Online Courses (Recording & Livestream) and Training in Tokyo where you can learn from the expertise and experience in railway operations of Tokyo Metro

*1: Course Level

-Introductory Course: for those aspiring to work in the railway industry (students, etc.)

-Basic Course: for those who have less than 3 years experience in the railway industry

-Advanced Course: for those who have 3 years or more experience in the railway industry

*2: Applications within Japan are subject to the tax separately.

▶Tokyo Metro Academy Pre-Recorded Online Courses Terms of Service (PDF)

▶Questions & Answers  (PDF)

We also offer customizable training courses, with flexibility in scheduling, duration, and content, tailored to your specific needs.

For more information, please contact us by E-mail

▶Tokyo Metro Academy Training in Tokyo Terms of Service (PDF)

▶Questions & Answers (PDF)

*1: Course Level

-Introductory Course: for those aspiring to work in the railway industry (students, etc.)

-Basic Course: for those who have less than 3 years experience in the railway industry

-Advanced Course: for those who have 3 years or more experience in the railway industry

*2: Applications within Japan are subject to the tax separately.

▶Tokyo Metro Academy Online Courses Terms of Service (PDF)

▶Questions & Answers  (PDF)

From an overview to detailed content, Tokyo Metro can provide assistance that meets your needs. We are looking forward to hearing from you about your training consulting needs.

Overseas Railway Business

Tokyo Metro is harnessing its expertise on the operation and maintenance of urban railways to provide various forms of technical cooperation and assistance for overseas urban railway operators.

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The Tokyo Metro Academy, an online course for overseas railway operators, was launched with an eye to the world in order to utilize our expertise and experience in railway operation accumulated for 96 years, since the open of Tokyo Metro Ginza Line the first subway in Asia (December 30, 1927).

Is Tokyo Metro widely known in the world? Tokyo Metro Academy was launched in the midst of such uncertainty. We interviewed Mr. Shimizu who handles everything from planning, management, and lecturer of the course. What is available on the course, what particularity and ingenuity are offered, and why is railway company in Japan is transmitting its expertise and experience to the world.

1) To deliver the information world's railway operators want to know

2) Lecturers are experts with deep knowledge of their fields

3) Active two-way communication with participants

4) Observe, learn, and feel the actual railway site

5) We want to contribute to the sustainable development of the world's railway business

6) Questions about Tokyo Metro Academy

1) To deliver the information world's railway operators want to know 

Yoshiki Shimizu / International Business Dept.

The first thing we needed to know before launching Tokyo Metro Academy was what kind of information do railway operators, government agencies, and educational and research institutions in the world want to know. In June 2021, we held a free online course to survey the needs of the railway officials in the world. The 2 hours long free online course covered station and train operations, technical maintenance of rolling stock, civil engineering, electrical facilities, and business development of station commercial facilities. Through a questionnaire, we surveyed participants’ impression and rating regarding our online course.

Not only did we receive positive comments in the questionnaire, such as "I would like to hear more about the course" and "The course was useful for improving the skills of operation and maintenance personnel," but we also found out that participants were interested in most of Tokyo Metro's initiatives. With confidence boosted by the results, we finally moved toward the full-scale launch of paid online courses in 2022.

2) Lecturers are experts with deep knowledge of their fields 

In August 2022, eight online courses were finally launched as "Tokyo Metro Academy 2022-2023.” The course included "Effective Methods for Improving Punctuality in Train Operations" and "Rolling Stock Maintenance," which had high needs from overseas railway operators. The course contents were decided based on overseas railway operator’s needs which were gathered by colleagues involved in overseas businesses. All the lecturers were made by experts in International Business Department who expertise in station operations, train operations, rolling stock, civil engineering, electrical facilities, and other fields of railway operations.

However, speaking as a presenter is not something that everyone had experienced. Moreover, since we were going to lecture our experience to the world in English, the first thing I asked the presenter to do was to observe me as an example lecturer, and then they were ready to go on stage. I thought everyone would be nervous, but they were very eloquent. It was a pleasant surprise.

The course materials were prepared by each lecturer based on the course materials that Tokyo Metro had accumulated, and at the same time new information was gathered from each department. The course material was made easy to understand. When we prepared the course material, we used not only letters but also figures and images to make the material visually understandable. In the course I presented, the "Development of Commercial Facilities at Stations," I filmed station commercial facilities such as the Echika OMOTESANDO, then edited with a narration and made an introductory video by myself. Because it was an online course, I was devoted to express the actual circumstances and atmosphere of the site.

