(Updated April 2024!)
Here is my homage to one of the most complex and dense railway networks in the world: the Greater Tokyo Railway Network. This diagram shows every single Tokyo Metro line, JR line, private railway operator line, monorail line, people mover (automatic guideway transit) and tram line within the Tokyo conurbation. My key reason for drawing this diagram is to fill a cartographic void that, to my knowledge, persists in the real world. There isn’t an official diagram released by the Tokyo transit authority that shows the entire network in a coherent, balanced, unbiased manner. Instead, commuters and travellers rely on diagrams published by individual operators which emphasise their own services over others or just show their own services. This diagram is intended to put all of the services together and show just how incredibly large the entire network really is. The original version of this diagram was an effort spanning two years before I published it in 2020. I have drawn many railway and highway diagrams before and after this one, but this Tokyo diagram seems to be the forever crowd pleaser, and I still receive regular requests for a full-resolution version to this day. Hence, I thought it would be good to futureproof the diagram by updating it to include a few of the announced railway and metro projects under way. I hope you enjoy it.
This diagram has very large dimensions and I am not able to upload to Behance in full resolution. If you are interested in seeing a full resolution PDF, please feel free to drop me a note.
The bottom right corner of the diagram has a decorative section showing my interpretation of the different train line markers that are present on the diagram. Like many Japanese railway networks, transit operators in Tokyo assign a code to each line (or group of lines in some cases), and a station number, for ease of wayfinding. For example, the JR Yokosuka - Sobu (Rapid) - Narita Line's code is "JO", shown on the map with a "JR" grey border to distinguish it from the lines operated by other companies, which have a different coloured border (for major railway operators) or none (for other railway operators).
In real life, the designs for these line markers vary significantly from operator to operator. Whilst that is a good thing from a branding perspective, I find the lack of consistency difficult to reconcile from a design language perspective. For example, Tokyu gives each line a unique colour and code. Keisei has all of its lines the same colour and all stations bear the code of “KS” regardless of the line it is on. I have sought to bring a sense of unity to the design language across different operators. In the diagram, there are different categories of railway services that have their own distinct line marker: metro, tram, monorail, people mover, JR lines, major private railway operator, other private railway operator, and of course, the shinkansen. Railway line markers are round-edged rectangles. Subway, people mover and trams have circular markers with distinct motifs. Monorail markers are oval.
My favourite line marker is the sakura (cherry blossom) shaped marker that is assigned to the Tokyo Sakura Tram, which is a tramway line that runs in the northern suburbs of Tokyo, formally known as the Toden Arakawa Line.
Here is an excerpt from the section of the diagram some of the busiest, densest and well-known parts of Tokyo, including Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Akihabara and Ginza.
I have deliberately kept the design quite minimal, without much flourishes or excessive detail, because the railway network itself is already so dense and complex. Anything more and it may be just too much.
My diagram doesn't show the time required to interchange between different lines within a station or between stations, but the use of different types of lines - some solid, some dashed, or both - are intended to give some idea of whether the interchange is going to be convenient or not, and whether it will break the journey (requiring a separate fare) or not.
The diagram is up-to-date as of April 2024, but it is actually a future diagram as it includes a few network extensions that have been announced, and are either under construction or planning. See if you can spot these projects in the portion of the digram captured above and below.
The railway and metro extensions that are shown in version 2.4 (April 2024) version of the diagram are:
- JR Haneda Access Line (JR-JX), shown here in a pink line, with through service to Utsunomiya Line and Takasaki Line (JR-JU), Joban Line (Rapid) (JR-JJ), Saikyo Line (JR-JA) via Rinkai Line (RK) through service, and the future Tokyo Metro Shin-Rinkai Line (R) via Rinkai Line (RK) through service
- Tokyo Metro Shin-Rinkai Line (R) from Tokyo to Ariake via Harumi and Toyosu, with through service to the Tsukuba Express (TX) and the JR Haneda Access Line (JR-JX) via Rinkai Line RK) through service
- Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line (Y) extension to Sumiyoshi and beyond, as a branch line from Toyosu
- Tokyo Metro Namboku Line (N) extension to Shinagawa, as a branch line from Shirokane-Takanawa
- Chuo Shinkansen from Shinagawa
The sidebar to the right of the diagram contains several subsections. This section shows the design language for the diagram. Two of the features illustrate what I consider to be the most complex aspects of the Tokyo railway network: through services, and a large (often bewildering) variety of stopping patterns. It was quite a challenge to show the operation of through services and the different stopping patterns on the diagram without making it excessively complicated.
