The stock price of Tokyo Metro soared 45 percent on Wednesday, the first day of trading for the company that operates a dense network of punctual and clean underground trains that traverse Japan’s capital.

       Tokyo Metro raised over $2 billion earlier this month in an initial public offering, the biggest stock listing in Japan in six years. Tokyo Metro had been owned jointly by the Japanese national and Tokyo metropolitan governments.

       An average of 6.5 million passengers ride Tokyo Metro’s extensive century-old underground network daily — about double the ridership of the New York City subway system.

       Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.