Tokyo Metro Co. will test the feasibility of parcel delivery services using its subway system in cooperation with other rail and transportation firms, company sources said Saturday.

Land transportation companies face a lack of truck drivers and also need to reduce carbon emissions and help relieve traffic congestion.

Other firms involved are Yamato Transport Co., Sagawa Express Co. and Japan Post Co., as well as Tobu Railway Co., operator of the Tobu Tojo Line, which connects with Tokyo Metro's Yurakucho Line.

In the experiment, starting this fall, the railway firms will load parcels onto deadhead trains at Shin-Kiba Station in eastern Tokyo or at Wakoshi Station in Saitama Prefecture, the sources said.

The parcels will then be transported to downtown Tokyo, where they will be transferred to trucks near the Yurakucho, Ginza-itchome and Shintomicho stations, they said. The three stations are all near Ginza, one of the biggest shopping districts in the country, and lie 6 and 20 kilometers from Shin-Kiba and Wakoshi.