Tochomae Station
E28 · Oedo Line · Shinjuku
Tochomae Station (都庁前)
Work started on 28 August 1990 and E28 opened on 19 December 1997 at the head of the first stretch of what was then Toei Line 12. The working name had been Nishi-Shinjuku, which went instead to a Marunouchi Line station and survives in part in the Oedo Line’s own Nishi-shinjuku-gochome; the station that was built took the name of the building it serves. Digging the box was a large job in its own right: 443 m long, an average of 32.7 m wide and 21.8 m deep, all by cut-and-cover under the roads.
The oddity here is the track plan. Tochomae is a terminus and a through station on the same line at the same time. Inbound trains run through it, make the counter-clockwise loop around central Tokyo and come back to finish here; outbound trains leave in the other direction and pass through the station again later on their way out to Hikarigaoka. The result is that passengers sometimes have to change from an Oedo Line train to an Oedo Line train on these platforms. There are two island platforms and four tracks at B3. In 2024 the station was used by 49,779 people on an average day.
Finding Tochomae on the signs
Every line gives the station its own letter-and-number code. You never have to read the Japanese name to find the right platform.
Station numbers at Tochomae
Tokyo signposts every platform, exit and train door with a letter and a two-digit number. Matching the number is faster than reading the name — and it is what you will see on the map, in announcements and on the platform edge.
First and last trains at Tochomae
| Line and direction | Weekdays first – last | Saturdays, Sundays & holidays first – last |
|---|---|---|
| EOedoE28 towards Hikarigaoka | 05:03 – 00:36 | 05:03 – 00:36 |
| EOedoE28 towards Hikarigaoka | 05:08 – 00:25 to Kiyosumi-shirakawa | 05:08 – 00:25 to Kiyosumi-shirakawa |
| EOedoE28 towards Tochomae | 05:00 – 00:27 to Shiodome | 05:00 – 00:27 to Shiodome |
Departure times come from the operators’ own GTFS timetables (ODPT GTFS Toei-Train-GTFS (version 20261009, valid 2026-03-14..2027-03-12) + TokyoMetro-Train-GTFS (version 20261008, valid 2026-09-19..2027-03-12)). Japan publishes two subway timetables: 平日 weekdays and 土休日 Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. There is no separate Sunday timetable, and the December 30 – January 3 period runs the holiday timetable.
How often do trains run?
| Line | Weekdays, busiest hour | Sat / Sun / holidays, busiest hour |
|---|---|---|
| EOedo | 19 trains/hour (about one every 3.2 min) | 13 trains/hour |
Departures in one direction during the hour with the most trains at this station, counted in the operators’ timetable.
Next stations from Tochomae
Scheduled running time between Tochomae and the stations either side of it.
| Line | Next station | Running time |
|---|---|---|
| EOedo | E29Nishi-shinjuku-gochome | 2 min |
| EOedo | E27Shinjuku | 2 min |
| EOedo | E01Shinjuku-nishiguchi | 2 min |
Transfers and connections
Only the Oedo Line stops here, and no other railway serves this station, so there is nothing to transfer to inside the station.
Accessibility
| Line | Step-free by elevator | Accessible toilet | Escalator | Exits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EOedo | Yes | Yes | Yes | 17 |
- Oedo Line: Toei: step-free “1-route” secured; 3 elevator(s) on this line. Elevator exit(s): A4. Operator page (checked Oct 20, 2026).
Taken from the operators’ own accessibility pages and nothing else. Toei: every station has elevators and a street-gate-platform “1-route” is secured.
What is near Tochomae Station?
Everything around Tochomae is tall. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office is about 170 m from the exits and its north and south observatory decks are closer still, at about 120 m and 190 m. The Shinjuku Sumitomo Building is about 80 m away, the Shinjuku Mitsui and Shinjuku Daiichi Seimei buildings about 180 m and the NS Building about 280 m. The Keio Plaza Hotel is about 160 m off and the Hyatt Regency Tokyo about 140 m, Shinjuku Chuo Park about 310 m and Kogakuin University about 280 m. The Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates is nearest of all, about 70 m away.
| Place | Distance (straight line) | On foot, estimated |
|---|---|---|
| Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia, and Postwar Repatriates 平和祈念展示資料館 | 70 m | about 1 min |
| Kogakuin University 工学院大学 | 280 m | about 4 min |
| Shinjuku Chuo Park 新宿区立 新宿中央公園 | 310 m | about 5 min |
| Shinjuku Central Park 新宿中央公園 | 330 m | about 5 min |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office - North Observatory Deck 東京都庁展望室 北 | 120 m | about 2 min |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office - South Observatory Deck 東京都庁展望室 南 | 190 m | about 3 min |
| Faculty of Engineering (Kogakuin University) 工学院大学（工学部） | 240 m | about 4 min |
| Faculty of Information (Kogakuin University) 工学院大学（情報学部） | 250 m | about 4 min |
Places from OpenStreetMap within 400 m of the station. The walking time is an estimate (straight line plus 30 %, 80 m a minute), not a measured route. © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Frequently asked questions
Because the line closes its loop at this station. Trains coming in off the loop terminate at Tochomae, while trains running out towards Hikarigaoka start here and also pass through again on the loop. Both movements use the same four tracks, which is why a change from one Oedo Line train to another is sometimes needed.
Nishi-Shinjuku. That was the provisional name while it was under construction, but the name was already in use on the Marunouchi Line, so the new station was called after the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building above it instead.