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Meitetsu

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Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd.
Native name
名古屋鉄道株式会社
Company typePublic KK (TYO: 9048)
IndustryPrivate railway
FoundedJune 13, 1921 (1921-06-13)[1]
Headquarters
Nagoya
,
Japan
Area served
Aichi Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture
Key people
Takashi Ando [jp] (Chairman)[2]
Hiroki Takasaki [jp] (President)
Websitewww.meitetsu.co.jp/eng/

Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. (名古屋鉄道株式会社, Nagoya Tetsudō Kabushiki Gaisha),[3] often abbreviated to as Meitetsu (名鉄), is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan. TYO: 9048

Some of the more famous trains operated by Meitetsu include the Panorama Car and the Panorama Car Super, both of which offer views through their wide front windows. While the Panorama Super train is used extensively for the railroad's limited express service, the older and more energy-consuming Panorama Car train has been retired, the last run being on 27 December 2008.

In the Tōkai region around Nagoya, it is a central firm of the Meitetsu Group, which is involved in transport, retail trade, service industry, and real estate, among other industries.

As of March 2023, Meitetsu operated 444.2 kilometres (276.0 mi) of track, 275 stations, and 1,076 train cars, being one of the largest private railway companies in Japan.[4]

History

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Meitetsu was founded on June 25, 1894, as the Aichi Horsecar Company.[5]

Over time, Meitetsu has acquired many small railway and interurban companies in the Nagoya area, many of whom were constructed and operated before and during World War II. For example, Meitetsu acquired its Kōwa Line on the Chita Peninsula from its merger with Chita Railroad on February 1, 1943, and it acquired its Mikawa Line from its merger with Mikawa Railroad.[6][7]

Meitetsu is famous for its red trains, including its famous 7000 series "Panorama Car" which was retired in 2009 after a career lasting nearly half a century.[8] The most recent cars, however, are not solid red but rather brushed steel as in the case of the 4000 series and 5000 series, or white as in the case of the 1700 series and 2000 series.[9]

While the company used to engage in the freight business and still possesses some freight locomotives, it no longer carries freight on a regular basis.[10]

Lines

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Line map
Direction Name Japanese Terminals Length (km)
Main   NH  Nagoya Main Line 名古屋本線 Toyohashi - Meitetsu Gifu 99.8
Western Aichi and Gifu Area   TB   Tsushima Line 津島線 Sukaguchi - Tsushima 11.8
  TB     BS   Bisai Line 尾西線 Yatomi - Tamanoi 30.9
  TH   Takehana Line 竹鼻線 Kasamatsu - Egira 10.3
  TH   Hashima Line 羽島線 Egira - Shin Hashima 1.3
Northern Aichi and Chūnō   IY   Inuyama Line[Note 1] 犬山線 Biwajima Junction - Shin Unuma 26.8
  KG   Kakamigahara Line 各務原線 Meitetsu Gifu - Shin Unuma 17.6
  HM   Hiromi Line 広見線 Inuyama - Mitake 22.3
  KM   Komaki Line[Note 2] 小牧線 Kami Iida - Inuyama 20.4
Chita Peninsula   TA   Tokoname Line 常滑線 Jingū-mae - Tokoname 29.3
  TA   Airport Line 空港線 Tokoname - Central Japan Int'l Airport 4.2
  CH   Chikkō Line 築港線 Ōe - Higashi Nagoyakō 1.5
  KC   Kōwa Line 河和線 Ōtagawa - Kōwa 28.8
  KC   Chita New Line 知多新線 Fuki - Utsumi 13.9
Mikawa (Eastern Aichi)   TK   Toyokawa Line 豊川線 Kō - Toyokawa-inari 7.2
  GN   Nishio Line 西尾線 Shin Anjō - Kira Yoshida 24.7
  GN   Gamagōri Line 蒲郡線 Kira Yoshida - Gamagōri 17.6
  MU     MY   Mikawa Line 三河線 Sanage - Hekinan 39.8
  TT   Toyota Line[Note 1] 豊田線 Umetsubo - Akaike 15.2
Isolated from all Meitetsu lines   ST   Seto Line 瀬戸線 Sakaemachi - Owari Seto 20.6
  1. ^ a b Through operation to/from the Nagoya Municipal Subway ■ Tsurumai Line
  2. ^ Through operation to/from the Nagoya Municipal Subway ■ Kamiiida Line

Major stations

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The Meitetsu limited express network

Major stations in Nagoya

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Nagoya Line (east side) and Toyokawa Line

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Tokoname Line, Chikkō Line, and Airport Line

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Kōwa Line and Chita New Line

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Mikawa Line, Toyota Line, Nishio Line, and Gamagōri Line

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Nagoya Line (west side), Takehana Line, and Hashima Line

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Tsushima Line and Bisai Line

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Inuyama Line, Kakamigahara Line, and Hiromi Line

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Komaki Line

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Seto Line

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Rolling stock

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Meitetsu 1000 series "Panorama Super" (left) and 2000 series "Airport Limited Express [μSky]" (right)

Nippon Sharyo has produced nearly every car that Meitetsu operates or has operated, a notable exception being its Class EL120, an electric locomotive, which was produced by Toshiba, but very few units were produced for Meitetsu. The Class EL120 is one of the few locomotives that Meitetsu possesses.

The following are the train types that Meitetsu operates today, as well as selected types that Meitetsu has retired.

Limited express

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Commuter

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Meitetsu 5000 series commuter train

Withdrawn train types

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Meitetsu 7000 series "Panorama Car" train

Electric locomotives

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Rationalization

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Tamatsu-ura Station, one of the stations that were closed due to low passengers

As Meitetsu formed out of multiple mergers, it owned many deficit lines previously owned by other companies. The railway lines were also seeing competition from cars, due to the fact that Aichi prefecture has a notable automobile industry in cities such as Toyota. Meitetsu has abolished over 15 lines over the past 70 years, while also closing sections with low ridership.[11] Additionally, with the collapse of Bubble economy in the 1990s, and the privatization of JNR, formation of Central Japan Railway Company, the company also cut the number of companies in its corporate group from 250 to 139.[12]

References

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  1. ^ 鷲田, 鉄也 (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. 21, ISBN 978-4-02-340138-9
  2. ^ "Organizational Chart" (PDF). Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  3. ^ "Overview of the Meitetsu Group for Fiscal 2018" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  4. ^ "名古屋鉄道株式会社 | 日本民営鉄道協会". www.mintetsu.or.jp. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  5. ^ 鷲田, 鉄也 (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. 20, ISBN 978-4-02-340138-9
  6. ^ 鷲田, 鉄也 (September 2010), "週刊歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線大手私鉄: 名古屋鉄道", 週刊朝日百科 (in Japanese), no. 9, Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications, Inc., p. 10, ISBN 978-4-02-340139-6
  7. ^ 佐藤, 信之 (June 19, 2004), "高度経済成長期の鉄道整備―昭和30～40年代", 地下鉄の歴史首都圏・中部・近畿圏 (in Japanese), グランプリ出版, p. 129, ISBN 4-87687-260-0
  8. ^ "なごや色さんぽ#２【名鉄電車の「スカーレットレッド」】 | ICD国際カラーデザイン協会". icd-color.com. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  9. ^ "赤い電車｢名鉄｣､今振り返る昭和･平成の記憶". 東洋経済オンライン (in Japanese). May 1, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "名鉄貨物輸送". tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "OpenId transaction in progress". plus.chunichi.co.jp. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  12. ^ "JR東海の攻勢をかわした｢名鉄｣の復活劇". 東洋経済オンライン (in Japanese). October 20, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
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