Yurakucho Line — Tokyo subway
Gold line from Wakoshi in Saitama down to Shin-kiba, sharing its northern tracks with the Fukutoshin Line.
The Yurakucho Line at a glance
The Yurakucho Line runs 28.3 km from Wakoshi in Wako, Saitama, to Shin-kiba in Koto. It was planned as a bypass for the Marunouchi Line through the centre of the city, but it was also meant to serve Itabashi, Nerima, Toshima and Koto, which had no subway of their own.
North of Kotake-mukaihara it is hard to tell apart from the Fukutoshin Line: the two share tracks and platforms as far as Wakoshi, and have separate platforms under the same roof at Senkawa, Kanamecho and Ikebukuro. The official numbering admits as much. The section south of Kotake-mukaihara is Line 8; the section north of it is Line 13, the Fukutoshin Line’s own number.
What to watch out for on the Yurakucho Line
Every station on the Yurakucho Line
24 stations in order with their station numbers. A ringed dot marks a station where you can transfer; the small coloured dots are the other lines there.
Wakoshi ↔ Shin-kiba
24 stations
Service hours on the Yurakucho Line
| Timetable | First – last departure on the line |
|---|---|
| Weekdays | 05:00 – 00:31 |
| Saturdays, Sundays & holidays | 05:00 – 00:31 |
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. Each station page gives its own first and last train by direction.
How often trains run
| Timetable | Morning peak (08:00) | Midday (12:00) | Evening (21:00) | Measured at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | 2.8 min | 6 min | 4.8 min | Iidabashi |
| Saturdays, Sundays & holidays | 5 min | 6 min | 5.8 min | Iidabashi |
Average gap between trains in one direction at the busiest station of the line.
Where you can transfer
| Station | Other lines | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| Y01 Wakoshi | FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y02 Chikatetsu-narimasu | FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y03 Chikatetsu-akatsuka | FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y04 Heiwadai | FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y05 Hikawadai | FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y06 Kotake-mukaihara | FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y07 Senkawa | FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y08 Kanamecho | FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y09 Ikebukuro | MMarunouchi FFukutoshin | Tokyo Metro |
| Y13 Iidabashi | TTozai NNamboku EOedo | Toei Subway Tokyo Metro |
| Y14 Ichigaya | NNamboku SShinjuku | Toei Subway Tokyo Metro |
| Y16 Nagatacho | ZHanzomon NNamboku | Tokyo Metro |
| Y21 Tsukishima | EOedo | Toei Subway |
A transfer to a line of the other company is a change of railway as well as of platform: your fare is the sum of the two, less the connecting discount. See fares.
Transfers on foot to a differently named station
| From | To | Lines there | On foot (estimated) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nagatacho | Akasaka-mitsuke | Ginza Line and Marunouchi Line | about 4 min |
| Yurakucho | Hibiya | Hibiya Line, Chiyoda Line, and Mita Line | about 3 min |
| Ginza-itchome | Ginza | Ginza Line, Marunouchi Line, and Hibiya Line | about 5 min |
| Shintomicho | Tsukiji | Hibiya Line | about 5 min |
These are official transfers recorded by the operators between stations with different names. The walking time is our estimate from the distance between the platforms — no operator publishes transfer walking times.
History
The line was proposed in 1962 as a 17.5 km Line 10 from Nakamurabashi to Kinshicho, redesignated Line 8 later the same year, and revised in 1968 to run from Chikatetsu-narimasu to Shintomicho. Construction began in 1970 and the first section opened on 30 October 1974. Its name was chosen by public competition, which drew 30,591 entries; the most popular suggestion was Kojimachi Line, rejected because the first character was not in general use and would have been hard to read, so Yurakucho Line was adopted instead. Sakurada Line and Sotobori Line were also proposed.
Extensions followed at both ends: Ginza-itchome to Shintomicho on 27 March 1980, Chikatetsu-narimasu to Ikebukuro on 24 June 1983, and through services with the Seibu Yurakucho Line from 1 October that year. Wakoshi opened on 25 August 1987, bringing through running onto the Tobu Tojo Line, and the final section from Shintomicho to Shin-kiba opened on 8 June 1988. The Yurakucho New Line between Kotake-mukaihara and Ikebukuro opened on 7 December 1994 and was absorbed into the Fukutoshin Line in 2008. Semi-express trains ran from 14 June 2008 until 6 March 2010; Seibu’s S-Train began on 26 March 2017; and one-person operation came to the section south of Kotake-mukaihara on 6 August 2022. A branch from Toyosu towards Sumiyoshi was announced in 2021 and is not expected to carry passengers before the mid-2030s.
Trains and service
There are two timetables, 平日 on weekdays and 土休日 on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays, and no overnight service: first trains leave about 05:00 and the last about 00:31. Measured at Iidabashi, weekday trains come roughly every three minutes in the morning peak, every six minutes at midday and every five in the evening, with about five minutes at the Saturday and holiday peak. All ordinary trains call at every station, semi-express having been dropped in 2010. Through trains run onto the Tobu Tojo Line at Wakoshi for Shiki, Kawagoeshi and Shinrin-koen, and onto the Seibu network at Kotake-mukaihara for Kotesashi and Hanno; Seibu’s limited-stop S-Train links Toyosu with Tokorozawa on weekday mornings and evenings.
Rolling stock
Everything on the line runs as ten-car sets. Tokyo Metro uses the 10000 series, introduced in September 2006, and the 17000 series, in service since 21 February 2021; the 7000 series that opened the line lasted until 29 October 2021. Through services bring in Seibu 6000, 40000 and 40050 series and Tobu 9000, 9050 and 50070 series trains. The main depot is at Wako, with Shin-kiba handling minor inspections and a refurbishment works that also serves other lines.
Frequently asked questions
Because they are the same railway there. From Kotake-mukaihara to Wakoshi the two lines share tracks and platforms, so a train on either can serve you, and at Senkawa, Kanamecho and Ikebukuro they have separate platforms in the same station. Check the destination rather than the line colour.
A limited-stop, reserved-seat service run by Seibu since 26 March 2017 between Toyosu on the Yurakucho Line and Tokorozawa on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, on weekday mornings and evenings. It uses Seibu 40000 series trains and is not part of the ordinary timetable.
One was announced in 2021, leaving the line at Toyosu and running north to Sumiyoshi with new stations in Koto. It is not open, is not on any map of the current network, and is not expected to be in service before the mid-2030s.