The Through-Running Atlas
Thirty-five regional rail systems in 20 countries, mapped by whether trains run through the city center, a through link is not yet open, or the system still ends at terminals.
- Data
- Liam Blank’s case file of 35 regional rail systems, status as of July 10, 2026; Nagoya and Osaka added and Tokyo expanded October 1, 2026; basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Coverage
- 35 systems in 34 cities and 20 countries across Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and North America
- Updated
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Runs through the centerThrough link not yet openTerminal holdout
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Japan’s model: through service between separate railways
Many systems in the atlas run through the center on a link built to join the lines. Japan’s cities also did it by agreement between companies. Under mutual through service (相互直通運転, sōgo chokutsū unten, or sōchoku for short), two or more railway companies run their trains onto each other’s lines in passenger service. The Japan Private Railway Association gives three purposes: reliable access to the city center and its subcenters, no transfer for the rider, and less crowding at terminal stations.
How it spread
Subway construction in Tokyo sped up from the mid-1950s to relieve crowding in the center, and the new subways were connected to the private railways running in from the suburbs. Toei Line 1, now the Asakusa Line, and the Keisei Oshiage Line began mutual through service in 1960. The Hibiya Line and the Tobu Isesaki Line followed in 1962. The national railway’s Chuo and Sobu lines were then joined to the Tozai Line, and its Joban Line to the Chiyoda Line. Every Tokyo subway line built since, except the Toei Oedo Line, runs through with suburban lines. Open the Tokyo record.
The practice is not limited to Tokyo. In Nagoya, Meitetsu’s Inuyama, Toyota, and Mikawa lines run through with the Tsurumai subway line, and the Komaki Line with the Kami-Iida subway line. In Osaka, the Sakaisuji subway line has run through with Hankyu since the day it opened, December 6, 1969, and the Chuo Line has run through with Kintetsu since October 1, 1986.
What it takes
The association names two working rules. Crews normally change at the boundary station between the two companies’ lines, and through-fare and common-fare systems were introduced as the practice grew. Hiroyuki Nitta’s 2026 book on through service sets out the rest of the agenda in its contents:
- Two forms: mutual through service, and one-way through service (片乗り入れ, kata-noriire), in which only one company’s trains cross the boundary.
- Vehicle-use fees paid between the companies, which the book calls hard to settle.
- How fares are set and divided between the companies.
- Which company manages a station that both use.
- How a delay on one company’s line spreads to the other, and how the companies cover it.
Arrangements change
Through service is negotiated, so it can be withdrawn. The same contents list a Tokyu Toyoko Line and Hibiya Line service withdrawn after 50 years, through services that ended when the companies merged, and a large cut in Tozai Line and JR Sobu Line through trains in spring 2026. It also lists plans: Seibu Ikebukuro Line trains running through to the JR Musashino Line from fiscal 2028, and a Hankyu service linking Shin-Osaka with Kansai Airport by way of Nankai or JR.
For New York, the point is institutional. Amtrak, NJ Transit, and the Long Island Rail Road share Penn Station, and no scheduled regional train crosses from one railroad to the other. Japan’s through services run between separate companies without a merger.
Sources for this section
- Japan Private Railway Association, railway glossary: mutual through service (in Japanese)
- Hiroyuki Nitta, Tetsudō chokutsū unten tankyū dokuhon (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2026): publisher’s contents listing (in Japanese)
- Meitetsu, fleet library: 100 series (in Japanese)
- Osaka Metro and Hankyu, joint release of October 25, 2019, on 50 years of Sakaisuji Line through service (in Japanese)
- Railfan (railf.jp), October 1, 2026: 40 years of Kintetsu Keihanna Line and Osaka Metro Chuo Line through service (in Japanese)
How to read it
Each marker is a city. Green systems run regional trains through the center. Amber systems have a through link that has not opened: Auckland’s is in testing and Los Angeles’s is in design. Red systems are terminal holdouts: New York (Penn Station), Boston, and Washington. Filter by status or planning tradition, or search by name, then select a city for its system, operating model, key figures, local terms, and stated limits. Distances are in miles.
Data and method
Each case records the system, its planning tradition, infrastructure class, operating patterns, local terminology, key figures labeled by type and period, and a status with an as-of date. Distances in the case file were recorded in kilometers and are shown here in miles. The Nagoya and Osaka records and the Tokyo history list their own sources. Full methods
Limits
Figures differ in type (scheduled service, infrastructure, capital cost, ridership, capacity) and period, so they do not compare directly across cities. Each case states its own limits; a precedent shows an operating model, not that any one terminal can be converted the same way.