| Tokyo Metro Tozai Line | |
| Other Name: | T |
| Linenumber: | 5 |
| Native Name: | 東京メトロ東西線 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Mapcolor: | Sky blue (#) |
| System: | Tokyo subway |
| Locale: | Tokyo, Chiba prefectures |
| Start: | or |
| End: | or or |
| Stations: | 23 |
| Daily Ridership: | 1,642,378 (2017)[1] |
| Operator: | Tokyo Metro |
| Depot: | Fukagawa, Gyōtoku |
| Stock: | Tokyo Metro 05/05N series Tokyo Metro 07 series Tokyo Metro 15000 series Tōyō Rapid 2000 series JR East E231-800 series |
| Tracks: | Double-track |
| Electrification: | (overhead line) |
| Trainprotection: | New CS-ATC |
| Maxincline: | 4.0% |
| Map State: | collapsed |
The is a rapid transit line in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, Japan, owned and operated by Tokyo Metro. Its name translates to "East-West Line". The line runs between Nakano in Nakano-ku, Tokyo and Nishi-Funabashi in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. The Tōzai Line was referred to as Line 5 during the planning stages; the seldom-used official name is . The line carries an average of 1,642,378 passengers daily (2017), making it the busiest line on the Tokyo Metro network. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the Tōzai Line is shown using the color "sky blue" and its stations are given numbers using the letter "T".
The line runs through central Tokyo from east to west via Takadanobaba, Waseda, Ōtemachi, Nihombashi, Kiba and Urayasu. It was opened as a bypass route for the Chuo Rapid Line and the Sobu Line, which were heavily congested at the time. It is the only Tokyo Metro line to extend into Chiba Prefecture (although the Shinjuku Line operated by Toei also extends into Chiba Prefecture.) It also runs above-ground for 14km (09miles) from to, nearly half of the line and longer than any other railway line in the Tokyo subway network.
The Tōzai Line features through services at both ends of the line. Trains run onto the JR East Chūō-Sōbu Line for at the western (Nakano) end, and onto either the Chūō-Sōbu Line for or the Tōyō Rapid Railway Line for at the eastern (Nishi-Funabashi) end.
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation in 2018, the Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line continues to be most crowded subway line in Tokyo, and the most crowded train line in all of Japan, with its peak running at 199% capacity between and stations.[2] [3] Women-only cars were introduced on the line for use during morning rush hour on November 20, 2006.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, peak ridership dropped from a rate of 199% in 2019 to 123% in 2020.
The Tōzai Line was planned by a review committee of the then Ministry of Transportation in 1962 and numbered Line 5. Its name literally means "East-West Line", and it was primarily planned to relieve traffic on the busy Sōbu Main Line as well as provide a straight crosstown connection through north-central Tokyo. Although this corridor is also served by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) Shinjuku Line and JR Keiyō Line, the Tōzai Line continues to operate beyond capacity due to its accessibility to other lines, as well as to growing condominium developments in eastern Tokyo.
The to section opened in 1964,[4] and the remainder opened in stages until its completion in 1969. Through service with the then Japanese National Railways (today part of the JR Group) – a first for a Tokyo subway line – began in 1969 connecting the Chūō and Sōbu lines. This is a rare situation in Tokyo, as the only other subway line with through services onto JR lines is the Chiyoda Line.
The Tōyō Rapid Railway Line, effectively an eastward extension of the line, opened in 1996. It nevertheless remains a private entity to which the Tōzai lines offers through services.
The Tōzai Line was the first Tokyo Metro line on which express services run: two types of rapid trains skip some stations east of Toyocho. The Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line began services on June 14, 2008, and also features express services.
Through services to via the JR East Chūō Line and via the Tōyō Rapid Railway run all day. During the morning and evening peak periods, through services run to via the JR East Sōbu Line.
| No. | Station | Japanese | Distance (km) | Comm. Rapid | Rapid | Transfers | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between stations | From Nakano | ||||||||
| ↑ Through-services to/from via the Chūō-Sōbu Line ↑ | |||||||||
| 中野[6] | – | 0.0 | ● | ● | Nakano | Tokyo | |||
| 落合 | 2.0 | 2.0 | ● | ● | Shinjuku | ||||
| 高田馬場 | 1.9 | 3.9 | ● | ● | |||||
| 早稲田 | 1.7 | 5.6 | ● | ● | [7] | ||||
| 神楽坂 | 1.2 | 6.8 | ● | ● | |||||
| 飯田橋 | 1.2 | 8.0 | ● | ● | Chiyoda | ||||
| 九段下 | 0.7 | 8.7 | ● | ● | |||||
| 竹橋 | 1.0 | 9.7 | ● | ● | |||||
| 大手町 | 1.0 | 10.7 | ● | ● | |||||
| 日本橋 | 0.8 | 11.5 | ● | ● | Chūō | ||||
| 茅場町 | 0.5 | 12.0 | ● | ● | (H-13) | ||||
| 門前仲町 | 1.8 | 13.8 | ● | ● | Ōedo Line (E-15) | Kōtō | |||
| 木場 | 1.1 | 14.9 | ● | ● | |||||
| 東陽町 | 0.9 | 15.8 | ● | ● | |||||
| 南砂町 | 1.2 | 17.0 | ● | || |-| ||西葛西|style="text-align:right;"|2.7|style="text-align:right;"|19.7|style="background-color:#afb; text-align:center;"|●|style="background-color:#fab; text-align:center;"||| |rowspan="2"|Edogawa|-| |[8] |葛西|style="text-align:right;"|1.2|style="text-align:right;"|20.9|style="background-color:#afb; text-align:center;"|●|style="background-color:#fab; text-align:center;"||| |-| ||浦安|style="text-align:right;"|1.9|style="text-align:right;"|22.8|style="background-color:#afb; text-align:center;"|●|style="background-color:#fab; text-align:center;"|●| |Urayasu|style="text-align:center; width:1em;" rowspan="6"|Chiba |-| ||南行徳|style="text-align:right;"|1.2|style="text-align:right;"|24.0|style="background-color:#afb; text-align:center;"|↑|style="background-color:#fab; text-align:center;"||| |rowspan="3"|Ichikawa|-|||行徳|style="text-align:right;"|1.5|style="text-align:right;"|25.5|style="background-color:#afb; text-align:center;"|↑|style="background-color:#fab; text-align:center;"||| |-| ||妙典|style="text-align:right;"|1.3|style="text-align:right;"|26.8|style="background-color:#afb; text-align:center;"|↑|style="background-color:#fab; text-align:center;"||| |-| ||原木中山|style="text-align:right;"|2.1|style="text-align:right;"|28.9|style="background-color:#afb; text-align:center;"|↑|style="background-color:#fab; text-align:center;"|| | Funabashi | ||||
| 西船橋[9] | 1.9 | 30.8 | ● | ● | |||||