History
The eastern section, from the Shin Kani area out to Mitake, began as a 762 mm gauge light railway that the original Tōnō Railway opened on 21 August 1920 as an extension of its Shin-Tajimi–Hiromi line of 1918. In 1928 the Tōbi Railway, by then its owner, regauged the whole eastern line to 1,067 mm and electrified it, relocating part of the route in connection with the move of the national railway's Hiromi station and opening new intermediate stations. The western section, from Inuyama to Hiromi (the present Shin Kani), was completed in the late 1920s.
The railways came together during the Second World War. On 1 March 1943 Nagoya Railroad absorbed the Tōbi Railway, and the eastern Shin-Hiromi–Mitake section, together with a branch toward Yaotsu, was reorganised as the Tōbi Line. After the war the network around Inuyama was rationalised: on 1 March 1946 the original Inuyamaguchi–Tomioka-mae approach was abandoned and a new Inuyama–Tomioka-mae link opened, moving the line's starting point to Inuyama Station. On 16 May 1948 the Tōbi Line's Shin-Hiromi–Mitake portion was formally folded into the Hiromi Line, and the Fushimiguchi–Yaotsu branch became the separate Yaotsu Line.
The through line reached its modern extent in the early 1950s. On 1 April 1952 a short final extension from Mitakeguchi to Mitake opened, completing the route; the earlier terminus at Mitake was renamed Mitakeguchi to make way for the new station. Modernisation followed over the next two decades. The catenary voltage on the eastern Shin-Hiromi–Mitake section was raised to 1,500 V DC on 21 March 1965, and the busier western section between Inuyama and Shin-Hiromi was progressively double-tracked in stages between 1967 and a final segment completed on 6 March 1970. With the elevation of Kani to city status, Shin-Hiromi Station was renamed Shin Kani and Fushimiguchi became Akechi on 1 April 1982.
From the 2000s the line's role increasingly split at Shin Kani. The branch Yaotsu Line, which had diverged at Akechi, closed on 1 October 2001. A timetable revision on 27 March 2003 ended weekday-daytime and holiday through-running between the Inuyama Line and Mitake, dividing many services at Shin Kani, and on 29 June 2008 one-person operation began on the Shin Kani–Mitake section, after which all trains terminated at Shin Kani and through passengers had to change there and pass a transfer gate. Fare-card systems were rolled out only as far as Shin Kani — the Tranpass magnetic card from 8 August 2007 and the manaca IC card from 11 February 2011 — so the outer section never gained them. On 18 March 2023 the passing loop at Akechi was removed, limiting the Shin Kani–Mitake section to a single train at a time, and from 16 March 2024 one-person operation was extended to the Inuyama–Shin Kani section as well, leaving the line largely turning back within itself rather than running through to Nagoya.
Today the busier Inuyama–Shin Kani half carries frequent local trains, with a weekday-morning inbound connection through to Meitetsu Nagoya and Central Japan International Airport (Centrair) over the Inuyama Line, while the lightly used Shin Kani–Mitake section of about 7.4 kilometres shuttles a single two-car train back and forth. That outer section has long faced questions over its future: Meitetsu raised the possibility of closing it in 2007, and local governments along the line subsidised its deficits for years afterward. In 2026 the municipalities of Kani, Mitake and Yaotsu agreed to end their talks with Meitetsu on preserving the Shin Kani–Mitake section under a deemed vertical separation scheme, citing falling ridership and an annual local financial burden of around 340 million yen, after which Meitetsu signalled it would move toward abolishing rail operations there, with the timing left undecided.
Stations on this line
11 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.
Timeline
- 1918The original Tōnō Railway opens a line between Shin-Tajimi and Hiromi (later nationalised as the Taita Line).
- 192021 August: the Tōnō Railway opens the line's eastern section as a 762 mm gauge light railway.
- 1925The Imawatari Line opens from Inuyamaguchi to Imawatari (now Nihonrain-imawatari).
- 1926The line's eastern section comes under the Tōbi Railway.
- 19281 October: the Tōbi Railway regauges its line to 1,067 mm and electrifies it, relocating track in connection with the move of the national railway's Hiromi station and opening new intermediate stations.
- 1929The section from Imawatari to Hiromi (the present Shin Kani) opens, and the Imawatari Line is renamed the Hiromi Line.
- 19431 March: Nagoya Railroad absorbs the Tōbi Railway; the eastern Shin-Hiromi–Mitake section becomes the Tōbi Line.
- 19461 March: the Inuyamaguchi–Higashi-Inuyama–Tomioka-mae approach is abolished and Inuyama–Tomioka-mae opens; the line's starting point becomes Inuyama Station.
- 194816 May: the Tōbi Line's Shin-Hiromi–Mitake section is incorporated into the Hiromi Line, and the Fushimiguchi–Yaotsu branch becomes the Yaotsu Line.
- 19521 April: the Mitakeguchi–Mitake extension opens, completing the through line; the former Mitake terminus is renamed Mitakeguchi.
- 196521 March: the catenary voltage on the Shin-Hiromi–Mitake section (and the Yaotsu Line) is raised to 1,500 V DC.
- 19706 March: the final segment of double-tracking between Inuyama and Shin-Hiromi is completed (double-tracking proceeded in stages from 1967).
- 19821 April: with Kani's elevation to city status, Shin-Hiromi Station is renamed Shin Kani and Fushimiguchi is renamed Akechi.
- 200829 June: one-person operation begins on the Shin Kani–Mitake section; all trains terminate at Shin Kani and through passengers must change there.
- 202318 March: the passing loop at Akechi is removed, limiting the Shin Kani–Mitake section to a single train at a time.
- 202416 March: one-person operation is extended to the Inuyama–Shin Kani section; through-running to Meitetsu Nagoya largely ends and the line turns back within itself.