Trash bins, once taken for granted by the millions of commuters who rely on the Tokyo rail network, are fast disappearing from the metropolitan area as operators move to make their facilities safer to use. Tokyo Metro Co. is the latest operator to come on board. It removed all trash cans from its station premises following the end of business hours on Jan. 16. Three kinds of trash bins used to be available: for cans and glass bottles, burnable items and newspapers and magazines. They were placed at a total of 239 spots at Tokyo Metro stations. However, recycling bins beside vending machines will remain. In the past, Tokyo Metro used to temporarily remove rubbish bins as a safety precaution to coincide with events such as summits and international meetings. But now, trash bins are being removed for good due to security concerns.