Other thing I focused on was to select a microphone based on the microphone used by Youtubers to make our voices clear online. I also focused on the countdown video and background music to heighten the expectation of the course to begin. I would like to continue to add casual innovations to the course to increase the number of elements that make it more exciting.

▲   Example of a course slide

3) Active two-way communication with participants 

In our courses, we try not to make it a one-way communication from Tokyo Metro. The concept is not just about sharing our expertise and experience, but also includes discussion session and Q&A session based on the theme of the course. In the Q&A session, questions such as " What is the response of the Integrated Control Center (OCC) after an occurrence of train delay?,” “What are your plans for energy conservation?” were asked to gain a deeper understanding of the course theme, the enthusiasm of participants could be felt straight away. To response to participants’ enthusiasm, we replied to all the questions and opinions with sincerity. In the next new courses, we hope to make most out of the new needs we have been learning from this two-way communication. 

It is also important to take the participants' point of view in the course. For example, participants may think, "I would like to try some of Tokyo Metro’s initiatives I have learned in the course, however, how can I apply it in my country?” To solve these problems, we introduce our study flows from preliminary research and study, field test, decision to install, to full implementation, so that participants can use our experience as their reference when consider introducing the initiative in their own countries. Our goal is for Tokyo Metro's expertise and experience to cross the oceans and lead to the development of overseas local railway businesses.

▲   Tokyo Metro Academy received a special award at the 22nd Japan Railway Awards for contributing to promote and introduce Japan’s railway initiatives to the world

4) Observe, learn, and feel the actual railway site 

We are currently holding "Tokyo Metro Academy 2023-2024." The Academy offers 14 paid online courses to learn professionally in depth, and also offers the Training in Tokyo so that participants can see the actual sites. The theme of the Training in Tokyo was "Operations and Maintenance Initiatives to Achieve Safe and Stable Transportation," the face-to-face lectures and sites visits were held at Tokyo Metro facilities for five-days from November 13 to 17, 2023.

We thought about how to keep participants interested and occupied for five-days, we visited many facilities and looked at Tokyo Metro’s initiatives in addition to classroom lectures. At the station, participants looked at accident and disaster countermeasure equipment, and observed a roll call at the train driver's office. They visited the Metro Museum to learn about the history and construction of the subway, and also experienced a train driving simulator at the Comprehensive Learning and Training Center. I was delighted to see the excitement of participants, who sometimes asked questions directly to the staff without the help of an interpreter. After the training, we received comments such as, "There are facilities and initiatives that we don't have in our own country, and in the future, I want to make use of what I have studied," and "All the questions I had were answered by Tokyo Metro.”

Throughout the entire training, we also kept in mind the Japanese quality of "Omotenashi" (hospitality) and "attention to detail." During the training, we surprised them with a Certificate of Appreciation for participating the Training in Japan. Since participants came to Japan from abroad to participate in the training, we wanted them to feel the Japaneseness and Tokyo Metro Characteristics, and we also wanted to cherish the relationship between them. I hope to keep this spirit with me for a long time.

▲   Scene from Classroom Lecture and Site visit

5) We want to contribute to the sustainable development of the world's railway business 

We are already moving forward with the next "Tokyo Metro Academy 2024-2025." We would like to increase the number of paid online courses and consider new content for the Training in Tokyo. In addition, each country in the world has its own railway laws and regulations, how to manage railway business, and train operation concepts. In the future, we would like to offer custom-made online courses and Training in Tokyo that can meet the needs of each country. Eventually, we would like to become the kind of company that people say, "When it comes to railway training, it's Tokyo Metro," "When we have a problem, we consult with Tokyo Metro," and "We want Tokyo Metro to manage our railways with us.”

Promoting a new project can sometimes be a struggle, but I want to work together with my colleagues to advance it. The most important thing in expanding overseas railway business is to continuously deliver our message to the world. I would like to continue to contribute to the sustainable development of the world's railway business through Tokyo Metro Academy, while gradually accumulating achievements.

6) Questions about Tokyo Metro Academy 

A: We had "Train Schedule Basics" on how to create train schedules, "Customer Satisfaction Improvement Initiatives" on improving services based on customer feedback, and "Development of Commercial Facilities at Stations" that is on commercial facilities at stations premises, in buildings connected to stations, and under elevated railway tracks, etc. Other courses such as "Operations Control Center Response to Abnormalities" and "Track Maintenance” were also held.

A: In FY2021-2022, a total of 1,076 participants from 46 countries (Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America from around the world) participated the free and paid courses. Most of participants were from overseas railway operators and educational institutions.

*The content of this article is based on the time of the interview.