Taketoyo Line
A 315 series EMU on the Taketoyo Line in March 2024
Overview
Native name	武豊線
Owner	JR Central
Locale	Aichi Prefecture
Termini	Ōbu Taketoyo
Stations	10
Website	Official 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[1]
Character	Urban
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)[1]
Electrification	1,500 VDC,overhead catenary[1]
Operating speed	85 km/h (53 mph)[1]
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

TheTaketoyo Line (武豊線,Taketoyo-sen) is a Japanese railway line which connectsŌbu Station inŌbu withTaketoyo Station inTaketoyo, both located inAichi Prefecture. It is owned and run by theCentral 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 two-car formation every 30 minutes on average. four-car formationthrough services toNagoya Station via theTōkaidō 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. The line saw a decline in passengers after the opening of theMeitetsu Kōwa Line, which ran more frequently. Due to demands from passing municipalities and local residents, the line has gone through upgrades, including electrification in 2015. JR Central introducedstation numbering and line coloring in March 2018, and Taketoyo line was assigned the color brown and line code CE.

The line features the oldest actively used station building in Japan, located atKamezaki Station. It also had the oldest overpass bridge in the country nearHanda Station before it was demolished and relocated in 2021. Several stations on the line have been upgraded to bebarrier-free. Services on the line use313 series and315 series, which are bothelectric multiple units.

The Japanese government was slowly extending what is now theTōkaidō Main Line towards central Japan from bothKōbe andShimbashi from 1872. However, the exact route of the Osaka-Tokyo railway line in central Japan was undecided at the time, with the two options being theTōkaidō and theNakasendō, which were developed during theEdo period. TheImperial Japanese Army opposed the Tōkaidō route as they were closer to the coastline, which put the operation of the line at risk if it wasbombarded by naval vessels. This influenced the government's decision, which chose the inland Nakasendō route.^[2] The Taketoyo Line was planned to bring construction materials for the Osaka-Tokyo railway line,^[3] and was planned to be deconstructed when the line was complete.^[4][5]

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 twice a day.^[4] The entire line from Atsuta to Taketoyo station opened on March 1, 1886 as the Handa line (later renamed to Taketoyo Line on May 1)^[6] after a 7-month-long construction.^[7] It was the first railway in the prefecture.^[5] The first train to run on the line was theLocomotive No. 1 in 1885 when it was used for the construction of the Taketoyo Line.^[8] However, the proposed route was later changed due to the difficulty of the construction on July 19,^[7] 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 andAtsuta Station.^[7][6][9] 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.^[10]

All locomotives in the line were replaced bygasoline cars in 1933.^[7] Upon the opening ofMeitetsu 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.^[9] 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 fromWorld 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.^[7] On September 25, 1953, a typhoon hit the line and washed out the section between Taketoyo and Higashi-Narawa stations, killing aJNR worker.^[9][11] Locomotive services were abolished again in 1970; one-man operated services in the line started in 1992. The sections around Ogawa Station were elevated in 1995.^[7]

Due to the line being entirelysingle-tracked and unelectrified despite being the closest JR-owned line to theChubu Centrair International Airport, local residents and municipalities requested the modernization of Taketoyo Line.^[12][13] In response to this, JR Central began work in March 2010 to electrify the line.^[14] On 1 March 2015, the line was fully electrified, andthrough services to and from Nagoya commenced.^[15]

Additionally, automatic ticket gates, ticket vending machines, and acentralized station management system [ja] were installed in all stations exceptOwari-Morioka andIshihama beginning in October 2013. Following this installment, JR ticket kiosks inOgawa,Higashiura,Kamezaki, andTaketoyo Stations were closed, and the stations became unstaffed.^[16] The line introducedstation numbering and line coloring in March 2018; the line was assigned the color brown and line code CE.^[17] Construction to elevate the line aroundHanda Station began in 2020 and is expected to finish in 2026.^[18]

Before the construction of Chubu Centrair International Airport, the Taketoyo Line was one of three lines proposed to be connected with the airport. The proposed route would branch off fromOkkawa Station and head west. This route was estimated to take around 51 minutes if a rapid service were created between Nagoya Station and the airport, far slower than the opposingMeitetsu Tokoname Line extension proposal which was also cheaper.^[19] No other development to the plan has since been reported, and the 2021 infrastructure development plan by the airport did not include this proposal.^[20]

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. Through services bysemi-rapid trains to Nagoya viaTōkaidō Main Line, stopping only at two of the seven additional stations, are available during rush hours, and local services to Gifu are available in the first and last trains.^[21] Most services areone-person operated.^[22]

Although no stations in the line handle freight operations,^[7] five freight trains operated byKinuura Rinkai Railway pass through the line to connect to theHekinan Line andHanda Line. Twohigh-speed freight trains run from Ōbu to Higashi-Narawa toHandafutō Station, and two freight trains head to Ōbu fromHekinanshi Station, with a freight train traveling from Ōbu to Hekinanshi.^[22]

Legend — Station Status

• ◼ Staffed
• ◻ Unstaffed

Legend — Stopping Patterns

• ● – All trains stop
• | – Trains pass

The line was operated by theMinistry of Railways since its construction until 1949, when operations of government-owned lines were transferred to theJapanese National Railways. After the privatization of JNR, the line was transferred toCentral Japan Railway Company.^[7]

The Taketoyo Line takes a route alongNational route 366 [ja] andNational route 247 [ja] in the suburbs and bedtowns of northeastChita 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.^[23] The entire line is single-tracked.^[12]

The line serves 10 stations (nine 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.^[18][5]

No.	Name		Distance (km)[24]	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 ofelectric multiple unit (EMU) trains manufactured byNippon Sharyo after the electrification works.313 series trains are used on the line in two-car formations operated by a single crew.^[25]315 series trains were introduced on the line on 15 March 2024,^[26] replacing211 series trains that were in use since the electrification. 315 series trains are usually operated during rush hours in four-car formations on through services to Nagoya.^[27]

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.^[28]

Acentralized traffic control system was installed in 2001.^[29] Anautomatic train stopping system was installed in the line in 2011.^[30] The line had the oldest overpass bridge in Japan nearHanda 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 atKamezaki Station.^[31][32]

• Takeuchi, Hiroshi (25 March 2003).武豊線物語 [Taketoyo Line stories] (in Japanese). Handa City.
• Shimano, Koji (16 October 2023).都市鉄道完全ガイド 中京編　2023－2024年版 (in Japanese). Futaba.ISBN 978-4-575-45952-4.

• Taketoyo Line
• Rail transport in Aichi Prefecture
• Lines of Central Japan Railway Company
• 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan

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