Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line

The Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line (名鉄名古屋本線, Meitetsu Nagoya Honsen) or Nagoya Line is a railway line operated by the private railway operator Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu), connecting Toyohashi Station in Toyohashi with Meitetsu Gifu Station in Gifu.

Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line
A Meitetsu 1000 series "Panorama Super" EMU on a limited express service
Overview
Other name(s)	Nagoya Line
Native name	名鉄名古屋本線
Owner	Meitetsu
Locale	Aichi Gifu
Termini	Toyohashi Meitetsu Gifu
Stations	60
Service
Type	Commuter rail
Daily ridership	221,098^[1] (2008)
History
Opened	1 September 1944 (1944-09-01) (as it is today)^[2]
Technical
Line length	99.8 km (62.01 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	Overhead catenary 1,500 V DC
Operating speed	120 km/h (75 mph)

Nagoya Main Line
Subway: Nagoya Municipal Subway Lines are Meitetsu unless otherwise noted
Legend
Tokaido Main Line Tokaido Shinkansen Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line Shin-Toyohashi Toyohashi Railroad Azumada Main Line 0.0 Toyohashi Shimin-Byōin-mae Toyohashi depot JR-C: Tōkaidō Shinkansen JR-F: Toyohashi ORS Funamachi Toyokawa Shimoji Toyokawa (3.8) Hirai S.B. Nishi-Kozakai JR-C: Tōkaidō Main Line JR-C: Iida Line Kozakai Branch Line ja Kozakai 5.0 Ina 6.6 Odabuchi Toyokawa-Inari Toyokawa Line 9.6 Kō 10.7 Goyu 12.5 Meiden-Akasaka 15.0 Meiden-Nagasawa 18.7 Motojuku 20.4 Meiden Yamanaka (21.0) Maiki S.B. Maiki depot 23.1 Fujikawa 25.6 Miai 27.6 Otogawa 29.8 Higashi-Okazaki Okazaki City Line ja old Okazakikōen-mae 31.1 Okazakikōen-mae Naka-Okazaki Aikan: Aichi Loop Line Yahagi River 32.5 Yahagibashi 34.8 Utō Gamagōri Gamagōri Line Kira-Yoshida Nishio Line 38.3 Shin-Anjō 40.9 Ushida Chiryū S.B. Hekinan Nishi-Nakagane Sanage Toyota-shi freight bypass Higashi-Chiryū Mikawa-Chiryū 43.1 Chiryū Mikawa Line 44.6 Hitotsugi 46.6 Fujimatsu Toyoake depot 48.1 Toyoake 49.8 Zengo 51.4 Chūkyō-keibajō-mae 52.7 Arimatsu 53.8 Sakyōyama Narumi depot 55.1 Narumi 56.7 Moto-Hoshizaki Nagoya City Tramway: Kasamatsu Extension 58.2 Moto-Kasadera 58.9 Sakura 59.9 Yobitsugi Yamazaki River Subway: Meijō Line Myōon-dōri 61.1 Horita Horita Tokaido Main Line Tokoname, Airport, and Kōwa, Chita New lines 62.2 Jingū-mae Nagoya City Tramway: Atsuta Line Atsuta Nagoya City Tramway Chuo Main Line Kanayamabashi Nagoya City Tramway Atsuta Line 64.4 Kanayama Subway: Meikō Line Subway: Meijō Line Horikawa Nagoya City Tramway Otōbashi Nagoya City Tramway JR-F: Nagoyakō Line Tokaido Shinkansen JR-C: Sannō S.B. 66.0 Sannō canal JR-C: Tōkaidō Shinkansen Kansai Main Line Aonami Line Yanagibashi Kintetsu Nagoya Line Subway: Higashiyama Line Kintetsu Nagoya 68.0 Meitetsu Nagoya Nagoya(Subway/JR-C) Sakuradōri Line Subway; Higashiyama Line Oshikirimachi 69.9 Sakō JR-C Nagoya depot 70.7 Higashi-Biwajima Shōnai River (71.3) Biwajima Junction Inuyama Line Shin-Unuma 71.6 Nishi-Biwajima JR-C: Tōkaidō Main Line JR-C: Tōkaidō Shinkansen 72.2 Futatsuiri 72.8 Shinkawabashi Shinkawa depot 73.5 Sukaguchi Tsushima Line Bisai Line 74.3 Marunouchi Kiyosu Line ja Kiyosumachi 75.2 Shin-Kiyosu Tokaido Shinkansen 77.5 Ōsato 78.8 Okuda 80.9 Kōnomiya 82.9 Shima-Ujinaga Tokaido Main Line 84.7 Myōkōji Bisai Line Higashi-Ichinomiya Ichinomiya Line ja 86.4 Meitetsu Ichinomiya JR-C: Owari-Ichinomiya Bisai Line/Okoshi Line ja 88.3 Imaise /Tamanoi 89.2 Iwato 91.2 Shin-Kisogawa Kisogawa/Kisogawabashi 92.1 Kuroda Tokaido Main Line 93.9 Kisogawa-zutsumi /Kisogawa-kō Aichi Prefecture Kiso River Gifu Prefecture Higashi-Kasamatsu Shin-Hashima Hashima Line Takehana Line 95.1 Kasamatsu 96.9 Ginan Sakai River Shimokawate Chajo depot 98.3 Chajo 98.7 Kanō JR-C: Tōkaidō Main Line JR-C: Takayama Main Line Gifu Gifu-Ekimae 99.8 Meitetsu Gifu Meitetsu Kakamigahara Line Gifu City Line ja

