| Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. | |
| Native Name: | 名古屋鉄道株式会社 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Type: | Public KK |
| Location City: | Nagoya |
| Location Country: | Japan |
| Area Served: | Aichi Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture |
| Key People: | [1] (President) |
| Industry: | Private railway |
,[2] often abbreviated to 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 which offer views through their wide front windows. While the Panorama Super train is used extensively for the railroad's limited express service, the older and more energy-consuming Panorama Car train has been retired, the last run being on 27 December 2008.
In the Tōkai region around Nagoya, it is a central firm of the Meitetsu Group, which is involved in transport, retail trade, service industry, and real estate, among other industries.
Meiji Mura is the corporate museum of Meitetsu.
As of March 2023, Meitetsu operated 444.2km (276miles) of track, 275 stations, and 1,076 train cars, being one of the largest private railway company in Japan.[3]
Meitetsu was founded on 25 June 1894 as the Aichi Horsecar Company.
Over time, Meitetsu has acquired many small railway and interurban companies in the Nagoya area, many of whom were constructed and operated before and during World War II. For example, Meitetsu acquired its Kōwa Line on the Chita Peninsula from its merger with Chita Railroad on February 1, 1943, and it acquired its Mikawa Line from its merger with Mikawa Railroad.
Meitetsu is famous for its red trains, including its famous 7000 series "Panorama Car" which was retired in 2009 after a career lasting nearly half a century.[4] The most recent cars, however, are not solid red but rather brushed steel as in the case of the 4000 series and 5000 series, or white as in the case of the 1700 series and 2000 series.[5]
While the company used to engage in the freight business and still possesses some freight locomotives, it no longer carries freight on a regular basis.[6]
| Direction | Name | Japanese | Terminals | Length (km) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main | Nagoya Main Line | 名古屋本線 | Toyohashi - Meitetsu Gifu | 99.8 | |
| Western Aichi and Gifu Area | Tsushima Line | 津島線 | Sukaguchi - Tsushima | 11.8 | |
| Bisai Line | 尾西線 | Yatomi - Tamanoi | 30.9 | ||
| Takehana Line | 竹鼻線 | Kasamatsu - Egira | 10.3 | ||
| Hashima Line | 羽島線 | 1.3 | |||
| Northern Aichi and Chūnō | Inuyama Line[7] | 犬山線 | Biwajima Junction - Shin Unuma | 26.8 | |
| Kakamigahara Line | 各務原線 | Meitetsu Gifu - Shin Unuma | 17.6 | ||
| Hiromi Line | 広見線 | Inuyama - Mitake | 22.3 | ||
| Komaki Line[8] | 小牧線 | Kami Iida - Inuyama | 20.4 | ||
| Chita Peninsula | Tokoname Line | 常滑線 | Jingū-mae - Tokoname | 29.3 | |
| Airport Line | 空港線 | Tokoname - Central Japan Int'l Airport | 4.2 | ||
| Chikkō Line | 築港線 | Ōe - Higashi Nagoyakō | 1.5 | ||
| Kōwa Line | 河和線 | Ōtagawa - Kōwa | 28.8 | ||
| Chita New Line | 知多新線 | Fuki - Utsumi | 13.9 | ||
| Mikawa (Eastern Aichi) | Toyokawa Line | 豊川線 | Kō - Toyokawa-inari | 7.2 | |
| Nishio Line | 西尾線 | Shin Anjō - Kira Yoshida | 24.7 | ||
| Gamagōri Line | 蒲郡線 | Kira Yoshida - Gamagōri | 17.6 | ||
| Mikawa Line | 三河線 | Sanage - Hekinan | 39.8 | ||
| Toyota Line | 豊田線 | Umetsubo - Akaike | 15.2 | ||
| Isolated from all Meitetsu lines | Seto Line | 瀬戸線 | Sakaemachi - Owari Seto | 20.6 |
Nippon Sharyo has produced nearly every car that Meitetsu operates or has operated, a notable exception being its Class EL120, an electric locomotive, which was produced by Toshiba, but very few units were produced for Meitetsu. The Class EL120 is one of the few locomotives that Meitetsu possesses.
The following are the train types that Meitetsu operates today, as well as selected types that Meitetsu has retired.
As Meitetsu formed out of multiple mergers, it owned many deficit lines previously owned by other companies. The railway lines were also seeing competition from cars, due to the fact that Aichi prefecture has a notable automobile industry in cities such as Toyota. Meitetsu has abolished over 15 lines over the past 70 years, while also closing sections with low ridership.[9] Additionally, with the collapse of Bubble economy in the 1990s, and the privatization of JNR, formation of Central Japan Railway Company, the company also cut the number of companies in its corporate group from 250 to 139.[10]