The Yamanote Line

Internally (to JR East) “Yamanote Line” only refers to the portion of the Yamanote Line from Shinagawa to Tabata.

Even though the Yamanote Line is typically thought of as the main, circular train line that loops central Tokyo, I recently learned that technically, internally (to the JR East company) the “Yamanote Line” only refers to the quadruple track corridor between Shinagawa and Tabata via Shinjuku. So basically, the west side of the loop. The quadruple track refers to the Yamanote Line (the lime green line) and the “Yamanote Freight Line” tracks that service the Saikyo and Shonan-Shinjuku train lines. In 2015 it was estimated that ~4 million people per day ride the Yamanote line as defined internally.