3500 series EMU on a commuter service

Since its amalgamation in 1944 (see History section) this has been the Meitetsu main line. Many branch lines of Meitetsu have through services to/from the Nagoya Line. Toyokawa, Nishio, Tokoname (which has its through services with Airport, Kōwa, Chita), and Inuyama lines all have through services bound for Meitetsu Nagoya, making the segment around that station extremely busy. Between Biwajima Junction and Kanayama, 26 trains proceed per hour, even during off-peak periods. All the stations accept manaca, a smart card.

The line largely parallels the Tōkaidō Main Line in the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area (Greater Nagoya). Local traffic on the Nagoya Line used to be much heavier than on the Tōkaidō Main Line, but since the privatization of the Japanese National Railways (JNR), transforming into the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in this area, competition has become more significant in the Chūkyō area.

Due to historical reasons, the line shares its track between Hirai Junction and Toyohashi Station with the JR Iida Line. The agreement between two companies prohibits Meitetsu to have more than 6 trains in one direction per hour on the 3.8 km of shared tracks. Consequently, local trains are unable to reach Toyohashi, instead, terminate at Ina Station.

Basic data

• Distance: 99.8 km (approx. 62.0 mi.)
• Stations: 60
• Gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
• Track:
  • Quadruple: Jingū-mae to Kanayama
  • Double: Hirai Signal Box to Jingū-mae, Kanayama to Meitetsu Gifu
  • Single: Toyohashi to Hirai Signal Box (A shared track with JR Iida Line, virtually double-tracked)
• Electric supply: 1,500 V DC
• Block system: Automatic
• Maximum speed at service: 120 km/h (85 km/h between Toyohashi and Hirai Signal Box.)

Service patterns

L: Local (普通, Futsū)

SE: Semi Express (準急, Junkyū)

EX: Express (急行, Kyūkō)

RE: Rapid Express (快速急行, Kaisoku Kyūkō)

LE: Limited Express (特急, Tokkyū)

RL: Rapid Limited Express (快速特急, Kaisoku Tokkyū)

MU: μSKY Limited Express (ミュースカイ, Myū Sukai)

Stations

For abbreviations of rapid trains, refer to the above section. For distances and connections, see the route diagram. Trains stop at stations marked "●" and pass stations marked "|".

Some trains stop at stations indicated by "▲". At Sukaguchi, Limited Expresses only from Tsushima Line stop (which is marked "τ"). For distances and transfers, see the route diagram.

