Imazatosuji Line - Ridership

Ridership

According to data collected on 1 March 2007, two months after the line's opening, daily ridership on the Imazatosuji Line (all stations, including transfer passengers) was 37,000, less than one-third the projected amount (120,000). On 15 June of the same year, a survey conducted at the end of April was released that showed passenger numbers at the seven stations not connecting to other subway lines to be approximately 45,000 per day. At the end of fiscal 2010, ridership for the line stood at roughly 56,800 passengers per day.

When the Imazatosuji Line opened, the number of city buses running between Imazato and Sekime-Seiiku was reduced to 2-3 per hour. Nevertheless, many people still prefer to ride the buses, as they are more accessible than the subway stations, which are further apart and fairly deep underground, requiring them to walk a greater distance.

Due to the presence of existing lines, stations on the Imazatosuji Line were built deeper underground, so transfers at connecting stations take longer than average. Originally, it was believed that there would be many passengers connected with Osaka University of Economics (as the nearest station is Zuikō Yonchōme); however, because reaching Umeda would require a lengthy transfer to the Tanimachi Line at Taishibashi-Imaichi, many of those people continue to use Kami-Shinjō Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line, and ridership has not increased substantially. (Train fare is also cheaper, at ¥180, to use Hankyu, rather than the ¥270 required to go from Zuikō Yonchōme to Higashi-Umeda.) Additionally, while there are fewer buses than before, they continue to compete with the line for ridership, due to their flat fare of ¥200 and greater number of stops. Despite the relatively short train length (only 4 cars), trains are rarely full.