History
Shimbashi is the original terminus of Japan's first stretch of railway, the Tōkaidō Main Line, and is one of Japan's oldest stations (the oldest station being Shinagawa, a few kilometres down the line). The original Shimbashi Station, opened on October 10, 1872, was built some way to the east of the modern-day structure and was known as Shimbashi Teishajō (新橋停車場).
The present-day structure opened in 1909 as Karasumori Station (烏森駅) on the Yamanote Line. With the extension of the Tōkaidō Main Line along its modern-day route to the new terminus at Tokyo Station in 1914, the original station was demolished to make way for a goods yard, Shiodome Station (汐留駅), and Karasumori Station was renamed Shimbashi Station.
Japan's first subway line, operated by the Tokyo Underground Railroad Company, was extended to Shimbashi in 1934. In January 1939, the Tokyo Rapid Railway Company built a second subway station at Shimbashi for its line from Shibuya. After several months, the lines were merged to allow through service, and the TRR station was closed. In 1941 the two companies merged forming today's Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. The Ginza Line operated from a single platform until 1980, when a second parallel platform was opened to relieve congestion.
The Toei Asakusa Line began service to Shimbashi in 1968, and the elevated Yurikamome station opened in 1995.
Shiodome Station closed in 1986. The site was declared a national monument in 1996 and the area was archeologically investigated while being redeveloped as a commercial district ("Shiosite") with a number of large office blocks. In 2003 a reconstruction of the original Shimbashi Station building and part of the platforms was completed. It currently houses a railway history exhibit and a restaurant.
Read more about this topic: Shimbashi Station
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