Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line

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

The line was formed through mergers of multiple local railway operators and segments of their railway lines. These lines were connected into two separate lines, one from Jingū-mae to Toyohashi, and the other from Meitetsu Gifu to Oshikirichō[ja], each given the name "Eastern Line" and "Western Line" in 1935. The Aichi Electric Railway[ja] constructed the eastern part from 1917 to 1927. The western part was formed out of lines operated by the Nagoya Electric Railway[ja], the Mino Electric Railroad[ja], and the Bisai Railway. The lines ran by each operator were eventually merged into a single line by several mergers. After the formation of Meitetsu in 1935, efforts to connect the two lines were made, which was completed in 1944. The difference in voltage between the two segments were corrected by 1948, and the two segments were renamed to the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line on the same date. Since then, Meitetsu introduced new rolling stock and removed sharp curves to compete with the Tōkaidō Main Line operated by the Japanese National Railways, and its successor Central Japan Railway Company.

Due to historical reasons, the line shares its track between Hirai Junction and Toyohashi Station with the JR Iida Line. This limits the number of trains passing through the section. Local trains terminate at Ina Station instead of Toyohashi, the terminus.

History

The Nagoya Main Line was formed through mergers of multiple local railway operators and segments of their railway lines. The line prior to being connected and treated as a single railway line was divided between eastern and western sections. These two segments were later named the Eastern Line(東部線, Tōbu-sen), and the Western Line(西部線, Seibu-sen) in 1935.

Eastern Line

The Eastern Line was constructed by a single railway company, the Aichi Electric Railway[ja]. As the Tōkaidō Main Line constructed by the Ministry of Railways by 1889 took a different route from the Tōkaidō in the Aichi Prefecture segment, the company built the line along the Tōkaidō instead. The Eastern Line was originally named the Arimatsu Line(有松線) when it was opened between Jingū-mae and Arimatsu-ura (now named Arimatsu) in 1917. This line renamed to Toyohashi Line(豊橋線) upon extending to Toyohashi by 1927. The line was electrified at 1,500 V, with advanced infrastructures at the time. To reach Toyohashi from Ina Station, the company only built a single track, paralleling the Toyokawa Railway's track. When the Aichi Electric Railway merged with the Meigi Railroad in 1935, the line was renamed to the Eastern Line.

Western Line

The Western Line was made up of segments from three different railway lines, each by different operators. The first railway operator to construct a line was the Nagoya Electric Railway[ja]. The company opened the part between Sukaguchi and Biwajimabashi[ja] in 1914. Later in the same year, the Mino Electric Railroad[ja] opened a line between Kasamatsu and Hiroe, located near the current Kanō Station. By the end of the year, this line, named the Kasamatsu Line(笠松線), extended to Shin Gifu (current Meitetsu Gifu). In 1921, the Nagoya Electric Railway established the Nagoya Railroad, transferred the tramway network to the city of Nagoya, and the heavy rail network to the established company, and disbanded. The Bisai Railway operated the line between Kōnomiya and Shin Ichinomiya (now Meitetsu Ichinomiya) for a year prior to being transferred to the Nagoya Railroad in 1925. The Nagoya Railroad continued to extend their line, connecting Shin Ichinomiya and Oshikirichō[ja], the western terminal of Nagoya at the time by April 1928. On 20 August 1930, the company merged with the Mino Electric Railroad to form the Meigi Railway. Shin Ichinomiya and Kasamatsu were connected in 1935. Following this extension, Shin Gifu (current Meitetsu Gifu) and Oshikirichō were connected with a single line. Because the line was formerly three separate railways, the line goes through central areas of the passing municipalities compared to the competing Tōkaidō Main Line, and the segment has frequent curves.

