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 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.
History
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]
Modernization and electrification
Due to the line being entirely single-tracked and unelectrified before the electrification, despite the line being the closest JR-owned line to the Chubu Centrair International Airport, local residents and municipalities requested the modernization of Taketoyo line.[10][11] In response to this, 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.
Network and operations
Services
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 two of the seven 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]
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.[10]
Stations
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. Works to elevate Handa Station and its surroundings to remove nine level crossings are currently ongoing, with work expected to be completed in 2026.[16][5]
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 two-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 four-car formations on through services to Nagoya.[23]
Accessibility
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]
Others
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]
References
^ ab"武豊線の歴史" [History of Taketoyo Line] (PDF). Aichi Now. Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
^Kokoris, James A (1948). Early History and Development of the Railways of Japan. University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies. p. 31.
^ ab"武豊線の歴史 開通までの道のり｜武豊町公式ホームページ" [Road to Taketoyo Line's opening]. Taketoyo Town Official Website (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
^ abc"もうすぐ140歳の通勤路線!? どうなる「愛知県最初の鉄道」の歴史遺産 電化経てついに変化のとき" [A railway line that is almost 140 years old - the first railway in Aichi prefecture about to change with electrification]. Trafficnews (in Japanese). 12 December 2023. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
^ abcTakahashi, Masato. 図説知多半島の歴史 [History of Chita peninsula]. Kyodo Publishing.
^"武豊線の豆知識｜武豊町公式ホームページ" [Facts about Taketoyo]. Taketoyo Town Official Website (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
^ ab"武豊線の近代化促進に関する要望" [Request to modernize Taketoyo line] (PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
^"武豊線の電化|東浦町" [Electrification of Taketoyo line | Higashiura]. Town of Higashiura (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
^JR東海、ダイヤ改正で国鉄時代の気動車など置換え - 武豊線電化で列車増発 [JR Central to replace JNR-era diesel trains and increase services on Taketoyo Line following electrification]. Mynavi News (in Japanese). Japan: Mynavi Corporation. 21 December 2014. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
^"JR東海、武豊線6駅に遠隔案内システムを導入…10月1日から使用開始" [JR Central to install centralized station management systems to 6 stations in Taketoyo line from October]. レスポンス（Response.jp） (in Japanese). 23 August 2013. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
^ ab"半田市／JR武豊線半田駅付近連続立体交差事業の工事に着手します" [Handa City/Works to remove ground crossings in Taketoyo line near Handa station will start]. Handa City. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
^"JR線でセントレアに行けるのか？" [Is it possible for the JR line to extend into Centrair?] (PDF). Chubu Economics Inter-Seminar. Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
^"ＪＲ武豊線(大府〜武豊)の時刻表 - 駅探" [Timetable for JR Taketoyo line] (in Japanese). Ekitan. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
^ ab"知多半島を走る愛知最古の路線「武豊線」で10の謎を解く" [Solving 10 mysteries in the oldest railway line in Aichi Prefecture ruining through Chita peninsula, Taketoyo line.]. GetNavi web ゲットナビ (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
^"JR東海の車両・列車(9) 313系、電化開業直後の武豊線を走る4両編成" [313 series, a four-car train running on the Taketoyo Line shortly after the electrification]. マイナビニュース (in Japanese). MyNavi News. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
^"315系が東海道本線・武豊線で営業運転を開始" [315 series begins commercial operation on the Tōkaidō Main Line and Taketoyo Line]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 16 March 2024. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.,
^"JR東海、315系4両編成が武豊線の区間快速に - 東海道本線にも315系" [JR Central, 4-car 315 series formations to be used for semi-rapid services in Taketoyo line - 315 series in the Tokaido Main Line]. MyNavi News (in Japanese). 23 March 2024. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
^"主な駅のバリアフリー情報（一覧）｜ＪＲ東海" [Barrier-free information for major stations (list)]. JR Central. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
^"自動列車停止装置（ATSーPT型）導入の進捗について" [Progress of the introduction of Automatic Train Stop Devices (ATS-PT type)] (PDF). JR Central. Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
