was a 5.3 km long tram line that was operated by Meitetsu from 1914 to 1954, when it was replaced with a bus line due to there being too many riders to handle with a single-tracked tram line. The line connected the current Meitetsu Ichinomiya Station in Ichinomiya with Okoshi Station in Okoshi, Nakashima District (currently a part of Ichinomiya).
History Construction and operation of the line was approved on August 5, 1921. On March 25, 1922, a company named Soto Electric Railways was established to construct the line. This company was absorbed by Meitetsu in 1923. The line opened on February 1, 1924, as Soto Line. The line had through service to Shin-Ichinomiya Station (current-day Ichinomiya Station) from 1930 to 1952, when the through service was abolished due to changes in electrification voltage on the Meitetsu Bisai Line, which the services on the Okoshi line used to reach Shin-Ichinomiya. As the line was entirely single-tracked, it lacked capacity to meet growing demands. However, duplication of tracks was not possible due to problems with the road being too narrow. When Meitetsu suspended all tram services and tested replacing the line with bus services in June 1953, the bus route was able to adapt to growing ridership with relatively lower costs. Due to this success of the bus routes, the line was abolished on June 1, 1954, and fully replaced with Meitetsu Bus. Cases where railway lines were replaced with buses due to high ridership are rare in Japan.
Stations The line had a total of 10 stations (not counting Shin-Ichinomiya), all in Aichi Prefecture.
Reference: StationJapaneseDistance from Hachiman-cho (km)NotesLocationShin-Ichinomiya新一宮 -0.3Through service abolished on December 24, 1952 Connection with Meitetsu Bisai Line and Tokaido Main Line via Ichinomiya StationIchinomiyaHachimancho八幡町0.0Station formerly named Ichinomiya from 1924 to 1949.Ichinomiya-byouin-mae一宮病院前1.0Opened in 1929. Station formerly named Toyo-Bouseki-mae since its opening to 1949.Mabiki馬引1.7Yamato, Nakashima District (Merged into Ichinomiya)Kagoya籠屋2.4 Okoshi, Nakashima District (Merged into Ichinomiya)Owari-Sanjo尾張三条2.9Nishi-Sanjo西三条3.4Shin-Sanjo新三条3.6Owari-Nakajima尾張中島4.3Nishi-Nakajima西中島4.8Opened in 1930 as Kogyogakko-mae.Renamed to Nishi-Nakajima in 1949.Okoshi起5.3
See also List of closed railway lines in Japan
References
Bibliography