The Toyohashi Railroad (豊橋鉄道) is a private railroad company in Japan, and a subsidiary of the Meitetsu Group. The company or its lines are commonly known as Toyotetsu (豊鉄). The company operates the Atsumi Line train service on Atsumi Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture and a tram system in Toyohashi City, and has subsidiary operations involved in taxi and bus services.
Company history
The Toyohashi Railway was incorporated on March 17, 1924, as the Toyohashi Electric Railway Company (豊橋電気軌道株式会社), with its tram operations beginning on July 14, 1925. The company expanded into bus services from 1935. From September 1939, the company came under the umbrella of the Nagoya Railway (the forerunner to modern Meitetsu). The company established a subsidiary for taxicab operations on September 1, 1949. The company name was officially changed to its current name on July 22, 1954. On October 1, 1954, Meitetsu turned over operations and assets from its Atsumi Line to the new Toyohashi Railway Corporation.
On October 1, 1956, the Toyohashi Railway acquired the local Taguchi Railway Company, which continued to operate as the Toyohashi Railway Taguchi Line until September 1, 1968. In October, 1988 the company opened a hotel at Toyohashi Station.
From February 2011, the Manaca Smart Card system was implemented on the Toyohashi Railway network.