Through Train Services in Large Cities Through Service between Railway Operators in Greater Tokyo Makoto Ito Introduction overview of through service including the background and objectives, development, matters when operating through Through service, or operators running trains over shared service, and the effects of such service. railway tracks, started on 16 March 2013 at the large Shibuya Station terminal to link the Tokyu Toyoko Line (connecting Definition of Through Service Shibuya and Yokohama) with the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line (connecting the three urban sub-centres of Shibuya, Through service means running the same train between Shinjuku and Ikebukuro). The Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line trunk and branch lines of one operator or between different had already started through service at Ikebukuro with the railway operators. Through service between lines of one Seibu Ikebukuro and Tobu Tojo lines serving suburban operator has a long world history on trunk and regional residential areas in the northwest of greater Tokyo. Likewise, lines of interurban railways or trunk and branch lines of the Toyoko Line had been running through service with suburban railways in urban areas. A rare case is Spain’s the Yokohama Minatomirai Railway Minatomirai Line in through service on different-gauge tracks using variable- Yokohama’s new urban centre. Linking the Tokyu Toyoko gauge TARGO carriages, but simply linking lines of the and Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin lines marked the historic start of same standard is the usual procedure. Through service through service between five companies, something never between different railway operators is typical of Japanese seen before in Japan. urban railways and commonly entails running trains back Japan has a long tradition of linking suburban lines of and forth directly along each other’s line. Through service different companies with subways and running through between different operators requires close coordination as trains directly between them. The first example started discussed later. almost 50 years ago with the building of the Toei Asakusa There are non-Japanese examples of through service Line (subway), which created through service access between different operators. One is between the Regional to Keisei Electric Railway and Keihin Electric Express Express Network (RER), operated by the Autonomous Railway (both suburban railway lines). Tokyo’s population Operator of Parisian Transports (RATP), and suburban lines had grown rapidly in the postwar years, and people were of the French national railway company SNCF. It is said to seeking homes in suburban residential areas, meaning have been started by learning lessons from Japan. commuter transport also grew rapidly and longer commuting Japan has also introduced new forms of through distances. The solution demanded an increase in transport service in recent years. One example is securing new capacity of suburban railways and formation of a system transport routes using through service of passenger trains allowing smooth transport to offices in central Tokyo. As from suburban lines on freight railway lines of the same a result more subways were built with through service to operator in an urban area. Another is setting up shunting suburban railways. At the time, Tokyo was behind in subway lines between closely located railways located and running construction compared to London, Paris, and New York, through service between them. where substantial subway networks had been completed in the early 20th century. Only the Ginza and Marunouchi Greater Tokyo’s Railways subway lines were operating in Tokyo and construction of new subways was a key factor driving through service Area and population of Greater Tokyo between subways and suburban lines. Greater Tokyo is centred on Japan’s capital of Tokyo, and After through service started first in Tokyo, it then spread includes parts of neighbouring Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, to Greater Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. and Ibaraki prefectures. There is no clear border to Greater This article describes through service operations unique Tokyo, and there are different ideas about its size based to Japan but focuses mainly on Greater Tokyo. It presents an on statistics and plans. According to the annual report on Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 63 • Mar 2014 14 Through Train Services in Large Cities urban transportation issued by the Institution for Transport greatly until 1990, levelling off until 2009 when it was 15 Policy Studies under the editorial supervision of the Ministry billion (40 million per day). Railway transport in Greater of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, it extends Tokyo is very much larger than in Paris (Île-de-France) at up to 60 km from the centre of Tokyo covering an area of about 3 billion people per year and in Greater London at 6549 km2 with a population of 32.47 million people (2010). about 2 billion. The capital and above three prefectures including Greater Tokyo area have an area of 19,654 km2 and a population Operators’ management style of 38.59 million (2010). By comparison, Greater London is To understand through service in Japan, it is necessary 1572 km2 with 8.17 million people (2011) and Île-de-France to understand the management style of Japanese urban (Paris region) is 12,012 km2 with 11.69 million people. railway operators. First and unlike in the West, urban railway services are provided by a large number of entities using a Railway tracks and passengers variety of management styles: private sector, mixed public– The length of railway tracks (track-km) in Greater Tokyo is private, public corporations, Incorporated administrative 887 km for JR East, 1164 km for other private railways, and agencies, and semi-governmental corporations. For 358 km for subways, totalling 2409 km. There is also 17 km example, about 30 companies provide railway services in of tram tracks. Figure 1 shows the annual number of railway Greater Tokyo. Typical private-sector corporations include passengers from 1955 to the present. The annual volume major private railways such as Tokyu Corporation and was 4 billion (10 million per day) in 1955, and increased Odakyu Electric Railway along with JR East, which changed Figure 1 The Annual Number of Railway Passengers Million persons/year 16,000 Trams 14,000 Subways Private Railways JNR/JR 12,000 10,000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 15 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 63 • Mar 2014 from a public corporation to private-sector corporation at the an unprecedented expansion never seen before in Japan. breakup and privatization of Japanese National Railways Much of that growing population sought homes in more and has a network spanning east Japan. distant suburbs. In the 1950s, the railway network was There is also a style where funds are procured from composed of JNR’s Yamanote Line (loop) and private railway both the private sector and national and local governments. suburban lines using stations on the Yamanote Line as their The Tsukuba Express, which opened in 2005 with 58.3 terminals. There were three lines inside the Yamanote loop: km of track, is an example; the operator was established the JNR Chuo Line and the Ginza and Marunouchi subway with capital from Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Saitama, lines; trams and buses also played a pivotal transportation Chiba, and Ibaraki prefectures, municipalities along the role inside the Yamanote Line. The harsh overcrowding in line, and the private sector. This style is often adopted by carriages carrying large numbers of commuters from small-scale railways, new transport systems, and monorails. suburban housing and the congestion in terminal stations Subway businesses are run by public corporations in Tokyo as commuters transferred from railways to trams and buses and Yokohama. Tokyo Metro is another Tokyo subway is hard to imagine now. Moreover, increasing motorization operator operating as a semi-governmental corporation of society was causing chronic urban traffic congestion, with Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the national impeding tram and bus operations. A white paper on government as shareholders. It was established originally as transportation from the then Ministry of Transport (now Teito Rapid Transit Authority to build railways inside Tokyo’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism) Yamanote loop line, but switched to a stock corporation suggested the following policies to solve those problems. recently as a first step towards privatization. The Japan • Switch from trams to subways in inner-city area Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, • Increase transport capacity of suburban railways which does not operate railways as a rule, is a semi- • Run through services connecting city centre to outlying areas governmental corporation that constructs and owns railways The Ministry of Transport later set up a committee on in some cases. urban transportation, which drew up the following railway Subsidy system for investment differs by management plan for Greater Tokyo in 1956. style. National and local governments subsidize some • Run new subways, as a rule, through central Tokyo percentage of investment or provide interest-free loans for (Marunouchi, Hibiya, Otemachi, Ginza, etc.) and public corporations, mixed public–private companies, and connect with JNR or suburban private railways at incorporated administrative agencies to