Taketoyo Line

When the route of the Tokyo-Kobe trunk railway through central Japan was still undecided between the coastal Tokaido and the inland Nakasendo, the Imperial Japanese Army opposed the Tokaido option as vulnerable to naval bombardment, and the government chose the inland Nakasendo route. Rails, steel and other construction materials for that trunk line were to be imported from abroad and landed at the port of Taketoyo, and the Taketoyo Line was planned to carry them; it was originally intended to be dismantled once the main line was complete. Before opening, a local worker proposed that the otherwise-empty return trains to Taketoyo also carry passengers; the idea was quickly accepted, with trains running twice a day.

The entire line from Atsuta to Taketoyo opened on 1 March 1886 after a seven-month construction, initially under the name Handa Line; it was renamed the Taketoyo Line on 1 May 1886 and began carrying passengers. It was the first railway built in Aichi Prefecture. The planned trunk route was then changed to follow the Tokaido on 19 July of the same year because construction along the Nakasendo was expected to be difficult. The section north of Obu was later absorbed into the Tokaido Line, and when the Tokaido Line's Hamamatsu-Obu section opened on 1 September 1888, the Obu-Taketoyo portion became a branch line. In 1892 Taketoyo Station was relocated closer to Obu, and the former station and section later reopened as the freight-only Taketoyo-Minato (Taketoyo Port) station. Under the 1895 line-naming ordinance the Obu-Taketoyo branch became part of the Tokaido Line, and under the national railway line-naming ordinance of 12 October 1909 it was formally designated the Taketoyo Line.

The line was state-run from its construction until 1949, when operation of government-owned lines passed to Japanese National Railways (JNR). Ridership fell after the parallel Meitetsu Kowa Line opened in 1932, as the Meitetsu service ran more frequently and reached Nagoya more quickly. Steam locomotives gave way to railcars ("gasoline cars") in 1933, but during the Second World War, in 1944, railcar services were again replaced by locomotives owing to a shortage of resources, and the stations of Fujie and Owari-Ikuji were merged into the new Higashiura Station between them. On 25 September 1953 a typhoon washed out the section between Taketoyo and Higashi-Narawa, killing a JNR worker. The freight branch to Taketoyo-Minato was abolished in 1965, and steam locomotive operation ended in 1970. With the privatisation of JNR on 1 April 1987 the line passed to JR Central, while Japan Freight Railway (JR Freight) became a Type-II operator over the Obu-Higashi-Narawa section. One-person operation began in 1992.

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Because the line remained entirely single-tracked and unelectrified despite being the closest JR-owned line to Chubu Centrair International Airport, local residents and municipalities pressed for its modernisation. JR Central began electrification work in March 2010, and on 1 March 2015 the line was fully electrified. JR Central introduced station numbering and line colouring in March 2018, assigning the line the colour brown and the line code CE. A centralised traffic control system had been installed in 2001 and an automatic train stop (ATS) system in 2011. The 315 series EMUs entered service on the line on 15 March 2024; construction to elevate the line around Handa Station began in 2020.

Today all trains stop at every station on the line and run every 15–30 minutes on weekdays, with through semi-rapid services to Nagoya during rush hours. Although no station on the line itself handles freight, five freight trains operated by the Kinuura Rinkai Railway pass through to connect with that company's Hekinan and Handa lines. The line features the oldest actively used station building in Japan, at Kamezaki Station, and formerly had the oldest railway overpass in the country, near Handa Station, until that structure was demolished and relocated in 2021 to make way for the elevation works. In fiscal year 2008 the line's transport density was about 9,156 passengers, the second-highest among Japan's local lines (chiho kotsusen) after the Kabe Line of JR West at about 18,635.

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

• Handa半田
• Higashi-narawa東成岩
• Higashiura東浦
• Ishihama石浜
• Kamezaki亀崎
• Obu大府
• Ogawa (Aichi)緒川
• Okkawa乙川
• Owari-morioka尾張森岡
• Taketoyo武豊

• 18861 March: the line opens from Atsuta to Taketoyo as the Handa Line, built to carry materials for the Tokyo-Kobe trunk railway; it is the first railway in Aichi Prefecture. On 1 May it is renamed the Taketoyo Line, and on 19 July the trunk route is changed to follow the Tokaido.
• 18881 September: the Tokaido Line section Hamamatsu-Obu opens, and the Obu-Taketoyo section becomes a branch line.
• 1892Taketoyo Station is relocated closer to Obu; the former station and section later reopen as the freight-only Taketoyo-Minato (Taketoyo Port) station.
• 190912 October: the Obu-Taketoyo section is formally designated the Taketoyo Line under the national railway line-naming ordinance.
• 1932The parallel Meitetsu Kowa Line opens; ridership on the line falls as the Meitetsu service runs more frequently and reaches Nagoya faster.
• 1933Steam locomotives are replaced by railcars (gasoline cars); railcar operation begins on 1 July.
• 1944Owing to wartime resource shortages, railcar services are replaced again by locomotives; Fujie and Owari-Ikuji stations are merged into the new Higashiura Station.
• 195325 September: a typhoon washes out the section between Taketoyo and Higashi-Narawa, killing a JNR worker.
• 196520 August: the freight branch from Taketoyo to Taketoyo-Minato (1.0 km) is abolished.
• 197030 June: steam-locomotive operation on the line ends.
• 19871 April: with the privatisation of JNR, the line transfers to JR Central; JR Freight becomes a Type-II operator over the Obu-Higashi-Narawa section.
• 199212 October: one-person (one-man) operation begins on the line.
• 2001A centralised traffic control (CTC) system is installed.
• 2010March: JR Central begins work to electrify the line.
• 2011An automatic train stop (ATS) system is installed on the line.
• 20151 March: the line is fully electrified.
• 2018March: station numbering and line colouring are introduced; the line is assigned the colour brown and the line code CE.
• 2020Construction to elevate the line around Handa Station begins.
• 2021The country's oldest railway overpass, near Handa Station, is demolished and relocated to make way for the elevation works.
• 202415 March: 315 series EMUs enter service on the line.