No.	Station	Japanese	Local	Semi Express	Express	Rapid Express	Limited Express	Rapid Limited Express	μSKY Limited Express	Transfers	Location
	Toyohashi	豊橋	No service		●	To Chubu Centrair International Airport	●	●	To Chubu Centrair International Airport	Tōkaidō Shinkansen   Tokaido Main Line (CA42)   Iida Line (CD00) ■ Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line (Shin-Toyohashi) (01) ■ Toyohashi Railroad Azumada Main Line (Ekimae) (1)	Toyohashi	Aichi
N/A	Hirai Junction	平井信号場			No passengers		No passengers
	Ina	伊奈	●	●	●		▲	▲			Toyokawa
	Odabuchi	小田渕	●	|	|		|	|
	Kō	国府	●	●	●		●	▲		TK  Toyokawa Line
	Goyu	御油	●	|	|		|	|
	Meiden-Akasaka	名電赤坂	●	|	|		|	|
	Meiden-Nagasawa	名電長沢	●	|	|		|	|
	Motojuku	本宿	●	●	●		○	○			Okazaki
	Meiden Yamanaka	名電山中	●	|	|		|	|
N/A	Maiki Junction	舞木信号場	No passengers				No passengers
	Fujikawa	藤川	●	●	|		|	|
	Miai	美合	●	●	●		▲	▲
	Otogawa	男川	●	●	▲		|	|
	Higashi-Okazaki	東岡崎	●	●	●		●	●
	Okazakikōen-mae	岡崎公園前	●	●	▲		|	|		■ Aichi Loop Line (Naka-Okazaki) (03)
	Yahagibashi	矢作橋	●	●	▲		|	|
	Utō	宇頭	●	●	▲		|	|
	Shin-Anjō	新安城	●	●	●		●	|		GN  Nishio Line	Anjō
	Ushida	牛田	●	▲	|		|	|			Chiryū
	Chiryū	知立	●	●	●		●	●		MU   MY  Mikawa Line
	Hitotsugi	一ツ木	●	|	|		|	|			Kariya
	Fujimatsu	富士松	●	|	|		|	|
	Toyoake	豊明	●	●	▲		|	|			Toyoake
	Zengo	前後	●	●	●		|	|
	Chūkyō-keibajō-mae	中京競馬場前	●	●	▲		|	|			Midori, Nagoya
	Arimatsu	有松	●	●	▲		|	|
	Sakyōyama	左京山	●	▲	|		|	|
	Narumi	鳴海	●	●	▲		▲	|
	Moto-Hoshizaki	本星崎	●	|	|		|	|			Minami, Nagoya
	Moto-Kasadera	本笠寺	●	▲	|		|	|
	Sakura	桜	●	|	|		|	|
	Yobitsugi	呼続	●	|	|		|	|
	Horita	堀田	●	●	●		|	|			Mizuho, Nagoya
	Jingū-mae	神宮前	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	TA  Tokoname Line	Atsuta, Nagoya
	Kanayama	金山	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Tokaido Main Line (CA66)   Chūō Main Line (CF01)   Nagoya Municipal Subway Meijō Line (M01)   Nagoya Municipal Subway Meiko Line (E01)	Naka, Nagoya
	Sannō	山王	●	|	|	|	|	|	|		Nakagawa, Nagoya
	Meitetsu-Nagoya	名鉄名古屋	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Tōkaidō Shinkansen (Nagoya)   Tokaido Main Line (Nagoya) (CA68)   Chūō Main Line (Nagoya) (CF00)   Kansai Main Line (Nagoya) (CJ00)   Nagoya Municipal Subway Higashiyama Line (Nagoya) (H08)   Nagoya Municipal Subway Sakura-dōri Line (Nagoya) (S02)   Kintetsu Nagoya Line (Kintetsu-Nagoya) (E01)  AN  Aonami Line (Nagoya) (AN01)	Nakamura, Nagoya
	Sakō	栄生	●	●	●	|	|	|	|		Nishi, Nagoya
	Higashi-Biwajima	東枇杷島	●	|	|	|	|	|	|	IY  Inuyama Line
—	Biwajima Junction	枇杷島分岐点	No passengers								Kiyosu
	Nishi-Biwajima	西枇杷島	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Futatsuiri	二ツ杁	●	●	▲	|	|	|	|
	Shinkawabashi	新川橋	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Sukaguchi	須ヶ口	●	●	●	●	τ	|	|	TB  Tsushima Line
	Marunouchi	丸ノ内	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Shin-Kiyosu	新清州	●	●	●	●	|	|	|
	Ōsato	大里	●	●	▲	▲	|	|	|		Inazawa
	Okuda	奥田	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Kōnomiya	国府宮	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
	Shima-Ujinaga	島氏永	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Myōkōji	妙興寺	●	|	|	|	|	|	|		Ichinomiya
	Meitetsu Ichinomiya	名鉄一宮	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	BS  Bisai Line   Tokaido Main Line (Owari-Ichinomiya) (CA72)
	Imaise	今伊勢	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Iwato	石刀	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Shin-Kisogawa	新木曽川	●	●	●	●	○	●	|
	Kuroda	黒田	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Kisogawa-zutsumi	木曽川堤	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Kasamatsu	笠松	●	●	●	●	▲	●	|	TH  Takehana Line	Kasamatsu, Hashima	Gifu
	Ginan	岐南	●	|	|	|	|	|	|		Ginan, Hashima
	Chajo	茶所	●	|	|	|	|	|	|		Gifu
	Kanō	加納	●	|	|	|	|	|	|
	Meitetsu Gifu	名鉄岐阜	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	KG  Kakamigahara Line   Tokaido Main Line (Gifu) (CA74)   Takayama Main Line (Gifu) (CG00)

