Mikawa Line

Meitetsu Mikawa Line
A 6000 series EMU on the Meitetsu Mikawa Line
Overview
Native name	名鉄三河線
Type	Commuter rail
Locale	Aichi Prefecture
Termini	Sanage Hekinan
Stations	23
Daily ridership	73,556 (FY2003)
Website	Meitetsu (Japanese)
Operation
Opened	1914
Operator(s)	Meitetsu
Technical
Line length	39.8 km (24.73 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V Overhead catenary
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)

The Meitetsu Mikawa Line (名鉄三河線, Meitetsu Mikawa-sen^?) is a 39.8 km railway line in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) connecting Sanage Station in Toyota and Hekinan Station in Hekinan. It originally extended beyond Hekinan to Kira Yoshida, and beyond Sanage to Nishi Nakagane, with a proposed extension to Asuke substantially constructed but subsequently abandoned (see History section below).

All trains on this line operate as Local trains and stop at every station. Some smaller stations have only a single platform and no passing loop.

The Mikawa Railway opened the Ōhama-minato (now Hekinan) to Kariya-shin (now Kariya) section in 1914, and extended the line to Chiryū (old, now Mikawa Chiryū) the following year, to Koromo (now Toyotashi) in 1920 and Sanage in 1924.

In 1926, the Sanage to Hekinan section was electrified at 1,500 V DC, and in the same year the (now closed) Hekinan to Matsukijima section opened as an electrified section, as were all subsequent extensions.

The (now closed) Sanage to Nishi Nakagane section opened between 1927 and 1928, and the Matsukijima - Mikawa Yoshida section also opened in the latter year.

The company merged with Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) in June 1941, and the Mikawa Yoshida - Kira Yoshida section opened in 1943, connecting to the Gamagōri Line and the Nishio Line.

Construction of an ~8 km extension from Nishi Nakagane to Asuke had commenced in the 1930s, with the roadbed completed when the Pacific War commenced. Shortage of materials resulted in the rail line never being laid, and the proposed extension was formally abandoned in 1958, with the roadbed being converted to a public road, which is readily identifiable on aerial photographs.