Taketoyo Line

Taketoyo Line
A 315 series EMU on the Taketoyo Line in March 2024
Overview
Native name	武豊線
Status	In operation
Owner	JR Central
Locale	Aichi Prefecture
Termini	Ōbu Taketoyo
Stations	10
Website	website
Service
Type	Regional rail
Rolling stock	315 series/313 series EMUs
History
Opened	March 1, 1886 (1886-03-01)
Technical
Line length	19.3 km (12.0 mi)
Number of tracks	Entire line single tracked
Character	Urban
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC, overhead catenary
Operating speed	85 km/h (53 mph)
Route Map (Numbers are distance from Ōbu in kilometers) Legend Tōkaidō Main Line 0.0 Ōbu (大府) Prefectural Route 57 (Ōbu overpass) Tōkaidō Main Line Prefectural Route 50 River Ishigase Prefectural Route 246 1.7 Owari-Morioka (尾張森岡) River Okada 3.1 Ogawa (緒川) River Myotokuji 4.6 Ishihama (石浜) 6.0 Owari-Ikuji (尾張生路) ~1944 6.8 Higashiura (東浦) 7.2 Fujie (藤江) ~1944 Kinuura Rinkai Railway Hekinan Line Prefectural Route 46 River Hieda 10.2 Kamezaki (亀崎) 12.8 Okkawa (乙川) River Juga National Route 247 14.6 Handa (半田) River Kobe Kinuura Rinkai Railway Handa Line 16.3 Higashi-Narawa (東成岩) National Route 247 19.3 Taketoyo (武豊) River Hori 20.3 Taketoyo-Minato (武豊港) ~1965

The Taketoyo Line (武豊線, Taketoyo-sen) is a Japanese railway line which connects Ōbu Station in Ōbu with Taketoyo Station in Taketoyo, both located in Aichi Prefecture. It is owned and run by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central). Opened in 1886, it was the first railway constructed in the prefecture.

Trains run on the line for approximately 18 hours a day (from roughly 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.) and operate with a 2-car formation every 30 minutes on average. 4-car formation through services to Nagoya Station via the Tōkaidō Main Line are operated every 15 minutes during peak hours.

The line initially opened as the Handa Line for the transportation of building materials for the Tokyo–Osaka railway route via Central Japan. The line was later renamed to Taketoyo Line on May 1, 1886 and began carrying passengers.

Due to demands from passing municipalities and local residents, the line has gone through upgrades, including electrification in 2015. The line features the oldest actively used station building in Japan, located at Kamezaki Station. It also had the oldest overpass bridge in the country near Handa Station before it was demolished and relocated in 2021.

The entire line from Atsuta to Taketoyo station opened on March 1, 1886 as the Handa line (later renamed to Taketoyo Line on May 1st)^[1] after a 7-month-long construction,^[2] to bring construction materials for the Osaka-Tokyo railway line that crosses through Central Japan,^[3] and was planned to be deconstructed when the line was complete.^[4][5] It was the first railway in the prefecture.^[5] However, the proposed route was later changed due to the difficulty of the construction on July 19th,^[2] and the line became a branch line when the Obu to Nagahama section of the Tokaido Main Line opened a year later, annexing the 19.5km section between Obu and Atsuta Station.^[2][1][6] Before the opening of the line, one of the local workers proposed that the line also carry passengers, as the train was empty, when heading back to Taketoyo. This proposal was quickly accepted, with trains running 2 times a day.^[4] The first train to run on the line was the Locomotive No. 1 in 1885 when it was used for the construction of the Taketoyo Line.^[7] In 1892, Taketoyo station was relocated 950 meters closer to Ōbu, and the former station and section reopened as the freight-only Taketoyo Minato station.^[8]

All locomotives in the line were replaced by gasoline cars in 1933.^[2] Upon the opening of Meitetsu Kōwa Line in 1932, the ridership on the line decreased as the trains on Kōwa line ran more frequently and were quicker to reach Nagoya.^[6] Platforms of Okkawa and Higashi-Narawa stations were extended in 1941. In 1944, all services using DMUs were replaced again by locomotives due to lack of resources from World War II, and stations Fujie and Owari-Ikuji merged into Higashiura station, which was located in between the two stations, replacing both of them. Owari-Morioka station was suspended from 1944 until 1957, after being deemed unnecessary.^[2] On September 25, 1953, a typhoon hit the line and washed out the section between Taketoyo station and Higashi-Narawa station, killing a JNR worker.^[6][9] Locomotive services were abolished again in 1970; one-manned operated services in the line started in 1992. The sections around Ogawa station was elevated in 1995.^[2]

