Rapid transit evolved from steam railways during the late 19th century. In 1890 the City & South London Railway in London was the first electric rapid transit railway. The electric railway eventually was merged into London Underground. The technology swiftly spread to other cities in Europe, as in Budapest, Hungary in 1896, and then to the United States. A number of elevated systems were built, starting with the 1893 100% designed electric Liverpool Overhead Railway, which also had a small underground section complete with station. The elevated railways in Chicago and New York were converted to electric from steam propulsion.

By 1940, there were 19 systems, and by 1984, there were 66. This included smaller cities like Oslo and Marseille which opened extensive systems in the 1960s. More recently the growth of new systems has been concentrated in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Western Europe and North America have instead seen a revival of the tram, with light rail systems supplementing full scale urban railways, and less focus on building rapid transit. At the same time, technological improvements have allowed new driverless lines and systems. Hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro, which have some of the features of rapid transit systems.

Since the 1980s trams have incorporated several features of rapid transit: light rail systems (trams) run on their own rights-of-way, thus avoiding congestion; they remain on the same level as buses and cars. Some light rail systems have elevated or underground sections. Both new and upgraded tram systems allow faster speed and higher capacity, and are a cheap alternative to construction of rapid transit, especially in smaller cities.

Premetro means that an underground rapid transit is built in the city center, but only a light rail or tram system in the suburbs. Conversely, other cities have opted to build a full metro in the suburbs, but run trams in city streets to save the cost of expensive tunnels. In North America, interurbans were constructed as street-running suburban trams, without the grade-separation of rapid transit. Premetros also allow a gradual upgrade of existing tramways to rapid transit, thus spreading the investment costs over time. They are most common in Germany with the name Stadtbahn.

Suburban Commuter rail is a heavy rail system that operates at a lower frequency than urban rapid transit, with higher average speeds, often only serving one station in each village and town. Commuter rails of some cities (such as German S-Bahns, Merseyrail, Chennai rail, Australia cityrails (Transperth, Metro Trains Melbourne, Queensland Rail (Brisbane), CityRail (Sydney)), Danish S-tog etc. widely provide a mass transit within city as urban metro systems. As opposition, in some cities (such as PATH in New York, Dubai Metro, Mecca Metro, Los Teques Metro, Tyne & Wear Metro, some of other Brazilian metros, MetroSur and other lines of Madrid Metro, Singapore MRT, Taipei Metro, Kuala Lumpur's RapidKL Light Rail Transit etc.) the mainly urban rapid transit systems branch out to the nearest suburbs. Some cities have opted for a hybrid solution, with two tiers of rapid transit: an urban system (such as the Paris Métro, Berlin U-Bahn, London Underground) and a suburban system with lower frequency (such as their counterparts RER, S-Bahn, future Crossrail, respectively). The suburban systems run on their own tracks with high frequency, but are often quite similar to commuter rail, and are often operated by the national railways. In some cities the national railway runs through tunnels in the city center; sometimes commuter trains have direct transfer to the rapid transits, on the same or adjoining platforms. California's BART system functions as a hybrid of the two: in the suburbs, it functions like a commuter rail, with longer trains, longer intervals, and longer distance between stations; in downtown San Francisco, many lines join and intervals drop to normal subway levels, and stations become closer together. Also, some other urban or "near urban" rapid transit systems (GuangFo Metro Line 1, East Rail Line in Hong Kong, Guarenas-Guatire etro, Mumbai-Thane rail, Chennai MRTS (not to be confused with Chennai rail), Bundang Line, Sin Bundang Line, Jungang Line, Gyeongui Line, and Gyeongchun Line in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Euskotren Trena in the Basque County etc.) serves the bi- and multi- nucleous agglomerations.

This town is known as "Fashion Town".

There're always crowded by young people day and night.

Omotesando is very famous town in Tokyo too.

Aoyama Gakuin University that is our university, it's in there.

There're lots of shops of fashion, fancy restaurants and bars.

If you go to these towns, maybe you'll have fun and can't sleep!

The Tokyo Metro Hibiya line is a metro line in Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by Tokyo Metro.

The line was named after the district of Hibiya, under which it passes.

The Hibiya Line runs between Naka-Meguro in Meguro and Kita-Senju in Adachi. The line's path is somewhat similar to that of the Ginza Line; however, the Hibiya Line was desighed to serve a number of important districts. There's through service onto the Tokyu Toyoko Line for Kikuna and the Tobu Isesaki Line for Tobu-Dobutsu-Koen.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation, as of June 2009 the Hibiya Line is the eighth most crowded subway line in Tokyo, running at 164% capacity between Minowa and Iriya stations.

On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using the color "silver" and its stations are given numbers using the letter H.

This line opened March 28 in 1961. The length of line is 20.3km. It has 21 stations.

The Hibiya Line was one of the lines targeted in the 1995 Aum sarin gas attack.

Moreover, on March 8, 2000, 5 people were killed and 63 were injured when a derailed Hibiya Line train was sideswiped by a second train near Naka-Meguro Station.

The Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line

History

The Hanzōmon Line was first planned in 1971, along with the Chiyoda Line and Yūrakuchō Line, as a reliever line for the heavily congested Ginza Line. Its initial routing was from Futako-Tamagawa Station on the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line to a new station in the Fukagawa district of Kōtō Ward. In 1985, a second draft plan from the Ministry of Transportation moved the Hanzōmon Line's final terminus to Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. During the planning stage, it was known as Line 11.

