Tokyo Metro
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Tokyo Metro

The Tokyo Metro (Japanese: 東京メトロ, romanizedTōkyō Metoro) is a major rapid transit system in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metro Co. With an average daily ridership of 6.52 million passengers (as of 2023), the Tokyo Metro is the larger of the two subway operators in the city, the other being the Toei Subway, with 2.85 million average daily rides.

Tokyo Metro is operated by the Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. (東京地下鉄株式会社, Tōkyō Chikatetsu kabushiki-gaisha), a joint-stock company jointly owned by the Government of Japan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The company, founded as a part of then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy of converting statutory corporations into joint-stock companies, replaced the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (帝都高速度交通営団, Teito Kōsokudo Kōtsū Eidan; lit. "Imperial Capital Highspeed Transportation Management Foundation"), commonly known as Eidan or TRTA, on April 1, 2004. TRTA was administered by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and jointly funded by the national and metropolitan governments. It was formed in 1941 as a part-nationalization of the Tokyo Underground Railway and Tokyo Rapid Railway (now both form the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line), although its oldest lines date back to 1927 with the opening of the Tokyo Underground Railway the same year. Upon its establishment, the TRTA's legal form was a "management foundation" (経営財団, keiei zaidan; abbreviated to and hence eidan (営団)), a form of entity established by the government of the wartime cabinet of the Empire of Japan with both public and private sector investments. Private sector investments to the TRTA were prohibited in 1951 when it was converted into an ordinary statutory corporation. In 2024, the company made its initial public offering, raising $2.3 billion in what became Japan's biggest IPO since 2018.

The other major subway operator is Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei Subway) which is owned solely by the government of Tokyo. Tokyo Metro and Toei trains form completely separate networks, although Tokyo Metro Namboku Line and Toei Mita Line share the same track between Meguro Station and Shirokane-takanawa Station. Users of prepaid rail passes and Suica/Pasmo smart cards can freely interchange between the two networks (as well as other rail companies in the area), but fares are assessed separately for legs on each of these systems and regular ticket holders must purchase a second ticket, or a special transfer ticket, to change from a Toei line to a Tokyo Metro line and vice versa. Though, most Tokyo Metro (and Toei) line offer through service to lines outside of central Tokyo run by other carriers, and this can somewhat complicate the ticketing.

Much effort has been made to make the system accessible to non-Japanese speaking users:

Many stations are also designed to help blind people as railings often have Braille at their base, and raised yellow rubber guide strips are used on flooring throughout the network.

Tokyo Metro stations began accepting contactless (RFID) Pasmo stored value cards in March 2007 to pay fares, and the JR East Suica system is also universally accepted. Both these passes also can be used on surrounding rail systems throughout the area and many rail lines in other areas of Japan. Due to the complexity of the fare systems in Japan, most riders converted to these cards very quickly even though there is an additional charge to issue it.

The Tokyo Metro is punctual[citation needed] and has regular trains arriving 3 to 6 minutes apart most of the day and night. However, it does not run 24 hours a day. While through service with other companies complicates this somewhat, the last train generally starts at midnight and completes its service by 00:45 to 01:00, and the first train generally starts at 05:00.

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