Due to the line being single-tracked and being one of the only unelectrified railway lines in Aichi Prefecture prior to the electrification of the line, despite the fact that the line was the closest JR-owned line to Chubu Centrair International Airport, local residents and municipalities requested the modernization of Taketoyo line.^[10][11] In response to demands, JR Central began work in March 2010 to electrify the line.^[12] On 1 March 2015, the line was fully electrified, and through services to and from Nagoya commenced.^[13]

Additionally, automatic ticket gates, ticket vending machines, and a centralized station management system [ja] were installed in all stations except Owari-Morioka and Ishihama beginning in October 2013. Following this installment, JR ticket kiosks in Ogawa, Higashiura, Kamezaki, and Taketoyo Stations were closed, and the stations became unstaffed.^[14] The line introduced station numbering and line coloring in March 2018; the line was assigned the color brown and line code CE.^[15] Construction to elevate the line around Handa Station began in 2020 and is expected to finish in 2026.^[16]

Before the construction of Chubu Centrair International Airport, the Taketoyo Line was one of the three lines proposed to be connected with the airport. The proposed route would branch off from Okkawa Station and head west, connecting to the airport. This route was estimated to take around 53 minutes if a rapid service were created between Nagoya Station and the airport, far slower than the opposing Meitetsu Tokoname Line extension proposal which was both cheaper and faster.^[17] No other development to the plan has since been reported.

All train services on Taketoyo Line stop at every station, with trains running every 15–30 minutes on weekdays and 30–40 minutes on weekends, stopping at all stations in the line. Through services by semi-rapid trains to Nagoya via Tōkaidō Main Line, stopping only at 2 of the 7 additional stations, are available during rush hours, and local services to Gifu are available in the first and last trains.^[18] Most services are one-person operated.^[19]

Although no stations in the line handle freight operations,^[2] five freight trains operated by Kinuura Rinkai Railway pass through the line to connect to the Hekinan Line and Handa Line. Two high-speed freight trains run from Ōbu to Higashi-Narawa to Handafutō Station, and two freight trains head to Ōbu from Hekinanshi Station, with a freight train traveling from Ōbu to Hekinanshi.^[19]

Legend — Station Status

• ◼ Staffed stations
• ◻ Unstaffed stations

Legend — Stopping Patterns

• ● – All trains stop
• | – Trains pass and do not stop

The line was operated by the Ministry of Railways since its construction until 1949, when operations of government-owned lines were transferred to the Japanese National Railways. After the privatization of JNR, the line was transferred to Central Japan Railway Company.^[2]

The Taketoyo line takes a route along National route 366 [ja] and National route 247 [ja] in the suburbs and bedtowns of northeast Chita Peninsula to its terminus in Taketoyo. For the section between Handa and Taketoyo, Meitetsu Kowa Line runs west of the line. A freight-only branch used to continue ahead to Taketoyo-Minato, although the section was closed in 1965.^[20] The entire line is single-tracked.

The line serves 10 stations (9 excluding the terminus Ōbu) across the length of the line. Most of the stations are built at grade, except for Ogawa Station, which is elevated. Works to elevate Handa Station and its surroundings to remove eight level crossings are currently ongoing, with work expected to be completed in 2026.^[16][5]

No.	Name		Distance (km)	Connections	Location
CE00 CA60	Ōbu	大府	0.0	Tōkaidō Main Line (through service)	Ōbu	Aichi
CE01	Owari-Morioka	尾張森岡	1.7		Higashiura, Chita District
CE02	Ogawa	緒川	3.1
CE03	Ishihama	石浜	4.6
CE04	Higashiura	東浦	6.8	Kinuura Rinkai Railway Hekinan Line
CE05	Kamezaki	亀崎	10.2		Handa
CE06	Okkawa	乙川	12.8
CE07	Handa	半田	14.6
CE08	Higashi-Narawa	東成岩	16.3	Kinuura Rinkai Railway Handa Line
CE09	Taketoyo	武豊	19.3		Taketoyo, Chita District

Currently, the line uses two types of electric multiple unit (EMU) trains manufactured by Nippon Sharyo after the electrification works. 313 series trains are used on the line in 2-car formations operated by a single crew.^[21] 315 series trains were introduced on the line on 15 March 2024,^[22] replacing 211 series trains that were in use since the electrification. 315 series trains are usually operated during rush hours in 4-car formations on through services to Nagoya.^[23]

Several stations on the line have been upgraded to feature ramps, lifts, and elevators. The cost for these upgrades are funded by charging extra fares from riders. However, smaller stations, such as Owari-Morioka, Ishihama, Okkawa, and Higashi-Narawa has not been upgraded yet.^[24]

A centralized traffic control system was installed in 2001.^[25] An automatic train stopping system was installed in the line in 2011.^[26] The line had the oldest overpass bridge in Japan near Handa Station before it was demolished and relocated in 2021, to make way for the elevation works. The line also features the oldest actively used station building in Japan, located at Kamezaki Station.^[27][28]