The Yūrakuchō Line (有楽町線) is a subway line run by Tokyo Metro (東京地下鉄). It runs from Wako Station in Wako, Saitama, to Shin-Kiba Station in Koto ward, Tokyo.
History
Planning began in 1962, when the line was called Line 8. On 8 June 1962 a Transport Council report set out the planned subway lines. An official notice of 29 August 1962 fixed a 17.5 km route from Nakamurabashi to Kinshicho. On 16 October 1962 the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (帝都高速度交通営団, Eidan) applied for a 20.88 km line that began slightly west of Nakamurabashi. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government also applied for a line on the same route, so the two applications competed.
In April 1968 a new Transport Council report changed the plan. The new route ran from the Narimasu and Nerima areas through Mukōhara and Ikebukuro. It also ran from Nakamurabashi through Mejiro to Gokokuji, Iidabashi, Ichigaya, Nagatacho, Yurakucho and Ginza, toward Akashichō. In December 1968 a notice moved the Narimasu to Ikebukuro section from the Marunouchi Line (丸ノ内線) to Line 8. Eidan applied for licences for the new route in June 1968 and withdrew its earlier 20.88 km application in July 1968. The licences were granted on 30 October 1968. In 1972 another report moved the western start from Nerima to Hoya, and set up a separate Line 13 (東京13号線) from Shiki to Mukōhara.
Construction began on 19 August 1970 on the Ikebukuro to Ginza-itchōme section. On 26 February 1972 work started on the Narimasu to Ikebukuro section. Only the part near Narimasu was started at first, and it was finished in March 1975. On 9 January 1974 the line was named the Yūrakuchō Line. The Ikebukuro to Ginza-itchōme section opened on 30 October 1974 with 7000 series trains of five cars. Parts of the Ikebukuro and Ginza-itchōme stations were temporary at first. Work on the Ginza-itchōme to Shin-Tomichō section started on 1 March 1976, and work on the Wako to Narimasu section started on 1 September 1978. The Ginza-itchōme to Shin-Tomichō section opened on 27 March 1980.
Under the Line 13 plan, the Kotake-Muko to Ikebukuro section was built as a shared two-line route. The two lines were built as one stacked tunnel, and the upper level was used when the line opened in 1983. In August 1975 Eidan agreed with Seibu and Tobu on through running for Line 8 and Line 13. Eidan first planned the Wako to Narimasu section as a depot line, but later decided to make it a passenger line. The Wako to Ikebukuro section was given the Yūrakuchō name so passengers would not be confused, and the name was officially decided on 30 July 1982.
The Narimasu to Ikebukuro section opened on 24 June 1983, as Eidan Narimasu (now Chikatetsu Narimasu) to Ikebukuro. On 1 October 1983 the Seibu Yūrakuchō Line (西武有楽町線) opened between Kotake-Muko and Shin-Sakuragi, and through running began. The Wako to Narimasu section opened on 25 August 1987, with through running onto the Tōbu Tōjō Line (東武東上線). On 8 June 1988 the Shin-Tomichō to Shin-Kiba section opened, which completed the whole Yūrakuchō Line. On 7 December 1994 the new line between Kotake-Muko and Shin-Ikebukuro opened, and Seibu trains began running on it.
On 26 March 1998 the Seibu Yūrakuchō Line became double track throughout. Through running with the Seibu Ikebukuro Line (西武池袋線) began, and was extended to Hanno. On 1 April 2004 the Teito Rapid Transit Authority was privatised, and the line passed to Tokyo Metro. Eidan Akatsuka and Eidan Narimasu stations were renamed Chikatetsu Akatsuka and Chikatetsu Narimasu. On 14 June 2008 the Fukutoshin Line (副都心線) opened. Its Kotake-Muko to Shin-Ikebukuro section passed to that line, and the Wako to Kotake-Muko section became shared track. On 22 May 2010 all trains began automatic train operation (ATO). Platform doors at all stations were completed in December 2013, and all of them were in use from 8 February 2014, when the last one went into use at Senkawa.
On 4 October 2011 concrete fell at Kotake-Muko Station and cut a signal cable. Service between Kotake-Muko and Ikebukuro was halted until after 17 o’clock that day. On 7 December 2011 a night-work accident at Toyosu Station left people dead or injured, and service between Ginza-itchōme and Shin-Kiba was halted until after 8:30 that morning. On 14 February 2016 a connection from Senkawa to the Wako side of Kotake-Muko was completed. On 17 March 2018 transfers opened at Shin-Tomichō with the Hibiya Line (日比谷線) at Tsukiji. On 6 June 2020 transfers opened at Ginza-itchōme with the Ginza Line (銀座線), Marunouchi Line and Hibiya Line. On 21 February 2021 the 17000 series entered service. Tokyo Metro is building a branch from Toyosu to Sumiyoshi. A licence application for the section, about 4.8 km long, was filed on 28 January 2022. The national transport minister approved it on 28 March 2022. One-man operation began on the whole line on 6 August 2022. Construction on the Toyosu to Sumiyoshi section began on 5 November 2024.
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Written by an AI from the line's history on Japanese Wikipedia, nothing else, and checked by a program for dates and numbers that are not in those facts. It can still be wrong. Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; this text is shared under the same licence.