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. with several hundred more in each of the three 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 Uniquely to most major cities in the world, Tokyo's railway system is not a single, unified and centrally operated network, but rather, it consists of many separately owned and operated systems with varying degrees of interconnectivity. Most lines in Tokyo are privately owned, funded, and operated, though some, like the
Toei Subway and the
Tokyo Metro, are supported by the Government either directly or indirectly. 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. Extensive
through and
express services for seamless interconnections between certain lines are a major feature of the network; the Narita-Haneda service run integrates track of six separate and independent operators. Suburban rail operations and subway lines are also very 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 an
S-bahn network.
Shinjuku Station is the busiest train station in the world by passenger throughput. Tokyo's railways tend to shut down at around midnight, with stations themselves closing around 1 a.m. 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. Upgrades on Greater Tokyo's railways are chiefly focused on improving services and
grade-separating lines.
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 charged 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. Some private railroads also capitalize on real estate holdings and high foot traffic by operating their own retail stores at stations. For example,
Odakyu Electric Railway and
Keio Corporation both have department stores over their properties at
Shinjuku Station.
Busiest JR stations Passengers carried in Greater Tokyo stations daily (2023): •
Shinjuku Station 650,602 •
Ikebukuro Station 489,933 •
Tokyo Station 403,831 •
Yokohama Station 362,348 •
Shibuya Station 314,059 •
Shinagawa Station 274,221 •
Ōmiya Station 244,393 •
Shimbashi Station 219,113 •
Akihabara Station 211,998 •
Kita-Senju Station 193,748
Japan Railway Yamanote Line East Japan Railway Company, 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). In addition to operating some long-haul
shinkansen ("bullet train") lines, JR East operates Tokyo's largest commuter railway network. This network includes the , which encircles the center of Tokyo; the between Saitama and Yokohama; the (part of the
Tōhoku Main Line) to Saitama and beyond; the to western Tokyo; the , and to Chiba; and the , , and lines to Kanagawa. Many additional lines form a network outside the center of the city, allowing inter-suburban travel. Among these are the
Hachikō,
Itsukaichi, ,
Jōetsu,
Kawagoe, ,
Ōme,
Negishi, ,
Sagami, , and lines. In total, JR alone operates 23 lines within the Greater Tokyo area. JR East is also the majority shareholder in the , one of the world's most commercially successful
monorail lines.
Other railway operators serving Greater Tokyo 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. • (
Keikyu): Operates out of
Shinagawa Station to Kanagawa and
Haneda Airport. Five lines. •
Keio Corporation: Operates out of
Shinjuku Station and
Shibuya Station to western Tokyo. Six lines. •
Keisei Electric Railway: Operates out of
Keisei Ueno Station to Chiba (including
Narita International Airport). Seven lines. •
Odakyu Electric Railway: Operates out of Shinjuku Station to Kanagawa, most notably
Odawara,
Enoshima, and
Hakone. Three lines. •
Seibu Railway: Operates out of
Seibu Shinjuku Station and
Ikebukuro Station to western Tokyo. Thirteen lines. •
Tobu Railway: Operates out of Ikebukuro Station and
Asakusa Station 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. •
Sagami Railway (
Sotetsu): Operates out of
Yokohama Station to eastern Kanagawa and operates through services to Tokyo and Saitama via the
Eastern Kanagawa Rail Link to the JR and Tokyu networks. Three lines. •
Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company (
Tsukuba Express or
TX): Links
Akihabara Station with
Tsukuba. One line. Some private and public carriers operate within the boundaries of Tokyo. •
Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit: Operates the
Rinkai Line along the Tokyo waterfront to
Odaiba. • : Connects central Tokyo to
Haneda Airport. • :
People mover serving the Tokyo waterfront and
Odaiba. •
Tama Toshi Monorail: A suburban transit line running north–south through
Western Tokyo.
Subway operators , Asia's oldest subway line, first opened in 1927 Two organizations operate the
Tokyo subway network with several other operators in the metropolitan area that operate lines that can be classified as
rapid transit: •
Tokyo Metro (formerly
Eidan): Operates Tokyo's (and Japan's) largest subway network, with nine lines. •
Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation: Operates the four
Toei Subway lines as well as the following: •
Toden Arakawa Line: Once a common sight before subways and buses came to fore, the
streetcar network has shrunk to only this one route between
Waseda Station and
Minowabashi Station. •
Nippori-Toneri Liner: People mover in northeast Tokyo owned and operated by the
Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation. •
Ueno Zoo Monorail: Short monorail in
Ueno Zoo. •
Yokohama Municipal Subway: Owned and operated by the
Yokohama City Transportation Bureau with two lines. • : A mostly underground line that acts as an extension of the
Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line connecting
Funabashi and
Yachiyo, Chiba. • : An underground line that acts as an extension of the connecting southern
Saitama to Tokyo. •
Rinkai Line: A mostly underground line that serves Tokyo's waterfront.
Other railway operators of Greater Tokyo Railway companies that serve other parts of Greater Tokyo include: •
Chiba Prefecture • : Northeast Chiba Prefecture. • : A short railway line in northern Chiba, operations are subcontracted to
Keisei Electric Railway. •
Chiba Urban Monorail: Serving the city of
Chiba. •
Disney Resort Line: A monorail that links
Maihama Station and
Tokyo Disney Resort. •
Ryutetsu: A short line railway in
Nagareyama, Chiba. •
Yamaman Yukarigaoka Line: A people mover in
Sakura, Chiba. •
Kanagawa Prefecture •
Enoshima Electric Railway (
Enoden): Scenic rail line running between
Kamakura and
Fujisawa in southern Kanagawa. •
Shonan Monorail: A monorail connecting
Ofuna Station to the
Shonan coast. •
Kanazawa Seaside Line: People mover in southern Yokohama. •
Yokohama Minatomirai Railway (
Minatomirai Line and
Kodomo-no-Kuni Line): Owns two lines in Yokohama; operations are subcontracted to
Tokyu Corporation. •
Saitama Prefecture •
Saitama New Urban Transit (
New Shuttle): A people mover in central
Saitama.
Ridership Below is the annual ridership of each major operator as of the 2017 fiscal year. Transfers between operators are not counted unless they pass through a ticketing gate (not simply a platform). ==Buses and trams==