Out-of-Station Interchange Toward Congestion Relief: A Case Study of the Tokyo Metro

A transfer made outside ticket gates is called an out-of-station interchange (OSI). Tokyo Metro permits OSI between more than 20 pairs of stations, which we call OSI pairs, as of February 2024 for the purpose of making transfers more convenient and comfortable. In this study, we experimentally investigate how changes in OSI pairs affect congestion of the Tokyo Metro railway network during the morning rush hour, where passenger flows are simulated using Wardrop equilibrium based on real OD data. Our numerical results suggest that a minor modification to the current situation could lead to a 5% reduction in the number of links with a congestion rate exceeding 200%.