¹: Some trains of the marked line directly go through Nagoya Line bound for Meitetsu Nagoya.

²: All trains of Inuyama line directly go through Nagoya Line bound for Meitetsu Nagoya.

²: Some trains of Takehana Line directly go through Nagoya Line bound for Meitetsu Gifu.

History

Four different companies built sections of the line, which were subsequently amalgamated and linked to create today's line.

• The Nagoya Electric Railway opened the Ōshikirichō to Marunouchi section (Ichinomiya, Tsushima, Kiyosu Line), dual track and electrified at 600 V DC, in 1914. Transferred to Nagoya Railway (old) in 1921.
• The Bisai Railway opened the Kōnomiya to Ichinomiya section (Nakamura Line), single track and electrified at 600 V DC, in 1924. Merged with Nagoya Railroad in 1925 (changes name to Kōnomiya Branch Line).
• The Mino Electric Railway opened the Kasamatsu to Gifu section (Kasamatsu Line), single track and electrified at 600 V DC, in 1914. Merged with Nagoya Railroad in 1930, and the company changed its name to Meigi Railway.

The Marunouchi to Kōnomiya section was opened by the Nagoya Railway in 1928, the Ichinomiya to Kasamatsu section was opened by the Meigi Railway in 1935, and by 1935 the line was dual track as far as Kanō. Meanwhile, the Aichi Electric Railway opened the Jingu-mae to Arimatsu section in 1917 (Arimatsu Line), electrified at 600 V DC, and extended the line to Toyohashi in 1927 (becoming the Toyohashi Line). The Narumi to Yahagibashi section was double-tracked in 1924, and by 1935, the line was double-tracked from Horita to the Hirai Signal Box. The voltage on the line was increased to 1,500 V DC in 1925.

In 1935 the Aichi Electric Railway merged with Meigi Railway, and the company changed its name to Nagoya Railroad. The Jingū-mae to Horita section was double-tracked in 1942, and in 1944, the Nagoya to Jingū-mae section opened as dual track, linking the two sections, although through-running was not possible until the voltage on the Nagoya to Gifu section had been increased to 1,500 V DC in 1948. The line was renamed the Nagoya Main Line.

Former connecting lines

• Marunouchi Station: The Nagoya Electric Railway opened a 1 km line to Kiyosu-Chō, electrified at 600 V DC, in 1914. The company merged with Meitetsu in 1930. Services were deemed non-essential and ceased in 1944, and the line was formally closed in 1948 when the voltage on the main line was increased to 1,500 V DC.
• Ichinomiya Station: The Nagoya Electric Railway opened a 7 km line electrified at 600 V DC from Iwakura on its Inuyama Line in 1913. The voltage on the line was increased to 1,500 V DC in 1948, and the line closed in 1965.
• Gifu Station: Two lines connected here via the Gifu tram system (which itself closed in 2005):

The Mino Electric Railway opened an 18 km 1,067 mm gauge line electrified at 600 V DC to Hon Ibi in 1928. The company merged with Meitetsu in 1930, the line closed in 2001. An 11 km 1,067 mm gauge branch from Kurono (5 km from Hon Ibi) was opened by the Tanigumi Railway to its namesake town in 1926, electrified at 600 V DC. The company merged with Meitetsu in 1944, and the line closed in 2001.

The Nagara Light Railway opened a 5 km 1,067 mm gauge line to Takatomi in 1915, and was acquired by the Mino Electric Railway in 1920, which electrified the line at 600 V DC, merging with Meitetsu in 1930. The line closed in 1960.

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia.

1. 各鉄軌道会社のご案内 (Report). Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
2. 曽根, 悟 (September 2010), "名古屋鉄道 1", 週刊朝日百科, 週刊歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線 (in Japanese), no. 8, Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications, Inc., p. 3, ISBN 978-4-02-340138-9