Bisai Line

The line was not built by Meitetsu but by an independent company, the Bisai Railway (尾西鉄道). The company was granted its railway licence on 21 October 1896, and on 3 April 1898 it opened its first section, between Yatomi and Tsushima. Meitetsu's own predecessor, the Nagoya Electric Railway, had been founded two years before the Bisai Railway, but it opened its first line only in May 1898, a month after the Bisai Railway's first section.

From that first segment the Bisai Railway pushed steadily northward. The Tsushima–Morikami section opened on 17 February 1899, followed by Morikami–Hagiwara on 18 July 1899, and on 24 January 1900 the line was extended from Hagiwara to Ichinomiya, linking Tsushima with Ichinomiya.

The railway expanded again in the 1910s. On 4 August 1914 the line was extended north from Ichinomiya through Tamanoi to Kisogawa-bashi, near the Kiso River, and in 1918 a freight-only section was opened onward from Kisogawa-bashi to Kiso-Minato.

Electrification came in the early 1920s. The Kiso-Minato to Morikami portion was electrified at 600 V DC in 1922, and the wires were extended to Yatomi the following year, with the Yatomi–Tsushima section energised on 28 November 1923 to complete electrification of the line. On 1 August 1925 the company transferred its operations to Nagoya Railroad, and the route became the Bisai Line. Through later corporate reorganisations the operator's name passed from Nagoya Railroad to Meigi Railway and back to Nagoya Railroad, the form it keeps today.

Under Meitetsu the line's electrical system was modernised: in 1948 the voltage on the Yatomi–Tsushima section was raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC, and this higher voltage was extended to the rest of the line in 1952. The Tamanoi–Kiso-Minato section was closed on 25 November 1959.

Between 1967 and 1974 the Saya–Morikami section was double-tracked in stages, starting with the Saya–Tsushima stretch in December 1967.

Today local trains serve the whole line, while limited-express, express and semi-express trains run only between Saya and Tsushima.

22 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

• Fuchidaka渕高
• Futago二子
• Gonosan五ノ三
• Hagiwara (Aichi)萩原
• Hibino (Meitetsu)日比野
• Kaimei開明
• Kami-Marubuchi上丸渕
• Kannonji観音寺
• Kariyasuka苅安賀
• Machikata町方
• Marubuchi丸渕
• Meitetsu-Ichinomiya名鉄一宮
• Morikami森上
• Nishi-Ichinomiya西一宮
• Okucho奥町
• Rokuwa六輪
• Saya佐屋
• Tamano玉野
• Tamanoi玉ノ井
• Tsushima津島
• Yamazaki (Aichi)山崎
• Yatomi弥富

• 189621 October: the Bisai Railway is granted its railway licence.
• 18983 April: the Bisai Railway opens its first section, Yatomi–Tsushima — the oldest line in the present-day Meitetsu network.
• 189917 February: Tsushima–Morikami opens; 18 July: Morikami–Hagiwara opens.
• 190024 January: the line is extended from Hagiwara to Ichinomiya.
• 19144 August: the line is extended north of Ichinomiya towards Tamanoi and Kisogawa-bashi (the latter since closed).
• 1918A freight-only line is opened from Kisogawa-bashi to Kiso-Minato.
• 192210 July: the Ichinomiya–Kiso-Minato section is electrified at 600 V DC; the Morikami–Ichinomiya section follows on 28 December.
• 1923Electrification is extended to Yatomi; the Yatomi–Tsushima section is energised on 28 November, completing electrification of the line.
• 19251 August: the Bisai Railway transfers its operations to Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu); the route becomes the Bisai Line.
• 1948The voltage on the Yatomi–Tsushima section is raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC.
• 1952The 1,500 V DC voltage is extended to the rest of the line.
• 195925 November: the Tamanoi–Kiso-Minato section is closed.
• 196717 December: the Saya–Tsushima stretch is double-tracked, part of the 1967–1974 doubling of the Saya–Morikami section.