Tokyo Metro Ginza Line

Ginza Line (Click on image to enlarge.)

The is a metro line in Tokyo, Japan, administered by the Tokyo Metro. It is 14.3 km long, and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chuo, Chiyoda and Taito.

On maps, its color is orange and its stations are denoted by the letter G followed by a number. Its planning line number is Line 3.

History

One of the original "Type 1000" trains operating on the Tokyo Underground Railway between Ueno and Asakusa. The last Type 1000 train was retired in 1968.

The portion between Ueno and Asakusa was completed by the Tokyo Underground Railway on December 30, 1927 and publicized at the time as "the first underground railway in the Orient." Upon its opening, the line was so popular that waiting times to board for the 5-minute trip often exceeded 2 hours.

The line was extended to Shinbashi, its original plan length, in 1934 after a delay caused by inadequate capital in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake.

In 1938, the Tokyo Rapid Railway, a company tied to the predecessor of today's Tokyu Corporation, began service between Shibuya and Toranomon, which was extended from Toranomon to Shinbashi in 1939. The two lines began through-service interoperation in 1939 and were formally merged as the Teito Rapid Transit Authority ("Eidan Subway") in July 1941. The "Ginza Line" name was applied in 1953 to distinguish the line from the new Marunouchi Line.

Tameike-Sanno Station opened in 1997 to provide a connection to the new Namboku Line.

Trains

A train for Shibuya departs Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line.

The Ginza Line uses a total of 38 six-car "Eidan Type 01" EMUs with a maximum speed of 80 km/h. Each car is 16 m long and 2.6 m wide, with three doors on each side. Both the Ginza Line and the Marunouchi Line run on standard gauge (1435 mm) rails, while the other Tokyo Metro lines run on narrow gauge (1067 mm) rails.

Trains are stored and inspected at the , 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 trains. Major inspections are carried out at Tokyo Metro's Nakano facility by running individual trains through the Marunouchi Line over a connecting track near Akasaka-Mitsuke.

Almost all Ginza Line trains operate on the line's full length from Asakusa to Shibuya. However, two trains depart in the early morning from Toranomon, and some late-night trains from Shibuya are taken out of service at Ueno.

Stations

Being the oldest line, the Ginza Line is also the closest line to the surface, generally no more than one and a half stories underground. The western end of the line runs above ground, terminating at a third-story terminal in Shibuya.

Station No.	Station!Transfers
G-01	Shibuya Station	Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line*, Keio Inokashira Line, Saikyo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line, Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line*, Tokyu Toyoko Line, Yamanote Line
G-02	Omote-sando Station	Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line, Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line
G-03	Gaien-mae Station
G-04	Aoyama-itchome Station	Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line, Toei Oedo Line
G-05	Akasaka-Mitsuke Station	Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line At Nagatacho: Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line, Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line
G-06	Tameike-Sanno Station	Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, At Kokkai-gijidomae:Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line
G-07	Toranomon Station
G-08	Shimbashi Station	Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Tōkaidō Main Line, Yamanote Line, Yokosuka Line, Toei Asakusa Line, Yurikamome
G-09	Ginza Station	Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line
G-10	Kyobashi Station
G-11	Nihombashi Station	Tokyo Metro Tozai Line, Toei Asakusa Line
G-12	Mitsukoshimae Station	Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line At Shin-Nihombashi: Sobu Line
G-13	Kanda Station	Chuo Main Line, Keihin-Tōhoku Line, Yamanote Line
G-14	Suehirocho Station
G-15	Ueno-hirokoji Station	At Nakaokachimachi: Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line At Ueno-Okachimachi: Toei Oedo Line
G-16	Ueno Station	Jōetsu Shinkansen, Tohoku Shinkansen, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Jōban Line, Takasaki Line, Tōhoku Main Line, Yamanote Line, Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line At Keisei Ueno:Keisei Main Line
G-17	Inaricho Station
G-18	Tawaramachi Station
G-19	Asakusa Station	Toei Asakusa Line, Tobu Isesaki Line

* The Ginza Line and Hanzomon/Den-en-toshi Line platforms at Shibuya are separated; as a result, passengers usually transfer between the two at Omotesando, where the lines run adjacent to each other.