Merger and post-merger

Until 1935, mergers involving the Aichi Electric Railway were brought up multiple times since it was established, but none took place. Around the end of the Taishō era, competition against the two private operators Meigi Railway and the Aichi Electric Railway, which were the tram network operated by the city of Nagoya and the Japan Governmental Railways (JGR), escalated. Added with the Great Depression, these two companies were not able to keep themselves functional with the population of Nagoya at the time. Eventually, the two companies, with the help of the mayor of Nagoya, merged into the current Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu). Despite this, the two major lines of the two companies were still unconnected, and had different voltages, as the Western Line used 600 V electrification while the east used 1,500 V. Coinciding with the relocation of the JGR's Nagoya Station, Meitetsu extended the western section from Biwajimabashi to Meitetsu Nagoya, closing the former line between Biwajimabashi and Oshikirichō. The Eastern Line was originally planned to run right below the roads of Nagoya, although this did not happen due to opposition from the city. Meitetsu eventually bought the former Nagoya Station's land from the JGR and constructed the line through the land, later building the Meitetsu Department Store and a bus terminal above it. While steel supply was limited by the government due to World War II, The Eastern Line reached Meitetsu Nagoya on 1 September 1944. Upon the two lines being connected, the section from Kanayama to Meitetsu Gifu was named Meigi Line(名岐線), and the section from Kanayama to Toyohashi was named Toyohashi Line(豊橋線). Despite technically being a single line, service through these two named lines were not possible due to differing voltage. On 16 May 1948, the Meigi Line's voltage was raised to 1,500 V, and both lines were renamed into the Nagoya Main Line.

The Tōkaidō Main Line was electrified to Maibara Station in 1955, and electric multiple units started operating in the paralleling segment of the line between Toyohashi and Ōgaki. Meitetsu introduced new rolling stocks such as the 5000 series, reduced sharp curves, and increased the number of services providing through service to other lines. In the timetable revision of 1959, the maximum speed of the line was increased to 105 km/h (65 mph) from 100 km/h (62 mph). The 5500 series[ja] was introduced to the line at the time of the same timetable revision, which was the first train equipped with air conditioners that didn't require an additional fee. Meitetsu adopted their own automatic train stop (ATS) system in 1965. The tracks between Jingū-mae and Kanayama were quadrupled in 1990. The operating speed for trains on the line was increased to 120 km/h (75 mph) in the same year. Works to elevate parts of the line by viaducts have been taking place, with the area around Mikawa Chiryū Station expected to be elevated by 2031. The area around Narumi Station was elevated in 2006.

Service patterns

Seven types of services run on the line. The names are as follows:

• Local(普通, Futsū)
• Semi Express(準急, Junkyū)
• Express(急行, Kyūkō)
• Rapid Express(快速急行, Kaisoku Kyūkō)
• Limited Express(特急, Tokkyū)
• Rapid Limited Express(快速特急, Kaisoku Tokkyū)
• μSKY Limited Express(ミュースカイ, Myū Sukai)

Because of the sheer amount of stopping patterns, trains which stops on stations that aren't usually stopped by the service is excluded from the list. Additionally, services that change service time upon arriving at a certain station are also ignored.

Legend

• ●: All trains stop
• |: Trains pass
• ▲▼: Through service, all or some trains continue off the line

Infrastructure

Most of the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line is double-tracked, although the section between Jingū-mae and Kanayama are quadrupled. However, a segment of the track inside Meitetsu Gifu is single-tracked. This severely restricts the operations of trains entering and exiting the station. The section of the line between Ina and Toyohashi shares tracks with the Iida Line, so the Nagoya Main Line is single-tracked from Toyohashi to the Hirai Junction, where the Iida Line branches north.

Station list

See also

• List of railway lines in Japan

Notes

Bibliography

• Sugiura, Makoto (16 January 2023). 名古屋鉄道のすべて 改訂版 (鉄道まるわかり008) [Everything about Nagoya Railroad Revised edition] (in Japanese). Tabi To Tetsudo. ISBN 978-4635824569.
• Kawashima, Ryozo (2009). 東海道ライン全線・全駅・全配線 第4巻 豊橋駅-名古屋エリア [Tokaido Line all route diagrams part 4 - Toyohashi-Nagoya Area] (in Japanese). Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-270014-6.
• Kawashima, Ryozo (2009). 東海道ライン全線・全駅・全配線 第5巻 名古屋駅-米原エリア [Tokaido Line all route diagrams part 5 - Nagoya-Maibara Area] (in Japanese). Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-270015-3.
• Shimizu, Takeshi (24 March 2016). 名古屋鉄道 各駅停車 [Nagoya Railroad All Stations] (in Japanese). ISBN 978-4-8003-0800-9.
• Soiri, Masashi (25 September 2025). 全国鉄道路線大全 2025-2026 (in Japanese). Ikaros Publications. ISBN 978-4-8022-1637-1.