackage is counted only once, under the Saikyō Line. Similarly, tabulations for the larger tram systems with a high degree of interlining, such as
Hiroshima Electric Railway is a Japanese transportation company established on June 18, 1910, that operates streetcars and buses in and around Hiroshima Prefecture. It is known as for short. The company's rolling stock includes an eclectic range of trams manufactur ...
, also consider only unique segments, and sections where multiple routes overlap are only counted once. However, if there is some reasonable segregation of operations or distinction between lines, the trackage is counted more than once. Examples include the various quadruple-track sections of
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 ...
(JR East) that provide segregated local and rapid services (e.g.,
Chūō Rapid Line may refer to: Places *Chūō-ku (disambiguation), city wards named Chūō **Chūō, Tokyo, a special ward in Tokyo *Chūō, Yamanashi, a city in Yamanashi Prefecture *Chūō, Kumamoto, a former town in Kumamoto Prefecture *Chūō, Okayama, a fo ...
vs. Chūō-Sōbu Line). Here, the route-kilometers are counted twice, once under the Chūō Rapid Line and again under the local Chūō-Sōbu Line. Other situations include quadruple-track sections at the confluence of two distinct double-track lines, such as the Ōsaka Uehommachi
Fuse Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...
quadruple-track section of the
Kintetsu ''Kintetsu'' is the abbreviation of , or Kintetsu Railway, a Japanese railway corporation. It may also refer to: Companies * Kintetsu Group Holdings, the holding corporation of the Kintetsu Railway ** Kintetsu Bus, a bus company and a subsidiary ...
network in central
Ōsaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 ...
, officially designated as part of the
Osaka Line is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 ...
but actually two lines (the Osaka Line and
Nara Line The is a commuter rail line in the Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto metropolitan area, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Its official termini are Kizu Station in Kizugawa and Kyōto Station in Kyoto, within Kyoto Prefecture; however ...
) sharing a single
right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
west of Fuse. A similar situation applies for many JR East lines—the
Yamanote Line The Yamanote Line ( ja, 山手線, Yamanote-sen) is a loop service in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the 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 ...
and Keihin-Tōhoku Line officially use tracks classified as part of the
Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...
and
Tōhoku Main Line The Tōhoku Main Line ( ja, 東北本線, ) is a long railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The line starts from Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and passes through such cities as Saitama, Utsunomiya, Fukush ...
, but that are fully segregated from the tracks used by the respective services operating under the names "Tōkaidō Line" and "
Utsunomiya Line The Utsunomiya Line ( ja, 宇都宮線, ) is the name given to a 163.5 kilometer section of the Tōhoku Main Line between Tokyo Station in Tokyo and Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan. It is part of the East Japan Railway Compan ...
" / "
Takasaki Line The Takasaki Line ( ja, 高崎線, ) is a Japanese railway line which connects Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama Prefecture and Takasaki Station in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) ...
".


Cross-company considerations

As a general rule, trackage used by one company but owned by another company as part of a
trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
or (often translated as through-service) agreement is not counted under the first company. For example, trackage on the
Toei Asakusa Line The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo subway operator Toei Subway. The line runs between in Ōta and in Sumida. The line is named after the Asakusa district, a cultural center of Tokyo, under which it passes. The Asak ...
is not counted under
Keikyu Corporation (), also known as or, more recently, , is a private railroad that connects inner Tokyo to Kawasaki, Yokohama, Yokosuka and other points on the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture. It also provides rail access to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. mea ...
, Keisei Electric Railway, or the Hokusō Railway, despite the fact that all three operate their trains on the Asakusa Line. However, this list makes some exceptions to this rule, the most notable being the Keisei-TakasagoInba-Nihon-Idai section of the
Keisei Narita Airport Line The is a Japanese railway line connecting Keisei-Takasago Station and Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station. The entire route from Keisei Ueno Station, including the Keisei Main Line as far as Keisei-Takasago, is branded . The Keisei Electric Rai ...
, which is shared with trains operated by Hokusō Railway but owned partially by Hokusō Railway (Keisei-Takasago – Komuro) and
Chiba New Town Railway 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 ...
(Komuro – Inba-Nihon-Idai). This shared trackage is counted once under Hokusō Railway and again under Keisei Electric Railway. Similar exceptions include trackage owned by third-sector railways that do not own any of their own rolling stock and instead contract out train operations to through-servicing operators. Notable examples include the double-track approach into
Narita Airport Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport ...
, which is owned by the third-sector
Narita Airport Rapid Railway The is a Japanese railway line connecting Keisei-Takasago Station and Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station. The entire route from Keisei Ueno Station, including the Keisei Main Line as far as Keisei-Takasago, is branded . The Keisei Electric Rai ...
. All trains on this railway, however, are operated by either JR East or Keisei Electric Railway, with each operator getting dedicated usage of one of the two tracks into the Airport. In this situation, the JR East single-track section is counted in the JR total, while the Keisei single-track section is counted in the Keisei total.


Ridership

Both average daily and annual ridership are included, because only average daily ridership or annual ridership (not both) is available for some operators. In cases where data for only one of the two is available, care has been taken to not extrapolate the passenger volume to obtain the other, as there is a potential margin of error when attempting to derive average daily ridership from annual ridership (which is usually rounded to the nearest thousand passengers) and natural disasters or other unforeseen situations may force some operators to shut down for extended periods of time, as happened with the
Sendai Subway The is a rapid transit system in Sendai, Japan. It is operated by the Sendai City Transportation Bureau. The subway consists of two lines, the north-south Namboku Line, which opened in July 1987, and the east-west Tozai Line, which opened in ...
in the days following the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
.


