Takehana Railway

The line originated with the Takehana Railway (竹鼻鉄道, Takehana Tetsudō). A railway licence for a route between Kasamatsu and Komazuka was granted to its promoters on 24 June 1919, and the company was incorporated on 14 November that year.^[12][13]

On 25 June 1921, the company opened an electrified line from a temporary Shin-Kasamatsu station, near the present Nishi-Kasamatsu, to the original Takehana station. The line initially used 600 V DC electrification.^[14][15][16] In September 1921, the Takehana Railway began sharing the relocated Kasamatsu station with the Mino Electric Railway; the temporary Shin-Kasamatsu terminus was subsequently removed.^[17]

The government granted the company a further licence from Komazuka to Yagami in March 1924.^[18] The original Takehana station was renamed Sakaemachi in February 1929, and on 1 April the railway opened an extension from Sakaemachi to Ōsu, completing a route of 17.0 km (10.6 mi) from Kasamatsu.^[14][19][20]

Meitetsu absorbed the Takehana Railway on 1 March 1943, after which the Kasamatsu–Ōsu route became the Takehana Line.^[14]

Chronology

• 1919
  • 24 June: A railway licence was granted for the proposed Kasamatsu–Komazuka route.
  • 14 November: Takehana Railway was incorporated.
• 1921
  • 25 June: Shin-Kasamatsu–Takehana opened, electrified at 600 V DC.
  • 21 September: the relocated Kasamatsu station opened for joint use by Mino Electric Railway and Takehana Railway.
• 1924 – 25 March: a licence was granted for the Komazuka–Yagami extension.
• 1929
  • 19 February: the original Takehana station was renamed Sakaemachi.
  • 1 April: Sakaemachi–Ōsu opened, completing the line to Ōsu.
• 1930
  • 20 August: Nagoya Railroad merged with Mino Electric Railway, which operated the connecting Kasamatsu Line.
  • 5 September: Nagoya Railroad changed its name to Meigi Railway.^[21]
• 1935 – 1 August: Meigi Railway adopted the name Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu).^[22]
• 1936 – May: Shin-Kasamatsu was renamed Kasamatsu, while the former joint-use Kasamatsu station became Nishi-Kasamatsu.^[20]
• 1942 – 1 June: Kasamatsuguchi station, between Kasamatsu and Nishi-Kasamatsu, closed.^[22]
• 1943 – 1 March: Meitetsu absorbed the Takehana Railway and named the Kasamatsu–Ōsu route the Takehana Line.^[14]
• 1944 – Higashi-Suka, Higashi-Yanaizu, Kadoma, Magari, Hongakuji-mae, Egira, Nagama, Oki, Mino-Ishida, Shōsenji-mae and Kuwabara stations were suspended.^[11]
• c. 1947 – Nagama station reopened.^[11]
• 1951 – 1 January: Sakaemachi was renamed Takehana; the station then named Takehana became Nishi-Takehana.^[20]
• 1953 – 1 February: Nishi-Yanaizu was renamed Yanaizu.^[20]
• 1954 – Ōsu station was relocated.^[23]
• 1959 – 1 April: Nishi-Takehana was renamed Hashima.^[20]
• 1962 – 10 June: the overhead voltage was raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC.^[5]
• 1969 – 5 April: nine stations that had remained suspended since 1944 were formally closed.^[11]
• 1982 – 11 December: the Hashima Line opened. Hashima station was renamed Hashima-shiyakusho-mae, Egira reopened as the junction with the new line, and express operation began on the Takehana Line.^[11]
• 2001 – 1 October: the 6.7 km (4.2 mi) Egira–Ōsu section closed and was replaced by a bus service; express operation on the remaining line ended.^[4]
• 2007 – 14 December: the Tranpass magnetic fare-card system was introduced at every station except Yanaizu, which was due to be relocated.^[24]
• 2011 – 11 February: Meitetsu launched the manaca IC-card system.^[25]
• 2026 – 14 March: driver-only operation began on all Takehana and Hashima Line services.^[8]

2001 partial closure

The Egira–Ōsu section closed on 1 October 2001. The six intermediate and terminal stations affected were Makino, Nagama, Nakaku, Ichinoeda, Yagami and Ōsu. Hashima City introduced a replacement bus over the former corridor.^[4][26]

At the time of closure, the 6.7 km (4.2 mi) section was entirely single-track and had no passing loop. It therefore functioned as a single block section in which only one train could operate at a time. Services normally shuttled between Hashima-shiyakusho-mae and Ōsu at two trains per hour, half the frequency then provided between Kasamatsu and Hashima-shiyakusho-mae.^[11]

After the closure, Egira ceased to be a junction. Current services call there before continuing over the Hashima Line, producing the present Kasamatsu–Egira–Shin-Hashima corridor.^[2]

Former Egira–Ōsu section

The following section closed on 1 October 2001. All stations were in Hashima.

Other closed stations

• Kasamatsuguchi (between Kasamatsu and Nishi-Kasamatsu) – closed on 1 June 1942.
• The following stations were suspended in 1944 and formally closed on 5 April 1969:^[11]
  • Higashi-Suka and Higashi-Yanaizu (between Nishi-Kasamatsu and Yanaizu)
  • Kadoma (between Yanaizu and Minami-Juku)
  • Magari (between Fuwa Ishiki and Takehana)
  • Hongakuji-mae (between Takehana and Hashima-shiyakusho-mae)
  • Oki (between Nakaku and Ichinoeda on the later-closed section)
  • Mino-Ishida and Shōsenji-mae (between Ichinoeda and Yagami)
  • Kuwabara (between Yagami and Ōsu)