Ginza line




The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, officially designated as Line 3 Ginza Line, is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The line spans 14.3 km and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chūō, Chiyoda, and Taitō.
It is the oldest subway line in Asia, opening in 1927 and originally operated by the Tokyo Underground Railway, later jointly operated with the Tokyo Rapid Railway.
The line is named after the Ginza commercial district in Chūō, through which it passes. On maps, diagrams, and signage, the line is color-coded orange, and its stations are identified by the letter "G" followed by a specific number.

Operations

Nearly all Ginza Line trains operate along the full length of the line between Asakusa and Shibuya. However, two early-morning trains originate at Toranomon, and several late-night trains from Shibuya terminate at Ueno. Along with the Marunouchi Line, the Ginza Line is a self-contained system with no through-service operations to other railway lines.
On weekdays, the line maintains a headway of 2 minutes and 15 seconds during morning and evening peak periods, and 5 minutes during the day. The first trains depart from Shibuya and Asakusa at 05:01; the final services reach Shibuya at 00:37 and Asakusa at 00:39.

History

The Ginza Line was conceived by businessman Noritsugu Hayakawa, who, after observing the London Underground during a 1914 visit, concluded that Tokyo City required its own subterranean railway. In 1920, he co-founded the Tokyo Underground Railway alongside Baron Furuichi Kōi. Construction began on September 27, 1925, following the procurement of ¥6.2 mil toward the project's initial ¥35 mil funding requirement.
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, it became difficult to raise funds for the line. The portion between and was completed on December 30, 1927. 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 to temporary Manseibashi Station, abandoned on November 21, 1931 when the subway reached, further south down the line. The Great Depression slowed down construction, but the line finally reached its originally planned terminus of on June 21, 1934.
In 1938, the Tokyo Rapid Railway, a company tied to the predecessor of today's Tokyu Corporation, 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 in July 1941 in accordance with the Land Transport Business Coordination Law, related to the State General Mobilization Law.
For a period after the outbreak of the World War II in December 1941, mainland Japan was largely spared significant war damage, with the exception of the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942. Economic activity increased, leading to a rise in demand for rail transport. To accommodate the increased capacity needs, all trains were standardized to three-car formations starting December 31, 1942.
However, intensifying warfare led to severe power shortages. Consequently, from January 19, 1943, measures such as shortening the operating routes of some trains operating only between Mitsukoshimae Station and Shibuya Station and suspending service on holidays were implemented. The continued deterioration of the power supply and a decrease in the number of operable electric cars due to vehicle part shortages resulted in a further series of speed reductions and a decrease in train frequency.
Towards the end of the WWII, Tokyo endured repeated bombings by the US military during the Great Tokyo Air Raids. The Ginza Line, having minimal soil cover, was forced to suspend service during each air raid. Due to the lack of overground coverage, it was not utilized as an air raid shelter, unlike other subway lines such as the Midosuji Line in Osaka.
During the air raid on January 27, 1945, a bomb struck Ginza Street, causing damage to both Ginza Station and Kyōbashi Station and resulting in numerous passenger fatalities. Additionally, a burst water pipe flooded the tunnel between Nihonbashi Station and Shimbashi Station. Service was consequently rerouted, operating between Asakusa Station and Mitsukoshimae Station, and between Shimbashi Station and Shibuya Station. On February 1, single-track service resumed between Shimbashi and Mitsukoshimae stations, with full line restoration achieved by March 10. On May 25, a bomb hit the Shibuya Inspection Yard, burning five carriages which were later repaired and returned to service.
By June 1, only 24 of the fleet's 84 cars remained operational. Due to depopulation in the areas surrounding the stations caused by the air raids, trains were treated as passing through Tawaramachi Station and Suehirochō Station during limited hours until October 14, 1946.
The "Ginza Line" name was applied in 1953 to distinguish the line from the new Marunouchi Line. 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 and stations.
Automatic train control and train automatic stopping controller were activated on the Ginza Line on July 31, 1993, replacing the previous mechanical automatic train stop system. This allowed for an increase in the maximum operating speed limit from to, which came into effect on August 2, 1993, and hence enabled a corresponding increase in the line's route capacity and train frequency. 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 after the privatization of the Teito Rapid Transit Authority in 2004.

Station list

  • All stations are located in Tokyo.
Being the oldest line on the Tokyo Metro, 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 located on the third-floor of a building that is located in a depression.

Rolling stock

Since April 2012, the Ginza Line uses a fleet of 40 six-car Tokyo Metro 1000 series EMUs which have a maximum speed of. Each car is long and wide, with three doors on each side. They are powered by a third rail electrified at 600 V DC. Both the Ginza Line and the Marunouchi Line are the only Tokyo Metro lines to use and third rail electrification, while subsequent lines employ narrow gauge rails and 1,500 V DC overhead power supply to accommodate through services.
Cars are stored and inspected at Shibuya Depot located after Shibuya Station and at Ueno Inspection Division, 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
  • 1000 series
  • 1100 series
  • 1200 series
  • 1300 series
  • 1400 series
  • 1500 series
  • 1500N series
  • 1600 series
  • 1700 series
  • 1800 series
  • 1900 series
  • 2000 series
  • 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.