The line was named after the Mita district in Minato, Tokyo, under which it passes. On maps and signboards, the line is shown in blue. Stations carry the letter "I" followed by a two-digit number.
Overview
Platforms on the Mita Line are equipped with chest-height automatic platform gates that open in sync with the train doors. The line was the first in the Tokyo subway system to have low barriers. The Tokyo Metro Namboku Line has used full-height platform screen doors since its opening. As of April 2022, the platform doors have been fully replaced for 8 car operations.
The right-of-way and stations between Shirokane-Takanawa and Meguro are shared with the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line - a unique situation on the Tokyo subway where both operators share common infrastructure. Under an agreement of both parties, the fare for this section is calculated on the Toei system for passengers travelling to stations on the Mita Line past Shirokane-Takanawa, using the Tokyo Metro system for those travelling on the Namboku Line past Shirokane-Takanawa, and on the system "most beneficial to the passenger" (presently the Tokyo Metro schedule) for travel solely on the shared section.
The Mita Line was first envisioned in 1957 as a northern branch of Line 5 (the present Tōzai Line), serving the section between Ōtemachi and Itabashi. Under a revised proposal in 1962, the line was made independent and its construction was undertaken by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The new line (Line 6) was planned to run from Gotanda Station on the southwestern side of the Yamanote Line through central Tokyo, with its northern extensions via Yamatochō (大和町) in Itabashi (near present Itabashi-honchō), diverting to Kami-Itabashi and Shimura (志村) (present Takashimadaira). The southernmost portion, from Sengakuji to Nishi-Magome and Nishi-Magome depot, was to be shared with Line 1 (Asakusa Line); therefore, Line 6 would be 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge.
Due to political considerations, the design of the Mita Line changed several times during the early 1960s. There were plans for it to run to Toda, Saitama, to serve a boat-racing venue for the 1964 Summer Olympics. The government of Saitama also proposed the construction of a new subway line which would allow through service on the Mita Line as far as Ōmiya Station. In 1964, these plans were changed to allow the Mita Line to connect with the Tōbu Tōjō Line via a branch to be built by Tobu between Yamatomachi (大和町) (now Wakōshi), and Shimura, the northern end of Line 6. At the southern end, the junction with the Tokyu network would be via a connecting line, which would be constructed by Tokyu from Sengakuji to Kirigaya (桐ヶ谷) on the Tōkyū Ikegami Line; the route would continue to the then-Den-en-toshi Line and finally west, down to Nagatsuta. As a result, the construction standards of Line 6 were based on those of Tobu and Tokyu (such as 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge track and 20-meter-long cars - today, the Mita Line is the only Toei line to use this gauge). A depot was planned at Shimura, independent of the Nishi-Magome depot on Line 1.
However, both Tokyu and Tobu decided the following year to operate their thorough services with the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA, now Tokyo Metro) lines instead. With no thorough service opportunities available the Tokyo Metropolitan Government began construction on the central portion of the line, leaving the plans for the Itabashi and Mita ends open for future development. This required an extension somewhere south of Seishōkō-mae (清正公前) (present Shirokane-Takanawa), probably to the then-Mekama Line of Tokyu (on the commencement of inter running to Mita and Namboku lines, the Mekama Line was divided into the Meguro Line and Tōkyū Tamagawa Line) which competed with TRTA Line 7, later called the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line.
The first segment of the line opened on 27 December 1968, between Sugamo and Takashimadaira (10.4 hm (0.65 mi)). The line was extended a further 7.3 km (4.5 mi) south to Hibiya on 30 June 1972, and 3.3 km (2.1 mi) further south to Mita on 27 November 1973. The northern 1.3 km (0.81 mi) extension (originally licensed to Tobu and later transferred to Toei Subway) was completed on 6 May 1976.[6] For the next 24 years, the line operated between Mita and Nishi-Takashimadaira; the authorized Mita and Sengakuji section had been left uncompleted.
In 1985 the then-Ministry of Transport finally settled the plan regarding the southern extension of the line and shelved all plans for further extension to the north due to the development of the Saikyō Line. On 26 September 2000, the final 4 km (2.5 mi) segment from Mita to Meguro opened,[7] and through service to the Meguro Line of Tokyu began at the same time, at which point the line switched to driver-only operation.
Mita Line through services to and from the Sotetsu Line began operation on 18 March 2023.[8][9] Effective that date, the Mita Line began providing through services as far south as Ebina on the Sotetsu Main Line and Shonandai on the Sotetsu Izumino Line, with a fraction of trips turning around at Shin-Yokohama Station. Most local services still make it as far south as Hiyoshi on the Tokyu Toyoko Line with some peak hour trips terminating at Musashi-Kosugi (also on the Toyoko Line).
100% — Commuters have enough personal space and can take a seat or stand while holding onto the straps or hand rails.
150% — Commuters have enough personal space to read a newspaper.
180% — Commuters must fold newspapers to read.
200% — Commuters are pressed against each other in each compartment but can still read small magazines.
250% — Commuters are pressed against each other, unable to move.
References
^東京都交通局ホーム - 経営情報 - 交通局の概要 - 都営地下鉄 [Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation Home - Management Information - Overview of the Department of Transportation - Toei Subway] (in Japanese). 東京都交通局 [Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation]. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
^"都営三田線の新型車両6500形、車内もシンプルな造形に - 写真68枚" [New, simplistic 6500 series of the Toei Mita Line]. Mynavi News (in Japanese). 17 February 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
^"東京都交通局6500形が営業運転を開始" [Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation 6500 series begins commercial operation]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
^Kinoshita, Kenji (2 September 2021). "相鉄21000系「東急線内は目黒線直通用」9月デビュー! グッズも発売" [Sotetsu 21000 series to debut in September!]. Mynavi News (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 March 2022.
^"東京都交通局,交通局について,都営地下鉄" [History of the Transportation Bureau]. kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 July 2024.
^ ab"東急目黒線・東京メトロ南北線・埼玉高速鉄道，4月上旬から順次8両編成での運転を開始" [Tokyu Meguro Line, Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, Saitama Kosoku Railway, starting operation with 8-car train from early April]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
^"相模鉄道，3月18日にダイヤ改正を実施" [Sagami Railway implements timetable revision on March 18]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
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