Meitetsu

Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd.
Native name	名古屋鉄道株式会社
Company type	Public KK
Traded as	TYO: 9048; NAG: 9048
Industry	Private railway
Founded	June 13, 1921
Headquarters	Nagoya, Japan
Area served	Aichi Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture
Key people	Takashi Ando [jp] (Chairman); Hiroki Takasaki [jp] (President)
Website	www.meitetsu.co.jp/eng/

Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. (名古屋鉄道株式会社, Nagoya Tetsudō Kabushiki Gaisha),^[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 kilometres (276.0 mi) of track, 276 stations, and 1,080 train cars.^[4]

History

Meitetsu was founded on June 25, 1894, as the Aichi Horsecar Company.^[6]

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.^[7]^[8]

Meitetsu's red trains include its famous 7000 series "Panorama Car" (which was retired in 2009 after a career lasting nearly half a century^[9]) 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.^[10]

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.^[11]

Lines

Direction	Name	Japanese	Terminals	Length (km)
Main	NH Nagoya Main Line	名古屋本線	Toyohashi - Meitetsu Gifu	99.8
Eastern Aichi (Mikawa)	TK Toyokawa Line	豊川線	Kō - Toyokawa-inari	7.2
	GN Nishio Line	西尾線	Shin Anjō - Kira Yoshida	24.7
	GN Gamagōri Line	蒲郡線	Kira Yoshida - Gamagōri	17.6
	MU MY Mikawa Line	三河線	Sanage - Hekinan	39.8
	TT Toyota Line^{[Note 1]}	豊田線	Umetsubo - Akaike	15.2
Chita Peninsula	TA Tokoname Line	常滑線	Jingū-mae - Tokoname	29.3
	TA Airport Line	空港線	Tokoname - Central Japan Int'l Airport	4.2
	CH Chikkō Line	築港線	Ōe - Higashi Nagoyakō	1.5
	KC Kōwa Line	河和線	Ōtagawa - Kōwa	28.8
	KC Chita New Line	知多新線	Fuki - Utsumi	13.9
Western Aichi (Owari)	ST Seto Line	瀬戸線	Sakaemachi - Owari Seto	20.6
	TB Tsushima Line	津島線	Sukaguchi - Tsushima	11.8
	TB BS Bisai Line	尾西線	Yatomi - Tamanoi	30.9
Northern Aichi and Gifu	IY Inuyama Line^{[Note 1]}	犬山線	Biwajima Junction - Shin Unuma	26.8
	KG Kakamigahara Line	各務原線	Meitetsu Gifu - Shin Unuma	17.6
	HM Hiromi Line	広見線	Inuyama - Mitake	22.3
	KM Komaki Line^{[Note 2]}	小牧線	Kami Iida - Inuyama	20.4
	TH Takehana Line	竹鼻線	Kasamatsu - Egira	10.3
	TH Hashima Line	羽島線	Egira - Shin Hashima	1.3

^ ^a ^b Through operation to/from the Nagoya Municipal Subway ■ Tsurumai Line
^ Through operation to/from the Nagoya Municipal Subway ■ Kamiiida Line

Major stations

Major stations in Nagoya

Nagoya Line (east side) and Toyokawa Line

NH01 : Toyohashi Station (Toyohashi)
NH13 : Higashi Okazaki Station (Okazaki)
NH17 : Shin Anjō Station (Anjō)
NH19 : Chiryū Station (Chiryū)
NH23 : Zengo Station (Toyoake)
TK04 : Toyokawa-inari Station (Toyokawa)

Tokoname Line, Chikkō Line, and Airport Line

TA09 : Ōtagawa Station (Tokai)
TA12 : Asakura Station (Chita)
TA22 : Tokoname Station (Tokoname)
TA24 : Central Japan International Airport Station

Kōwa Line and Chita New Line

KC08 : Agui Station (Agui)
KC12 : Chita Handa Station (Handa)
KC16 : Chita Taketoyo Station (Taketoyo)
KC19 : Kōwa Station (Mihama)
KC24 : Utsumi Station (Minami Chita)

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.

Limited express

Commuter

Withdrawn train types

Electric locomotives

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.^[12] 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.^[13]

References

^ 鷲田, 鉄也 (September 2010), "名古屋鉄道 1", 週刊朝日百科, 週刊歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線 (in Japanese), no. 8, Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications, Inc., p. 21, ISBN 978-4-02-340138-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
^ "Organizational Chart" (PDF). Retrieved January 9, 2024.
^ "Overview of the Meitetsu Group for Fiscal 2018" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "companyprofile.pdf" (PDF). meitetsu.co.jp. July 2, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
^ "名古屋鉄道". 名古屋鉄道 (in Japanese). Retrieved January 28, 2026.
^ 鷲田, 鉄也 (September 2010), "名古屋鉄道 1", 週刊朝日百科, 週刊歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線 (in Japanese), no. 8, Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications, Inc., p. 20, ISBN 978-4-02-340138-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
^ 鷲田, 鉄也 (September 2010), "週刊歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線大手私鉄: 名古屋鉄道", 週刊朝日百科 (in Japanese), no. 9, Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications, Inc., p. 10, ISBN 978-4-02-340139-6{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
^ 佐藤, 信之 (June 19, 2004), "高度経済成長期の鉄道整備―昭和30～40年代", 地下鉄の歴史首都圏・中部・近畿圏 (in Japanese), グランプリ出版, p. 129, ISBN 4-87687-260-0
^ "なごや色さんぽ#２【名鉄電車の「スカーレットレッド」】 | ICD国際カラーデザイン協会". icd-color.com. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
^ "赤い電車｢名鉄｣､今振り返る昭和･平成の記憶". 東洋経済オンライン (in Japanese). May 1, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
^ "名鉄貨物輸送". tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
^ "OpenId transaction in progress". plus.chunichi.co.jp. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
^ "JR東海の攻勢をかわした｢名鉄｣の復活劇". Toyo Keizai Online (in Japanese). October 20, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2024.

