Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line


The Toyohashi Railroad Atsumi Line is a railway line in eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Toyohashi Railroad. The line is entirely within the cities of Toyohashi and Tahara.

History

Planning and construction

Plans to construct a railway going across the Atsumi Peninsula have been planned since the 15th Division was stationed in Toyohashi. 12 people with the financial help of Keijiro Amemiya planned building a light railway 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 Atsumi Electric Railway 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.
On September 1, 1940, the Atsumi Electric Railway was merged into Nagoya Railway. The section between Mikawa Tahara and Kurokawahara and many stations were suspended on June 5, 1944, due to steel shortage. Three P-51 Mustang aircraft attacked a train heading to Toyohashi on August 14, 1945, killing 15 people and injuring an additional 16.

Under Toyohashi Railroad operation

On October 1, 1954, the Toyohashi Railroad was spun out from the Nagoya Railway as an independently operating subsidiary. The suspended section from Mikawa Tahara to Kurokawahara was permanently closed November of that year. The timetable was revised on October 1, 1965 to introduce a express services that runs 18 times a day. This express service was abolished on September 1, 1985. All freight operations were discontinued from February 1, 1984. On July 2, 1997, the line's infrastructure was upgraded to allow railway electrification at 1500 V DC. 28 trains were transferred from Meitetsu to operate in the line. The line also began supporting the Meitetsu-style automatic train stop system.

Infrastructure

Rolling stock

, the line is operated using a fleet of ten three-car 1800 series electric multiple unit trains. These trains were modified from former Tokyu 7200 series EMUs.
Since 2013, the trains are each painted a different color and carry the names of flowers, as follows.
Set No.Flower nameColour
1801Rose Red
1802Hibiscus Brown
1803Rhododendron Red
1804Sunflower Blue
1805Sweet flag Purple
1806Magnolia Light green
1807Rape blossom Yellow
1808Camellia Green
1809Cherry blossom Pink
1810Chrysanthemum Orange

Stations

There are a total of 16 stations on the line, with a signal station between Shin-Toyohashi and Yagyu-bashi.
No.ImageStation nameJapaneseDistance from
Shin-Toyohashi
TransfersLocation
1新豊橋0.0 JR Central
Meitetsu
Toyohashi Railroad

Network and operation

The line runs through the Atsumi Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The line is generally used by commuters from the peninsula to Toyohashi. Several residential districts have been developed near the stations. The northern terminal station for the Atsumi Line is located at Shin-Toyohashi Station. Most trains run to the southern terminus at Mikawa Tahara Station at approximately 15 minute intervals, with the exception of the last train departing Shin-Toyohashi Station. There are no express trains on the line.

Ridership

Reference:
No.StationPassengers
1Shin-Toyohashi14,528
2Yagyu-bashi1,081
3Koike744
4Aichidaigakumae4,542
5Minami-sakae3,267
6Takashi2,236
7Ashihara600
8Ueta644
9Mukougaoka568
10Ōshimizu2,566
11Oitsu484
12Sugiyama409
13Yagumadai364
14Toshima350
15Kanbe379
16Mikawa Tahara2,306