I don't admit to having found a perfect solution and I welcome feedback. I note, for example, the way I have shown through services between different railway operators (other than Tokyo Metro) does not show the extent of the through services, which do not operate across the entire line.
The stopping pattern dots are also indicative only: many operators run several stopping patterns and such patterns may vary throughout the day and vary between weekdays and weekends. So, at best, this is just meant to give you a general idea of the level of service a station has, and may not be precise enough for you to figure out whether you can catch, say, an Express service to get from Station A to Station B at a particular time of day.
Please use this diagram to give you a general idea of the network, but you should rely on the latest information, maps and guidance from the transit operators in making an informed and timely decision on how to get there!
The design language for the different types of railway services and the different types of transfer stations are shown.
And because 2020 is the year of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the diagram also includes some basic information about the location of various venues and the closest access point travelling via railway (which is certainly the recommended way to go). Again, use this diagram to give you a general idea, but check the latest information from the authorities before planning your travel, as transit arrangements are large events of this kind are often subject to change.
One of the sidebar diagrams shows the networks of the major private railway operators, and the relative position of their network around the JR Yamanote Line (JR-JY). As a matter of history, private operators were not permitted to extend their network into the Yamanote Line ring, so private operator lines always terminated at the Yamanote Line or somewhere further out. This was one of the key impetus for the through service: it allowed private operators to extend the reach of their networks into the heart of Tokyo by connecting their lines with Tokyo Metro lines and operating it as one joint service.
The purpose of this map is to allow the user to identify the different lines on the diagram and, using the line code, find out the name of the line. I thought this would be more useful than just providing a list of the different line names, as it gives more context.
Affinity Designer does NOT render to PDF very well. Some lines with a gradient fill do not show, resulting in what appears to be missing lines. Apologies for that.
Similarly, this section of the sidebar shows the various JR lines within the Greater Tokyo Region. The JR network, to me, is the most complex of all to draw, because it is intertwined, and there are often multiple services that run on the same section of the track. To make things worse, JR's own design language is often confused - its station and line numbering attempt is, to me, pretty poor. They can't seem to make up their mind between giving line codes to a particular service, or a particular line. For example, the Shonan-Shinjuku Line is a service only, and it has its own code of "JS". Meanwhile, Utsunomiya Line and Tokaido Line services basically operate as one line, but yet, they each have their own line code of "JU" and "JT" respectively.
JR also made a bewildering decision to assign the same line colour to several different lines. For example, in real life, both the Nambu Line (JN) and Sobu Line / Chuo Line (Local) (JB) are bright yellow. I have changed it such that each line (or family of lines) has a distinct colour.
The JR diagrams show a particular line in context with the other key JR lines, so the user has a better idea of whether the line cuts through Tokyo from east to west, goes on the west or eastern half of the Yamanote Line loop, and so forth.
JR lines have relatively less stopping patterns than private operator lines because busier sections of the line often have two or more services, some of which are de facto express services. For example, Keihin-Tohoku Line (JK) operates as the "local" (all stops) service between Shinagawa and Yokohama, whilst Tokaido Line (JT) operates as the express service. JK makes 8 stops in this segment. JT makes just 1. The diagrams show the number of stations on the line, so you can get a pretty good idea of whether the particular line plays the role of a local, or express service on a particular segment of the JR network.
Whilst the shinkansen (high speed rail) network isn't really part of the Greater Tokyo Railway Network per se, it is such a critical part of Japan's railway infrastructure and so emblematic that I had to include a simplified diagram that shows the key destinations that can be reached by Tokyo and the time it takes. The diagram includes extensions to the shinkansen network that have opened in recent years, including the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension to Tsuruga and Kyushu Shinkansen West Section. The Chuo Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya (now opening 2030+) and the Hokkaido Shinkansen extension to Sapporo (now opening 2030+) remain on the map too, and I hope they overcome the construction obstacles soon...
Finally, for many travellers into Tokyo, the first question is invariably going to be how to get from Narita Airport into Downtown Tokyo. This is a surprisingly challenging question to answer, as it depends on: (1) what part of Tokyo you are heading to; (2) your budget; (3) how much time you have; (4) how much luggage you have (i.e. do you prefer not to have to change trains)? There is also a side diagram that illustrates all of the options by rail that are available to travellers from Narita Airport, and includes the estimated fastest travel time for the two dedicated express train services - the Keisei Skyliner and the JR Narita Express.
I hope you find this diagram useful, pleasant to look at, and gives you the sense of awe that I have everytime I look at the sheer enormity and complexity of the Tokyo railway network!
