# Tokyo Metro Network

By Numa

Topic: Earth & Geography

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/f32lHgRbxH5G)

## Guide

### 1. Tokyo Metro Network

This tabletop model shows the subway under Tokyo, one of the busiest cities on Earth\. Thirteen coloured lines link about 285 stations\. Drag the model to turn it and look around\.

Laid end to end, the lines would stretch about 304 km\.

### 2. Where it all began

On 30 December 1927, a short underground railway opened between Ueno and Asakusa\. It was the first subway in Asia\. Today that first stretch is part of the orange Ginza Line\.

The Ginza Line now runs 14\.3 km, from Asakusa all the way to Shibuya\.

### 3. Two companies, one network

Two operators share the job\. Tokyo Metro runs 9 lines, and Toei, run by the Tokyo city government, runs 4\. Switch between them to see who runs what\.

### 4. A colour and a letter

Every line has its own colour and letter, like an orange G for the Ginza Line\. Stations get numbers too, so Shibuya on that line is G\-01\. Even if you can't read the signs, you can follow the colours\.

The round badges float over one end of each line\.

### 5. Where lines meet

The white pillars are interchanges, where riders change from one line to another\. Otemachi, near Tokyo Station, joins five lines in a single station complex\.

Otemachi links the Marunouchi, Tozai, Chiyoda, Hanzomon and Toei Mita lines\.

### 6. A line shaped like a 6

The magenta Oedo Line has a long tail joined to a loop around the city centre, like the number 6\. At 40\.7 km with 38 stations, it is the longest line in the network\.

The Oedo Line's tail starts at Hikarigaoka and its loop meets the tail at Tochomae\.

### 7. Rush hour

About 9\.6 million rides are taken on these lines every day\. In the morning rush, trains follow one another every few minutes\. Press the button to fill the lines with trains\.

The busiest line, the sky\-blue Tozai Line, carries about 2\.6 million riders a day\.

### 8. Beyond the edge of the map

Many trains don't stop where the subway ends\. Out here, the Tozai, Hanzomon and Toei Asakusa lines hand their trains straight on to suburban railways, so riders travel far without changing\. This is called through\-running\.

In the west, Chiyoda Line trains continue onto the Odakyu railway in the same way\.

### 9. Read the map like a local

Thirteen lines, two companies, one shared system\. Next time you see a Tokyo subway map, look for the colours, letters and numbers\. They are the key to the whole city\.

The shapes here are a simplified model; only key stations are shown\.