Station numbering

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Examples of station number icons in Japan.
In-car navigation LCD on the Toei Asakusa Line displaying station numbers.

Station Numbering (Japanese: 駅ナンバリング; eki nanbaringu ) is a sign system used by some railway companies in Japan, which assigns station codes consisting of a couple of letters and numbers to train stations. It aims to facilitate navigation for foreign travelers not familiar with the local language[1] by using globally understood characters (Latin letters and arabic numbers). The same system is also adopted by some railway companies in other countries/regions such as Mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, the United States, and Thailand.

Structure[]

The station number is often composed of a symbol and a number. However, it may only have the number in some cases, where a rail company operates only one route or the route does not have any transfer stations.

Symbol part[]

Line symbols usually consist of one or two letters, which are often abbreviations of the Romaji notation of the line name, many of them being the initials. However, when there are more than two lines with the same initials in the same region, either of them is often changed in order to avoid duplicated line symbols, even across different company lines (for example, the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line uses ‘M’ M and the Toei Mita Line uses ‘I’ I). Another method to avoid duplicated symbols is to assign them in alphabetical order (A to Z) in the first place instead of using abbreviations.[2]

In Mainland China and South Korea, the use of numbers is more common since most lines are named with numbers (e.g. Line 1). In that case, the station number for the first station of line 2 would be "201".

Number part[]

The number part is usually a series of numbers starting with 00 or 01 and is often written in two digits.

If there is a branch line branching off from the main line (like a ‘Y’ shape track), skipped numbers[3] or branch numbers such as "211-1"[4] are assigned.

If a new station is added between stations of, for example, number 08 and 09, branch numbers such as "08-1" are assigned in order not to change the existing station numbers, especially in western Japan. The same method is used by city buses and highway interchanges in Japan. As an exception, JR West takes the approach to assign decimal numbers like "08.5".[5] Meanwhile, there are cases where the station numbers are shifted and renumbered.

Companies using Station Numbering[]

Japan[]

