It consists of six lines that cover 93.3 kilometers (58.0 mi) of route and serve 87 stations.

The subway system is owned and operated by the Nagoya City Transportation Bureau and, like other large Japanese cities including Tokyo and Osaka, is heavily complemented by suburban rail, together forming an extensive network of 47 lines in and around Greater Nagoya.

Of them, the subway lines represent 38% of Greater Nagoya's total rail ridership of 3 million passengers a day.

The six lines that comprise the Nagoya subway network are, for the most part, independent.

Since February 2011, this has largely been supplemented by Manaca, a rechargeable smart card.