Categories

For readability and ease of comparison across metropolitan areas, systems within each metropolitan area are broken down into the following categories: * Subways are divided into two types: publicly operated and privately owned, and are grouped together with each other regardless of ownership. See for more details. ** : Systems generally considered "subways" and operated directly by government agencies at the city (e.g.,
Kobe Municipal Subway The is a rapid transit system in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Like other large Japanese cities, Kobe's subway system is heavily complemented by suburban rail. In addition, two people mover lines also serve the Kobe area: the Port Island Line ...
) or prefecture (e.g.,
Toei Subway The is one of two subway systems in Tokyo, the other being Tokyo Metro. The Toei Subway lines were originally licensed to the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (the predecessor of Tokyo Metro) but were constructed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government ...
) level. ** : Systems generally considered "subways" that are owned by private operators (e.g.,
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 Toei ...
), as well as third-sector (semi-public) subways (e.g.,
Minatomirai Line The Minatomirai 21 Line (みなとみらい21線 ''Minato-mirai-21-sen''), commonly known as the Minatomirai Line (みなとみらい線 ''Minatomirai-sen''), is a subway line in Yokohama, Japan that runs from Yokohama Station to Motomachi-Chūk ...
). * : Any of the 15 private railways (excluding subways) considered by the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法 ...
and others to be the largest private railways in Japan (by network length, ridership volume, and other metrics), providing critical urban rail service in the
Greater Tokyo The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the pre ...
,
Greater Nagoya Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...
,
Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population () of 19,302,746 o ...
, and Fukuoka-Kitakyūshū areas.
Japan Railways Group The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Mo ...
operators such as JR East or
West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...
(JR West) are generally not considered major private railways because they are descended from the government-owned
Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...
(JNR), despite their size and their status now as private, for-profit railways, following the dissolution of JNR in 1984. * : Any of the eight private railways considered by the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法 ...
and others to be intermediate in size, smaller than the major private railways but larger in scale than the . Examples include
Shin-Keisei Electric Railway The is a private railway in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It connects Narashino, Chiba, Narashino and Matsudo, Chiba, Matsudo. It is a subsidiary of Keisei Electric Railway. It has the following bus company subsidiaries. * Funabashi Shin-Keisei Bu ...
and
Sanyo Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway operating company based in western Hyōgo Prefecture. It runs local and express rail service between Himeji and Kobe, and also connects directly with Hanshin Main Line to Osaka. Although the Hanshin Electric Rai ...
. Like the major private railways, they provide critical urban rail service in the metropolitan areas. * Japan Rail metropolitan network: Urban rail services operated by Japan Rail Group companies. While JR Group companies administer networks spanning multiple regions and operate various long-distance and intercity services such as
limited express A limited express is a type of express train service. It refers to an express service that stops at a limited number of stops in comparison to other express services on the same or similar routes. Japan The term "limited express" is a common ...
es and
Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...
high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
, services in metropolitan areas are often focused on providing urban and suburban transit. JR East, for example, is the largest single urban rail operator in the world, carrying around 14 million passengers daily on its extensive rail network in Greater Tokyo. * Other major railways: Any other major railways not fitting any of the above four categories. Examples include the
Tsukuba Express The , or TX, is a Japanese railway line operated by the third-sector company Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company, which links Akihabara Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and Tsukuba Station in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. The route was inaugurated on 24 Augu ...
and the
Enoshima Electric Railway The is a private railway in Japan which connects Kamakura Station in Kamakura with Fujisawa Station in Fujisawa, Kanagawa. Stations en route include , the stop closest to Kōtoku-in, the temple with the colossal outdoor statue of Amida Buddha. ...
. * Other minor railways: Any other systems which provide rail service in the metropolitan area but do not fall into the above categories. Examples include tourist-heavy lines like the
Disney Resort Line The , officially called , is an automated monorail in Japan, which operates between Maihama Station and the Tokyo Disney Resort. The system is operated by , the subsidiary of Oriental Land Co., Ltd. that operates the resort. Legally speaking, ...
(a
monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...
line primarily serving the
Tokyo Disney Resort The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is fully owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under a licence from The Walt Disney Company, who constru ...
), local people mover systems such as the
Yamaman Yūkarigaoka Line The is a Japanese people mover of Yamaman Co., Ltd., the developer of Yūkarigaoka town. The line, which opened in two stages between November 2, 1982, and September 22, 1983, runs from Yūkarigaoka Station and the entire route is in Sakura, C ...
(a small
automated guideway transit An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more dr ...
system primarily serving to connect a
new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
development with a major suburban railway station), or other minor systems like the
Mizuma Railway The is a Japanese railway line between Mizuma Kannon Station and Kaizuka Station, all within Kaizuka, Ōsaka. This is the only railway line of a private railway company operates. The company also operates bus services. The company or the l ...
(a minor private railway in suburban Osaka).


List


See also

*
Rail transport in Japan Rail transport in Japan is a major means of passenger transport, especially for mass and high-speed travel between major cities and for commuter transport in urban areas. It is used relatively little for freight transport, accounting for ju ...
*
List of railway companies in Japan List of railway companies in Japan lists Japanese railway operators. Those in ''italics'' are the third-sector operators; being half-public, half-private. Japan Railways Group The Japan Railways Group consists of the seven companies that were fo ...
*
List of railway lines in Japan List of railway lines in Japan lists existing railway lines in Japan alphabetically. The vast majority of Japanese railways are classified under two Japanese laws, one for and another for . The difference between the two is a legal, and not alwa ...
*
List of railway stations in Japan The links below contain all of the 8579 railway stations in Japan. External links {{Portal bar, Japan, Trains * Railway stations Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It ...
* List of through trains in Japan


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urban rail systems in Japan Japanese railway-related lists Japan transport-related lists