  • Hokkaidō region
    • Hokkaido Railway Company, adopted in 1 October 2007
    • Sapporo Municipal Subway, adopted in 26 January 2006
    • Sapporo Streetcar, adopted in 1 October 2007
    • Hakodate Transportation Bureau
    • South Hokkaido Railway Company, adopted in 26 March 2016
  • Tōhoku region
  • Kantō region
    • East Japan Railway Company, adopted in 20 August 2016 for multiplication area,[6] January 2018 for all Narita Line stations, November 2018 for all Tōkaidō Line and Itō Line stations, March 2019 for all Chūō Line Rapid stations, and March 2020 for Chūō Line stations east of Kobuchizawa (include).
      • Tokyo Monorail
      • Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (Rinkai Line)
    • Tokyo Metro, adopted in 1 April 2004
    • Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation
      • Toei Subway, adopted in 1 April 2004
      • Toden Arakawa Line and Nippori-Toneri Liner, adopted in November 2017
    • Tokyo Waterfront New Transit (Yurikamome), adopted in 27 March 2006
    • Keisei Electric Railway, adopted in 17 July 2010
      • Shin-Keisei Electric Railway, adopted in February 2014
      • Hokusō Railway, adopted in 17 July 2010
      • Shibayama Railway, adopted in 17 July 2010
    • Keikyu, adopted in 21 October 2010
    • Tokyu Corporation, adopted in February 2012
      • Yokohama Minatomirai Railway (Minatomirai Line), adopted in September 2012
    • Tobu Railway, adopted in 17 March 2012
    • Seibu Railway, adopted in March 2013
    • Keio Corporation, adopted in 22 February 2013
    • Odakyu Electric Railway, adopted in January 2014
      • Include Hakone Tozan Railway, Hakone Ropeway and Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
    • Sagami Railway (Sotetsu), adopted in February 2014
    • Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company (Tsukuba Express), adopted in 24 August 2005
    • Watarase Keikoku Railway (Watarase Keikoku Line), adopted in 22 March 2017
    • Saitama New Urban Transit (New Shuttle), adopted in 23 March 2018
    • Saitama Railway Corporation (Saitama Rapid Railway Line), adopted in 2016
    • Ryutetsu (Nagareyama Line), adopted in May 2018
    • Chiba Urban Monorail, adopted in February 2019
    • Tōyō Rapid Railway (Tōyō Rapid Railway Line), adopted in 15 March 2014
    • Chōshi Electric Railway Line, adopted in 23 November 2018
    • Tokyo Tama Intercity Monorail (Tama Toshi Monorail), adopted in February 2018
    • Yokohama Municipal Subway, adopted in 2002
    • Kanazawa Seaside Line, adopted in 2010
    • Enoshima Electric Railway, adopted in 9 June 2011
    • Shonan Monorail
    • Tokyo BRT, adopted in 1 October 2020
  • Chūbu region
    • Central Japan Railway Company, adopted in March 2018[7]
    • East Japan Railway Company, only on their Ōito Line section, adopted in 12 December 2016
    • Izukyū Corporation, adopted in December 2016
    • Izuhakone Railway
    • Gakunan Electric Train (Gakunan Railway Line), adopted in April 2020
    • Fuji Kyuko, adopted in 1 July 2011
    • Nagano Electric Railway
    • Ueda Kōtsū (Ueda Electric Railway Bessho Line), adopted in 1 April 2016
    • Alpico Kōtsū, adopted in March 2017
    • Toyama Chihō Railway, adopted in 9 February 2019 for tram routes, 16 March for rail lines, and 21 March 2020 for Toyamakō Line (during merging of the Toyama Light Rail company)
    • Hokuriku Railroad, adopted in 1 April 2019
    • Echizen Railway, adopted in 25 March 2017
      • Fukui Railway
    • Nagaragawa Railway (Etsumi-Nan Line), adopted in 2017
    • Akechi Railway, adopted in 2017
    • Shizuoka Railway, adopted in 1 October 2011
    • Enshū Railway Line, adopted in December 2007
    • Toyohashi Railroad, adopted in 2007 for Azumada Main Line, and 2008 for Atsumi Line
    • Nagoya Municipal Subway, adopted in 6 October 2004
      • Nagoya Guideway Bus (Yutorito Line)
      • Nagoya Rinkai Rapid Transit (Aonami Line)
    • Aichi Rapid Transit (Linimo), adopted in 6 March 2005
    • Aichi Loop Line, adopted in 1 April 2004
    • Meitetsu, adopted in March 2016
  • Kansai (Kinki and Chūgoku) region
    • West Japan Railway Company, adopted in 6 August 2014[8]
    • Ise Railway, adopted in 1 August 2008
    • Nankai Electric Railway, adopted in 23 February 2012
      • Semboku Rapid Railway
      • Hankai Tramway
    • Kyoto Municipal Subway, adopted in 26 November 2004
    • Willer Trains (Kyoto Tango Railway), adopted in 2015
    • Osaka Monorail, adopted in 19 March 2007
    • Osaka Metro, adopted in 1 July 2004
      • Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway
    • Kintetsu Railway, adopted in 27 March 2006 for Nara Line, and 20 August 2015 for the rest
    • Kobe Municipal Subway, adopted in 1 September 2004
    • Kobe New Transit, adopted in 2 February 2006
    • Hankyu, adopted in 21 December 2013
      • Nose Electric Railway
    • Hanshin Electric Railway, adopted in April 2014
    • Sanyo Electric Railway, adopted in 7 February 2014
    • Kobe Electric Railway, adopted in 1 April 2014
    • Keihan Electric Railway, adopted in 1 April 2014
    • Keifuku Electric Railroad, adopted in 19 March 2007
    • Eizan Electric Railway, adopted in 19 October 2008
    • Ohmi Railway, adopted in 2018
    • Wakayama Electric Railway (Kishigawa Line), adopted in 2015
    • Okayama Electric Tramway, adopted in May 2017
    • Mizushima Rinkai Railway, adopted in 2019
    • Hiroshima Electric Railway, adopted in October 1996
    • Ichibata Electric Railway
  • Shikoku region
    • Shikoku Railway Company, Asa Seaside Railway (Asatō Line) and Tosa Kuroshio Railway, adopted in 1 March 2006
    • Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad, adopted in 15 December 2013
    • Iyotetsu, adopted in June 2015
  • Kyūshū region

South Korea[]

Mainland China[]

Taiwan[]

Malaysia[]

Singapore[]

Thailand[]

  • BTS Skytrain
  • MRT Blue Line
  • MRT Purple Line
  • Airport Rail Link

United States[]

  • MARTA (Atlanta) (stations)
  • WMATA (Washington D.C.) (stations)

Indonesia[]

Starting in 2019[clarification needed], a public transport advocacy group called TfJ/FDTJ collaborated with the central and regional governments and operators of transport in Greater Jakarta to implement a station numbering system which looks similar to those used in the Tokyo subway system.[citation needed]

Currently, this system is used in the Jakarta LRT and will also be implemented in KRL Commuterline and the Greater Jakarta LRT.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "JR East to introduce numbering system at all stations in Tokyo". Japan Today. 2016-04-08. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  2. ^ JR West and JR Central uses this method.
  3. ^ Keikyū Main Line and other lines use skipped numbers.
  4. ^ Nankai Electric Railway and others use branch numbers.
  5. ^ "「駅ナンバー」入力できっぷ購入も JR西が導入へ". 朝日新聞. Archived from the original on 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
  6. ^ "首都圏エリアへ「駅ナンバリング」を導入します" (PDF). 東日本旅客鉄道株式会社. 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  7. ^ "【社長会見】在来線駅に駅ナンバリングを導入します" (PDF). 東海旅客鉄道株式会社. 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  8. ^ "近畿エリア・広島エリアに「路線記号」を導入します". 西日本旅客鉄道. 2014-08-06. Retrieved 2021-05-19.

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