Meitetsu

Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. (名古屋鉄道株式会社),[3] publicly trading as Meitetsu (名鉄), is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan.

Meitetsu, headquartered in Nagoya, is a core company of the Meitetsu Group which is involved in transport, retail, hotels, leisure/tourism and real estate, among other industries.[4]

Meitetsu is famous for its red trains, with almost all trains being either fully red or feature red in combination with white, black or unpainted stainless steel. Apart from special liveries, the only current train type to not feature red is the 2000 series "μ-Sky" trains used on Airport Line Limited Express services which feature a blue and white livery. The 300 series used on the through service to the Nagoya Municipal Subway Kamiiida Line has unpainted stainless steel with a thick pink stripe (the line colour of the Kamiiida Line) below a thin red stripe.[5]

As of March 2025, Meitetsu, as one of the largest private railway companies in Japan, operated 20 railway lines, 444.2 km of track, 276 stations, and 1,080 train cars.[4]

History

Meitetsu was founded on June 25, 1894, as the Aichi Basha Tetsudo, meaning Aichi Horsecar Company.[6][7]

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.[8][9]

Meitetsu's red trains include its famous 7000 series "Panorama Car" (which was retired in 2009 after a career lasting nearly half a century[10]) and the Panorama Car Super, both of which offered panoramic views through their wide front windows. 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.[11]

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.[12]

Lines

Major stations

Rolling stock

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.

Rationalization

Meitetsu inherited many deficit lines as a result of multiple mergers. The railway lines were also seeing competition from cars due to Aichi prefecture's 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.[15] Additionally, with the collapse of the asset price bubble 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.[16]

External links

• Nagoya Railroad (English Official Site)
• Nagoya Railroad (Japanese Official Site)
• Museum Meiji Village