Subway line in Tokyo, Japan
The Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line (東京メトロ千代田線, Tōkyō Metoro Chiyoda-sen) is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. On average, the line carries 1,447,730 passengers daily (2017), the second highest of the Tokyo Metro network, behind the Tozai Line (1,642,378).[1]
The line was named after the Chiyoda ward, under which it passes. On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using the color green (C), and its stations are given numbers using the letter "C".
Overview
The 24.0 km line serves the wards of Adachi, Arakawa, Bunkyō, Chiyoda, Minato and Shibuya, and a short stretch of tunnel in Taitō with no station. Its official name, rarely used, is Line 9 Chiyoda Line (9号線千代田線, kyūgō sen Chiyoda-sen).
On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using the color green (C), and its stations are given numbers using the letter "C".
Trains have through running onto other railway lines on both ends. More than half of these are trains to the northeast beyond Ayase onto the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Joban Line to Toride. The rest run to the southwest beyond Yoyogi-Uehara onto the Odakyu Odawara Line to Isehara.
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, as of June 2009 the Chiyoda Line was the second most crowded subway line in Tokyo, at its peak running at 181%[a] capacity between Machiya and Nishi-Nippori stations.[2]
Rolling stock
As of 1 January 2019[update], the following train types are used on the line, all running as ten-car formations unless otherwise indicated.[3]
Tokyo Metro
Odakyu
An Odakyu 60000 series MSE Romancecar EMU on a Metro Hakone service in April 2012
An Odakyu 4000 series set in April 2016
JR East
Former rolling stock
5000 series (Aluminum prototype)
A Tokyo Metro 6000 series set in December 2014
An 07 series set in December 2008
An Odakyu 9000 series set in October 1977
History
The Chiyoda Line was originally proposed in 1962 as a line from Setagaya in Tokyo to Matsudo, Chiba; the initial name was "Line 8". In 1964, the plan was changed slightly so that through service would be offered on the Joban Line north of Tokyo, and the number was changed to "Line 9".
Line 9 was designed to pass through built-up areas in Chiyoda, and also intended to relieve the busy Ginza Line and Hibiya Line, which follow a roughly similar route through central Tokyo.
Opening ceremony of through services at
Yoyogi-Uehara Station, with an Odakyu 9000 series and TRTA 6000 series present, 31 March 1978
The first stretch was opened on December 20, 1969 between Kita-Senju and Ōtemachi. The line was almost completed by October 10, 1972 when it reached Yoyogi-Kōen, although the 1 km section to Yoyogi-Uehara was not completed until March 31, 1978.
The branch line to Kita-Ayase was opened on December 20, 1979. This branch primarily serves as a connection to Ayase Depot, but also serves Kita-Ayase Station constructed in the area. A three-car shuttle service operates between Ayase and Kita-Ayase.
The Chiyoda Line was one of the lines targeted in the Aum sarin gas attack on March 20, 1995.
On May 15, 2006, women-only cars were introduced on early-morning trains from Toride on the Joban Line to Yoyogi-Uehara.
On March 18, 2008, the Chiyoda Line became the first subway line in Japan with operations by reserved-seating trains when Odakyu Romancecar limited express services began running between Kita-Senju and Hakone-Yumoto (on the Hakone Tozan Line) and Karakida (on the Odakyu Tama Line). Trains also run from/to Shin-Kiba using tracks connecting to the Yurakucho Line.
On March 16, 2019, 10 car services to Kita-Ayase station commenced.
