The is a subway line owned and 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 ...

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 37.46 ...

, Japan. The line runs between

Meguro is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character, but is also home to light industry, corporat ...

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

and Akabane-Iwabuchi in Kita. The Namboku Line was referred to as Line 7 during the planning stages, thus the seldom-used official name is . On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using the color emerald (previously coded "teal"), and its stations are given numbers using the letter "N".

Overview

Trains run through onto the

Tokyu Meguro Line Tokyu may refer to: * Tokyu Group, a group of companies centered on Tokyu Corporation ** Tokyu Corporation, a Japanese railway company, the largest member and parent company of the group ** Tokyu Car Corporation, a former Japanese railway vehicle ...

for and the Saitama Railway's

Saitama Rapid Railway Line The is a mostly underground rapid transit line in Japan operated by the third sector operating company Saitama Railway Corporation. Funded by Saitama Prefecture, local municipal governments, and Tokyo Metro, it forms a continuation of the Tok ...

(which is essentially a separately-owned extension of the Namboku Line) for . The right-of-way and stations between and Meguro are shared with the

Toei Mita Line The is a subway line of the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) network in Tokyo, Japan. The line runs between Nishi-Takashimadaira in Itabashi and Meguro in Shinagawa. Trains continue with direct service into the Meguro Line ...

– a unique situation on the Tokyo subway where both operators share common infrastructure. Under an agreement between Tokyo Metro and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the fare for this section is calculated on the Toei fare system for passengers traveling to stations on the Mita Line past Shirokane-Takanawa, on the Metro fare system for passengers traveling to stations on the Namboku Line past Shirokane-Takanawa, and on the system "most beneficial to the passenger" (presently the Metro schedule) for travel solely on the shared sector. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the Namboku Line is shown using the color emerald (▉), and its stations are given numbers using the letter "N".

Station list

* All stations are located in Tokyo. * All services stop at all stations.

Rolling stock

* Tokyo Metro 9000 series 6-car EMUs * Saitama Rapid Railway 2000 series 6-car EMUs *

Tokyu 3000 series The is a Japanese commuter electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by Tokyu Corporation in the Tokyo area of Japan. Introduced into service on 16 April 1999 on the Tokyu Toyoko Line as a sole eight-car set, a total of 78 vehicles, whic ...

6/8-car EMUs * Tokyu 5080 series 6/8-car EMUs * Tokyu 3020 series 6/8-car EMUs * Sotetsu 21000 series 8-car EMUs File:TokyoMetro9000.JPG, Tokyo Metro 9000 series File:Series-SR2000-2802.jpg, Saitama Rapid Railway 2000 series File:Tokyu-Series3000-3004.jpg, Tokyu 3000 series File:Tokyu-Series5080-5187F 8cars.jpg, Tokyu 5080 series File:Tokyu-Series3020-3821.jpg, Tokyu 3020 series File:Sagami-Railway-20000-20102F.jpg, Sotetsu 21000 series

History

The 21.3 km Namboku Line is one of Tokyo Metro's newer lines, featuring advanced technology including full automatic train operation and

platform screen doors Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail sys ...

. Although the line was originally proposed in 1968, construction did not begin until the 1980s, partly due to the right-of-way to Meguro with the

. The first segment from to opened on November 29, 1991. The line initially operated with four-car EMUs. Upon its extension to

Yotsuya is a neighborhood in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It is a former ward (四谷区 ''Yotsuya-ku'') in the now-defunct Tokyo City. In 1947, when the 35 wards of Tokyo were reorganized into 23, it was merged with Ushigome ward of Tokyo City and Yo ...

in March 1996, the formations were extended to six cars. On 1 April 2022, eight-car trains began operating on the line. The extension to was completed in September 1997, and the last stretch from Tameike-Sanno to Meguro was completed on September 26, 2000, when through service to the

started. Through service with the

commenced when it opened in March 2001 and accommodated traffic to and from

Saitama Stadium , often called or simply , is a football stadium located in Midori-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Currently, J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds use this stadium for home games. It is the largest football-specific stadium in Japan an ...

during the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

. Although the Saitama Line is more or less a northern extension of the Namboku Line, it nevertheless remains a private entity to which the Namboku Line offers through services with. The Namboku Line was inherited by

after the privatization of the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA) in 2004.

Future plans

On 28 January 2022,

announced that a spur line from Shirokane-takanawa to

would be built. The extension is expected to cost and scheduled to begin revenue service in the mid-2030s. It is intended to increase connections to and from the

Chūō Shinkansen The is a Japanese maglev line under construction between Tokyo and Nagoya, with plans for extension to Osaka. Its initial section is between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nagoya Station in Nagoya, with stations in Sagamihara, Kōfu, Iida ...

, which is scheduled to open for service in 2027.

References

* Shaw, Dennis and Morioka, Hisashi, "Tokyo Subways", published 1992 by Hoikusha Publishing

External links

Tokyo Metro website
{{Tokyo transit Lines of Tokyo Metro Railway lines in Tokyo Railway lines opened in 1991 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan 1991 establishments in Japan