The is a railway line in eastern

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

, Japan, operated by the

private railway A private railway is a railroad run by a private business entity (usually a corporation but not need be), as opposed to a railroad run by a public sector. Japan In Japan, , commonly simply ''private railway'', refers to a public transit railway o ...

operator

Toyohashi Railroad The is a private railroad company in Japan, and a subsidiary of the Meitetsu Group. The company or its lines are commonly known as . The company operates the Atsumi Line train service on Atsumi Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture and a tram sy ...

("Toyotetsu"). The line runs from the centre of

Toyohashi is a Cities of Japan, city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefec ...

, traversing the centre of the

Atsumi Peninsula The is a peninsula in southern Aichi Prefecture, central Honshū, Japan. Geography It has an approximate length of east-west, separating Mikawa Bay (to the north) from the Pacific Ocean to the south, with Ise Bay lying to its west. It fa ...

, a largely rural district noted also for its hot spring resorts and marine sports as part of

Mikawa Wan Quasi-National Park is a Quasi-National Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. The park includes the coastal areas of the Atsumi Peninsula, the Pacific shoreline of the Chita Peninsula as well as isla ...

. The line is entirely within the cities of Toyohashi and

Tahara Tahara may refer to: Religion * Tumah and taharah, the state of being ritually impure and pure in Judaism ** Tohorot, the sixth and last order of the Mishnah ** Tahara, a stage of bereavement in Judaism * Taharah, the aspect of ritual purity in Is ...

Operation

The northern

terminal station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

for the Atsumi Line is located at

Shin-Toyohashi Station is a railway station in the city of Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Public–private partnership Toyohashi Railroad. The station is physically adjacent to Toyohashi Station. Lines Shin-Toyohashi Station is a terminal station ...

. Most trains run to the southern terminus at

Mikawa Tahara Station is a railway station in the city of Tahara, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Public–private partnership Toyohashi Railroad. Lines Mikawa Tahara Station is a terminal station of the Atsumi Line, and is located 18.0 kilometers from ...

at approximately 15 minute intervals, with the exception of the last train departing Shin-Toyohashi Station. There are no express trains on the line.

History

Plans to construct a railway going across the

have been planned since the 15th Division was stationed in

. 12 people with the financial help of Keijiro Amemiya planned building a

light railway A light railway is a Rail transport, railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more Grade (slope), steep gradients and Minimum railway curve radius, tight curves to ...

in 1909, but the railway wasn't constructed, and the permit expired. The Amami Light Railway was established in 1918 by locals, but was split on whether the railway should be operated by the government or not, and the privately owned was established in 1919 as a result. The company began operations on January 22, 1924 between and , electrified at 600 V DC. The line was extended to in March and to by June 10 of the same year. In the opposite direction, the line was extended to by May 1925. On April 10, 1926, the now-defunct section of track from Mikawa Tahara to Kurokawahara was completed. Construction of a proposed extension to Mikawa Fukue commenced in 1939, but was later abandoned due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On September 1, 1940, the Atsumi Electric Railway was merged into

Nagoya Railway , publicly trading as , is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan. Some of the more famous trains operated by Meitetsu include the ''Panorama Car'' and the '' Panorama Car Super'', both of whi ...

. The section between Mikawa Tahara and Kurokawahara and many stations were suspended on June 5, 1944, as an austerity measure. On October 1, 1954, the Toyohashi Railway was spun out from the Nagoya Railway as an independently operating subsidiary. The suspended section from 1944 was permanently closed November of that year. Three

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

aircraft attacked a train heading to Toyotashi on August 14, 1945, killing 15 people and injuring an additional 16. Express train operations began in October 1, 1965. All freight operations were discontinued from February 1, 1984 and express train operations were discontinued from September 1, 1985. On July 2, 1997 the electrification system was upgraded to 1,500 V DC.

Rolling stock

, the line is operated using a fleet of ten three-car 1800 series

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

(EMU) trains. These trains were modified from former

Tokyu 7200 series The , a contraction of and formerly until 2 September 2019, is a Japanese ''keiretsu'' or conglomerate headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. While a multinational corporation, its main operation is , a wholly-owned subsidiary operating railways i ...

EMUs. All trains are configured for

one-man operation One-person operation (OPO), also known as driver-only operation (DOO), one-man operation (OMO), single person train operation (SPTO), or one-person train operation (OPTO), similarly to driver-controlled operation, is operation of a train, bus, ...

. Since 2013, the trains are each painted a different colour and carry the names of flowers, as follows.

Stations

All stations are located in

Ridership

Reference:

References

Bibliography

* {{Nagoya transit Railway lines in Japan Rail transport in Aichi Prefecture 1067 mm gauge railways in Japan Toyohashi Railroad Transport in Tahara, Aichi Transport in Toyohashi