The Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line forms the backbone of a through-running network linking southwestern Kanagawa with northern Saitama. It opened on 1 August 1978 between Shibuya and Aoyama-itchōme, operating through services with the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line at the Shibuya end from the outset; through trains today run out to Chūō-Rinkan in Yamato, Kanagawa. The line was progressively extended eastward over the following two decades. The network reached its present form on 19 March 2003 when the extension to Oshiage opened, connecting at that end with the Tobu Isesaki Line and Tobu Nikko Line. This created a continuous three-operator through-running corridor spanning from the Kanagawa suburbs, through central Tokyo, to Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen and Minami-Kurihashi in Saitama and Tochigi.
Service pattern
Through trains connect Chūō-Rinkan (Tokyu) in the west with Tōbu-Dōbutsu-Kōen (Tobu Skytree/Isesaki Line) and Minami-Kurihashi (Tobu Nikko Line) in the north via the Hanzōmon Line. Some Tobu trains also extend to Kuki.
Timeline
1978On 1 August 1978 the first section of the Tokyo Metro Hanzōmon Line opened between Shibuya and Aoyama-itchōme, with through-running to the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line operating from the outset.
2003On 19 March 2003 the Hanzōmon Line extended from Suitengumae to Oshiage, enabling through-running with the Tobu Isesaki Line (now partly branded the Tobu Skytree Line) and the Tobu Nikko Line, completing the three-operator corridor.
