Average daily subway passengers of Tokyo Metro in Japan FY 2023, by line

In the fiscal year 2023, the Tozai Line was Tokyo Metro's subway line with the highest average daily number of passengers, amounting to around 1.25 million passengers per day. Its literal name is ‘East-West Line’, as it runs from a western ward of Tokyo, Nakano City, all the way to Funabashi, a city situated east of Tokyo in Chiba Prefecture. One of the main stations is Otemachi, a transfer hub of the capital in walking distance of highly frequented Tokyo Station.

Rapid transit in Tokyo

The subway network of Tokyo consists of two major operators, Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. and the smaller Toei Subway. While the former is a joint-stock company owned by the Government of Japan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the latter is subordinate to the Tokyo Government’s Bureau of Transportation. The busiest line of the municipal subway is the Oedo Line, providing an additional loop for the city center apart from the overground-running Yamanote Line, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). However, unlike the Yamanote Line, the Oedo Line’s track is shaped like the digit ‘6’ rather than a closed ring.

Tokyo’s famous green railway line

Although Tokyo has some scenic rails, such as the Tokyo Monorail that levitates passengers around the bay, the Yamanote Line is the true star of railways in Tokyo and, arguably, Japan. This actual, four-tracked loop of 34.5 kilometers encircles, if not defines, the heart of the capital and connects major passenger hubs and commercial districts. With passenger traffic similar to the Tozai Line and Oedo Line and frequencies as short as two minutes in peak hours, this railway has more in common with rapid transit than with other JR local trains chugging along the suburbs.