Ueno Station


Ueno Station is a major railway station in Tokyo's Taitō ward. It is the station used to reach the Ueno district and Ueno Park—which contains Tokyo National Museum, The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo University of the Arts and other famous cultural facilities. A major commuter hub, it is also the traditional terminus for long-distance trains from northern Japan, although with the extension of the Shinkansen lines to Tokyo Station this role has diminished in recent years. A similar extension of conventional lines extended Takasaki Line, Utsunomiya Line and Joban Line services to Tokyo Station via the Ueno-Tokyo Line in March 2015, using existing little-used tracks and a new viaduct; the Ueno-Tokyo Line connects these lines with the Tokaido Main Line, allowing through services to Shinagawa, Yokohama, Odawara and Atami stations.
Ueno Station is close to Keisei-Ueno Station, the Tokyo terminus of the Keisei Main Line to Narita Airport Station.

Lines

This station is served by the following lines:
As this station was the traditional point of arrival and departure for journeys to northern Japan, it became the inspiration for many poems and song lyrics, including a famous poem by Ishikawa Takuboku. There is a memorial plate about this poem in the station.

Station layout

Like most major stations in Japan, Ueno station contains and is surrounded by extensive shopping arcades. Ueno's includes a branch of the Hard Rock Cafe.

JR East platforms

The station has two main levels of tracks and a deep underground station for the Tohoku Shinkansen tracks. Through tracks 1 to 4 on two island platforms on the main level are used by Yamanote Line and Keihin-Tohoku Line trains. Tracks 5 to 9 on two island platforms and one side of a terminal platform lead to the Ueno-Tokyo Line to Tokyo Station and beyond on the Tokaido Main Line. Tracks 10 to 12 terminate inside the building, and below these on a lower deck are further terminal tracks 13 to 17. Two subterranean island platforms serve Shinkansen tracks 19 to 22.
Chest-high platform edge doors were installed on the two Yamanote Line platforms in November 2015, and brought into use from December.

Tokyo Metro platforms

Both the Ginza and Hibiya line station have two tracks; however, unlike in other Tokyo Metro stations, each line's tracks are counted separately.

History

The station opened on July 28, 1883. After the destruction of this first building in the fires caused by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Japanese Government Railways constructed the current station buildings. In 1927, Tokyo Underground Railway opened Japan's first subway line from here to Asakusa Station. Following World War II, the neighbourhood in front of Ueno Station was a major center of black market activity. Today, that market is gathering people as a name of Ameya-Yokochō.
In March 2010, to promote the release of the of the Kamen Rider movies, a special marking was used on the trains going to Nakano-fujimichō from Ueno, and Den-O's Rina Akiyama greeted 200 fans who rode on the first of those trains.

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2013, the JR East station was used by 181,880 passengers daily, making it the thirteenth-busiest station operated by JR East. In fiscal 2013, the Tokyo Metro station was used by an average of 211,539 passengers per day, making it the eighth-busiest station operated by Tokyo Metro.
The daily passenger figures for each operator in previous years are as shown below.
Fiscal yearJR EastTokyo Metro
1999195,654
2000189,388
2005179,978
2010172,306
2011174,832201,602
2012183,611212,509
2013181,880211,539

Highway buses