The is a railway line in eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Toyohashi Railroad ("Toyotetsu"). The line is entirely within the cities of Toyohashi and Tahara.
History
Planning and construction Plans to construct a railway going across the Atsumi Peninsula have been planned since the 15th Division was stationed in Toyohashi. 12 people with the financial help of Keijiro Amemiya planned building a light railway in 1909, but the railway wasn't constructed, and the permit expired. The Amami Light Railway was established in 1918 by locals, but was split on whether the railway should be operated by the government or not, and the privately owned was established in 1919 as a result. The company began operations on January 22, 1924 between and , electrified at 600 V DC. The line was extended to in March and to by June 10 of the same year. In the opposite direction, the line was extended to by May 1925. On April 10, 1926, the now-defunct section of track from Mikawa Tahara to Kurokawahara was completed. Construction of a proposed extension to Mikawa Fukue commenced in 1939, but was later abandoned due to World War II.
On September 1, 1940, the Atsumi Electric Railway was merged into Nagoya Railway (Meitetsu). The section between Mikawa Tahara and Kurokawahara and many stations were suspended on June 5, 1944, due to steel shortage.山盛洋介『私鉄沿線』春夏秋冬叢書 2004年8月 p.180 Three P-51 Mustang aircraft attacked a train heading to Toyohashi on August 14, 1945, killing 15 people and injuring an additional 16.
Under Toyohashi Railroad operation On October 1, 1954, the Toyohashi Railroad was spun out from the Nagoya Railway as an independently operating subsidiary. The suspended section from Mikawa Tahara to Kurokawahara was permanently closed November of that year. The timetable was revised on October 1, 1965 to introduce a express services that runs 18 times a day. This express service was abolished on September 1, 1985. All freight operations were discontinued from February 1, 1984. On July 2, 1997, the line's infrastructure was upgraded to allow railway electrification at 1500 V DC. 28 trains were transferred from Meitetsu to operate in the line. The line also began supporting the Meitetsu-style automatic train stop system.
Infrastructure
Rolling stock , the line is operated using a fleet of ten three-car 1800 series electric multiple unit (EMU) trains. These trains were modified from former Tokyu 7200 series EMUs.
Since 2013, the trains are each painted a different color and carry the names of flowers, as follows.
Set No. Flower name Colour 1801 Red 1802 Brown 1803 Red 1804 Blue 1805 Purple 1806 Light green 1807 Yellow 1808 Green 1809 Pink 1810 Orange
Stations There are a total of 16 stations on the line, with a signal station between Shin-Toyohashi and Yagyu-bashi. No.ImageStation nameJapaneseDistance fromShin-Toyohashi(km)TransfersLocation1新豊橋0.0 JR Central (Toyohashi Station) Tokaido Shinkansen, Tokaido Main Line, Iida Line Meitetsu (Toyohashi Station) Nagoya Main Line Toyohashi Railroad (Ekimae Station) Azumada Main LineToyohashi2柳生橋1.03小池1.74愛知大学前2.55南栄3.26高師4.37芦原5.38植田6.39 向ヶ丘7.110大清水8.511老津10.712杉山12.713やぐま台14.0Tahara14豊島15.615神戸17.116三河田原18.0
Network and operation The line runs through the Atsumi Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The line is generally used by commuters from the peninsula to Toyohashi. Several residential districts have been developed near the stations. The northern terminal station for the Atsumi Line is located at Shin-Toyohashi Station. Most trains run to the southern terminus at Mikawa Tahara Station at approximately 15 minute intervals, with the exception of the last train departing Shin-Toyohashi Station. There are no express trains on the line.
Ridership Reference: No.StationPassengers (2023)1Shin-Toyohashi14,5282Yagyu-bashi1,0813Koike7444Aichidaigakumae4,5425Minami-sakae3,2676Takashi2,2367Ashihara6008Ueta6449Mukougaoka56810Ōshimizu2,56611Oitsu48412Sugiyama40913Yagumadai36414Toshima35015Kanbe37916Mikawa Tahara2,306
See also List of railway lines in Japan
References
Bibliography