External links

[tsurumai-12] Through operation to/from the Nagoya Municipal Subway ■ Tsurumai Line

[kamiida-13] Through operation to/from the Nagoya Municipal Subway ■ Kamiiida Line

[issue_8_page_21-1] 鷲田, 鉄也 (September 2010), "名古屋鉄道 1", 週刊朝日百科, 週刊歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線 (in Japanese), no. 8, Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications, Inc., p. 21, ISBN 978-4-02-340138-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)

[2] "Organizational Chart" (PDF). Retrieved January 9, 2024.

[3] "Overview of the Meitetsu Group for Fiscal 2018" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2019.

[:0-4] "companyprofile.pdf" (PDF). meitetsu.co.jp. July 2, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2026.

[5] "名古屋鉄道". 名古屋鉄道 (in Japanese). Retrieved January 28, 2026.

[issue_8_page_20-6] 鷲田, 鉄也 (September 2010), "名古屋鉄道 1", 週刊朝日百科, 週刊歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線 (in Japanese), no. 8, Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications, Inc., p. 20, ISBN 978-4-02-340138-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)

[asahi-7] 鷲田, 鉄也 (September 2010), "週刊歴史でめぐる鉄道全路線大手私鉄: 名古屋鉄道", 週刊朝日百科 (in Japanese), no. 9, Japan: Asahi Shimbun Publications, Inc., p. 10, ISBN 978-4-02-340139-6{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)

[history_of_subways-8] 佐藤, 信之 (June 19, 2004), "高度経済成長期の鉄道整備―昭和30～40年代", 地下鉄の歴史首都圏・中部・近畿圏 (in Japanese), グランプリ出版, p. 129, ISBN 4-87687-260-0

[9] "なごや色さんぽ#２【名鉄電車の「スカーレットレッド」】 | ICD国際カラーデザイン協会". icd-color.com. Retrieved February 2, 2024.

[10] "赤い電車｢名鉄｣､今振り返る昭和･平成の記憶". 東洋経済オンライン (in Japanese). May 1, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2024.

[11] "名鉄貨物輸送". tsushima-keibendo.a.la9.jp. Retrieved February 2, 2024.

[14] "OpenId transaction in progress". plus.chunichi.co.jp. Retrieved May 11, 2024.

[15] "JR東海の攻勢をかわした｢名鉄｣の復活劇". Toyo Keizai Online (in Japanese). October 20, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[12]

[13]

v t e Major and semi-major private rail operators of Japan
Kantō region	Keikyu Corporation Keio Corporation Keisei Electric Railway Odakyu Electric Railway Sagami Railway (Sōtetsu) Seibu Railway Tobu Railway Tokyo Metro^‡ Tokyu Corporation
Chūbu region	Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) Kintetsu Railway
Kinki region	Hankyu Corporation Hanshin Electric Railway Keihan Electric Railway Kintetsu Railway Nankai Electric Railway Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway^‡^§ Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway^§ Osaka Metro^‡* Sanyō Electric Railway^§
Kyūshū region	Nishi-Nippon Railroad (Nishitetsu)
^‡ indicates rapid transit operators ^§ indicates semi-major rail operators ^*Not a member of Associations of Private Japanese Railways, therefore excluded under the formal Japanese definition, although its comparable size is undisputed

v t e Transit in Greater Nagoya (Chūkyō)
Shinkansen	Tokaido
JR Central	Tōkaidō Chūō Kansai Iida Taketoyo Takayama Taita Kisei Sangū Meishō
Nagoya Municipal Subway	Higashiyama Meijō Meikō Tsurumai Sakura-dōri Kamiiida
Meitetsu	NH Nagoya TK Toyokawa GN Nishio/Gamagōri MU MY Mikawa TT Toyota TA Tokoname/Airport CH Chikkō KC Kōwa KC Chita ST Seto TB Tsushima TB BS Bisai IY Inuyama KG Kakamigahara HM Hiromi KM Komaki TH Takehana/Hashima
Kintetsu	Nagoya Yunoyama Suzuka Yamada/Toba/Shima
Minor private railways	Jōhoku Sangi Sangi Hokusei Toyotetsu Azumada Atsumi Yōrō
Third-sector railways	Aikan (Aichi Loop) Akechi Aonami Etsumi-Nan Ise Linimo Tarumi Yokkaichi Asunarou Utsube Hachiōji
Bus	BRT Yutorito Nagoya City Transportation Bureau Nagoya Municipal Bus Meitetsu Meitetsu Bus Gifu Bus Chita Noriai Kintetsu Mie Kotsu Willer Express Meitetsu Highway Bus Center Sakae JR Bus Terminal
Terminals	Rail Ekimae Gifu Kanayama Kintetsu-Nagoya Meitetsu Gifu Meitetsu Nagoya Nagoya Ōzone Sakae Sakaemachi Shin-toyohashi Toyohashi Airports Centrair Komaki Ports Nagoya Yokkaichi Kinuura Mikawa
Miscellaneous	Gozaisho Ropeway Ferry operators Taiheiyō Ferry Ise Bay Ferry Meitetsu Tourist Ferry Tsu Airport Line IC cards manaca TOICA Rail transport in Japan
Japan transit: Tokyo Keihanshin Chūkyō Fukuoka–Kitakyushu Hokkaido Aomori Sendai Akita Niigata Toyama Nagano Hakone–Fuji–Izu Okayama Hiroshima Shikoku Metro systems Shinkansen monorails (list) trams (list) aerial lifts (list)

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Japan
Academics	CiNii