Toei Ōedo Line

One of ticket gates of Shinjuku Station, E-27

The Toei Ōedo Line (都営地下鉄大江戸線, Toei Chikatetsu Ōedo-sen^?) is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation. It commenced full operations on December 12, 2000; using the Japanese calendar this reads "12/12/12" as the year 2000 equals Heisei 12. Formerly known as Line 12, its official line color is red-violet ○.

Route information

• Length: 40.7 km
• Gauge: 1435 mm
• Stations: 38 (including ends, Tocho-mae Station counted as one station)
• Double-track: Entire line
• Electric supply: 1500 VDC
• Block system: Automatic (cab signal) (CS-ATC)

History

The first segment from Hikarigaoka to Nerima began operations on December 10, 1991 under the name Toei Line 12 (都営地下鉄12号線, Toei Chikatetsu Jūnigō-sen^?). The line was extended from Nerima to Shinjuku on December 19, 1997, and later to from Shinjuku to Kokuritsu-Kyogijo on April 20, 2000. With this extension, Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, named the line Toei Ōedo Line, where Ōedo literally means "Great Edo", a reference to Tokyo's former name. The full line began operation on December 12, 2000. An additional station (Shiodome Station) was opened on November 2, 2002 to connect to the Yurikamome guideway transit line.

The Ōedo Line is Tokyo's first linear motor metro line, which allows it to use smaller cars and smaller tunnels. These putative cost savings were, however, offset by the need to build the line very deep (as low as 48 meters below ground at points) through central Tokyo, including three underground crossings of the Sumida River. Originally budgeted at ¥682.6 million and 6 years, the construction ended up taking nearly 10 years and estimates of the final cost of construction range from the official ¥988.6 billion to over ¥1,400 billion yen, making it the most expensive subway line ever built. (Yokohama's Minato Mirai Line, however, was even costlier if measured per kilometer.)

Ridership projections originally estimated 1 million users daily, a figure scaled down to 820,000 before opening. However, at the end of 2005, five years after opening, the line was only averaging 680,000 passengers/day, and at the current rate of growth the figure is unlikely to exceed 700,000 even in 2015. The line is thus unlikely to recoup its costs in 35 years as expected.

Future developments

There are plans to extend the Oedo Line westward from its current western terminus at Hikarigaoka Station through Ōizumi-gakuen Station (on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line) to Higashi-Tokorozawa Station (on the Musashino Line). Construction of the first segment to Ōizumi-gakuen is tentatively scheduled for before 2015, although no concrete planning has yet been implemented.

Operation

Map of Oedo line (pink)

The Ōedo Line runs in a loop around central Tokyo before branching out towards Nerima in the western suburbs, meaning the line is shaped like a figure of 6 lying on its side. It is not a true loop line: trains from the western Hikarigaoka terminus run anticlockwise around the loop and terminate at the intermediate Tochō-mae Station facing towards Hikarigaoka, and vice-versa.

The terminals and major stations include Hikarigaoka, Roppongi, Daimon, Ryogoku, Iidabashi, and Tocho-mae. Stations on the Toei Ōedo Line carry the letter E followed by a number.

Stations

Note: the stations are listed following the clockwise route starting from Tocho-mae station

Station number	Station name	Connecting lines
E-28	Tocho-mae Station	(transfer to Hikarigaoka-bound train; transfer to Yoyogi bound (anticlockwise route) train)
E-01	Shinjuku Nishiguchi Station	Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (Shinjuku Station), Chūō Main Line, Yamanote Line, Saikyo Line, Shonan-Shinjuku Line (Shinjuku Station), Seibu Shinjuku Line (Seibu Shinjuku Station), Odakyu Odawara Line (Shinjuku Station), Keio Line (Shinjuku Station)
E-02	Higashi Shinjuku Station
E-03	Wakamatsu Kawada Station
E-04	Ushigome Yanagicho Station
E-05	Ushigome Kagurazaka Station
E-06	Iidabashi Station	Tokyo Metro Tozai Line, Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line, Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, Chūō-Sōbu Line
E-07	Kasuga Station	Toei Mita Line, Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line (Korakuen Station), Tokyo Metro Namboku Line (Korakuen Station)
E-08	Hongo Sanchome Station	Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line
E-09	Ueno Okachimachi Station	Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (Ueno Hirokoji Station), Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line (Naka-okachimachi Station), Yamanote Line (Okachimachi Station), Keihin Tohoku Line (Okachimachi Station)
E-10	Shin-okachimachi Station	Tsukuba Express
E-11	Kuramae Station	Toei Asakusa Line
E-12	Ryogoku Station	Sōbu Main Line
E-13	Morishita Station	Toei Shinjuku Line
E-14	Kiyosumi Shirakawa Station	Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line
E-15	Monzen Nakacho Station	Tokyo Metro Tozai Line
E-16	Tsukishima Station	Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line
E-17	Kachidoki Station
E-18	Tsukiji Shijo Station
E-19	Shiodome Station	Yurikamome
E-20	Daimon Station	Toei Asakusa Line, Yamanote Line (Hamamatsucho Station), Keihin Tohoku Line (Hamamatsucho Station), Tokyo Monorail (Hamamatsucho Station)
E-21	Akabanebashi Station
E-22	Azabu Juban Station	Tokyo Metro Namboku Line
E-23	Roppongi Station	Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line
E-24	Aoyama Itchome Station	Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Hanzomon Line
E-25	Kokuritsu Kyogijo Station	Sendagaya Station on Chūō-Sōbu Line is at exit A4 and A5
E-26	Yoyogi Station	Chūō-Sōbu Line, Yamanote Line
E-27	Shinjuku Station	Toei Shinjuku Line, Chūō Main Line, Yamanote Line, Saikyo Line, Shonan Shinjuku Line, Odakyu Odawara Line, Keio Line, Keio New Line
E-28	Tocho-mae Station	(transfer to Iidabashi bound (clockwise route) train)
E-29	Nishi Shinjuku Gochome Station
E-30	Nakano Sakaue Station	Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line
E-31	Higashi Nakano Station	Chūō-Sōbu Line
E-32	Nakai Station	Seibu Shinjuku Line
E-33	Ochiai Minami Nagasaki Station
E-34	Shin-ekoda Station
E-35	Nerima Station	Seibu Ikebukuro Line, Seibu Yurakucho Line, Seibu Toshima Line
E-36	Toshimaen Station	Seibu Toshima Line
E-37	Nerima Kasugacho Station
E-38	Hikarigaoka Station

Gallery

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  Hikarigaoka Station, E-38

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  Nerima Station, E-35

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  Interior of a car

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  Roppongi Station, E-23