Construction began in 1972 and most of the line was expected to open in 1975. However, the poor economy in Japan had depressed the Teito Rapid Transit Authority's receipts during that time, which considerably delayed the construction of new lines. On August 1, 1978, the first section of the Hanzōmon Line opened from Shibuya to Aoyama-itchōme, and through service with the Den-en-toshi Line commenced.

The line was extended to Nagatachō in September 1979 without major incident. However, the next extension posed political problems, as the original plan had the line run directly under the Imperial Palace to Ōtemachi. TRTA decided to divert the route around the north side of the Imperial Palace, which required the construction of three new stations. An eminent domain battle erupted with landowners along the proposed route, which delayed the completion of the next stage of the line. Hanzomon Station opened in December 1982, and the full extension around the Imperial Palace, terminating at Mitsukoshi-mae, was completed in January 1989.

Since then, there have been further extensions to Suitengu-mae (November 1990) and finally Oshiage (March 19, 2003). The Ministry of Transportation estimated in 2000 that the line would be completed (i.e. extended to Matsudo) in 2015. However, Tokyo Metro stated in its initial public offering that its construction operations would cease once the Fukutoshin Line is completed, which casts some doubt as to whether the Matsudo extension will actually be built.

The Namboku Line is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo , Japan. Its name literally means South-North Line. The line runs between Meguro in Shinagawa and Akabane-Iwabuchi in Kita . The Namboku Line was referred to as Line 7 during the planning stages, thus the seldom-used official name is Line 7 Namboku Line.

Trains run through onto the Tokyu Corporation 's Meguro Line for Hiyoshi and the Saitama Railway's Saitama Rapid Railway Line for Urawa-Misono . The portion between Shirokane-Takanawa and Meguro is shared with the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) Mita Line .

The right-of-way and stations between Shirokane-Takanawa and Meguro are shared with the Toei Mita Line . Under an agreement between Tokyo Metro and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the fare for this section is calculated on the Toei fare system for passengers traveling to stations on the Mita Line past Shirokane-Takanawa, on the Metro fare system for passengers traveling to stations on the Namboku Line past Shirokane-Takanawa, and on the system "most beneficial to the passenger" (presently the Metro schedule) for travel solely on the shared sector.

On maps, diagrams and signboards, the Namboku Line is shown using the color "emerald", and its stations are given numbers using the letter N.

The Toei Shinjuku Line is a subway line in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture , Japan, operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei). The line runs between Motoyawata Station in Ichikawa, Chiba in the east and Shinjuku Station in the west. At Shinjuku, most trains continue to through to Sasazuka Station on the Keiō New Line , with some services continuing to Hashimoto Station in Sagamihara , Kanagawa via the Keiō Line and the Keiō Sagamihara Line .

On maps and signboards, the line is shown in "leaf". Stations carry the letter S followed by a two-digit number

The line was built with a track gauge of 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) to allow through operations onto the Keiō network. The line was planned as Line 10 according to reports of a committee of the former Ministry of Transportation; thus the rarely used official name of the line is the "Number 10 Shinjuku Line" According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation , as of June 2009 the Shinjuku Line was the third most crowded subway line in Tokyo, at its peak running at 181% capacity between Nishi-ōjima and Sumiyoshi stations.

The Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line is a subway line of the Tokyo Metro system in Tokyo , Japan. The line runs in a U-shape between Ogikubo Station in Suginami and Ikebukuro Station in Toshima , with a branch line between Nakano-Sakaue Station and Hōnanchō Station . The official name is Line 4 Marunouchi Line.

The Marunouchi Line is the second line to be built in the city, and the first one constructed after the Second World War . The route is U-shaped, running from Ogikubo Station in the west of the city via the commercial and administrative district of Shinjuku through to the Marunouchi commercial center around Tokyo Station , before turning back and heading to Ikebukuro .

The Marunouchi Line is served by Tokyo Metro 02 series rolling stock in six-car trains on the main line, and three-car trains on the Hōnanchō branch. The main line is the most frequent subway line in Tokyo, with trains running at intervals of 1 minute 50 seconds during peak hours. In spite of such high-frequency service, according to a 2008 survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism the Marunouchi Line is one of the most crowded railway lines in Tokyo, running at 157% capacity between Shin-ōtsuka and Myōgadani stations. Its age and relatively short train length has made it one of the most crowded lines in Tokyo, although the 2000 opening of the Toei Ōedo Line has relieved the problem somewhat. In response to crowding, Tokyo Metro upgraded all stations with chest-high platform doors and began driver-only operation on March 28, 2009. The Hōnanchō branch switched to driver-only operation in July 2004.

Due to the age of the Marunouchi Line and the relative shallowness at which it runs, at several points in central Tokyo trains run at or above ground level. These include Yotsuya Station, the Kanda River near Ochanomizu Station (see image), and between Kōrakuen and Myōgadani stations.

On maps, diagrams and signboards, the line is shown using the color "red" . Its stations are given numbers using the letter M; Hōnanchō branch line stations carry a lowercase.