Toyohashi Railroad Azumada Main Line

The line was opened in 1925 by the Toyohashi Electric Railway (豊橋電気軌道). The first section, from Ekimae through Shinmei to Fudagi-jūjiro (0.8 km), together with a branch from Shinmei to Yagyūbashi (1.1 km), began operating on 14 July 1925. The line was extended eastward in quick succession that same year, reaching Akamon-mae on 21 July and Azumada — the stop that gives the line its name — on 25 December.

Like much of Toyohashi, the tramway was badly damaged in the air raids of June 1945, which suspended the whole line; services were restored over the following months. The operating company was reorganised twice after the war: the Toyohashi Electric Railway became Toyohashi Traffic (豊橋交通) on 1 September 1949, and was renamed the Toyohashi Railroad on 22 July 1954, the name it still carries.

The eastern end of the line reached its present terminus on 1 June 1960, when the section from Kyōrinjō-mae (the velodrome stop) to Akaiwaguchi (1.2 km) opened, accompanied by a new depot at Akaiwaguchi. It was on this extension, at the Ihara junction, that the famous 11-metre-radius curve was created.

The Yagyūbashi branch was progressively cut back and then closed: the Shinkawa–Yagyūbashi section (0.9 km) was abandoned on 7 March 1976. The line's last new construction came on 31 July 1982, when the 0.6 km branch from Ihara to Undō-Kōen-mae opened — described as the first new tram extension in Japan in fourteen years, the previous one having been a Nagasaki Electric Tramway extension.

In the modern era the line has been reshaped at its city-centre end. On 19 February 1998 the Ekimae terminus was moved about 150 metres, in under the pedestrian deck in front of Toyohashi Station, bringing trams directly to the station forecourt. On 31 March 2005 a new stop, Ekimae-Ōdōri, was opened between Ekimae and Shinkawa.

The following day, 1 April 2005, the closure of the Meitetsu Gifu City Line and Mino-machi Line left the Azumada Main Line as the only tram line remaining in the Tōkai region. Today it is a compact but well-used urban tramway, operated with second-hand cars acquired from other cities' tram systems, and it continues to serve as the principal streetcar link across central Toyohashi.

• 192514 July: the Toyohashi Electric Railway opens the first section, Ekimae–Shinmei–Fudagi-jūjiro (0.8 km), with a branch from Shinmei to Yagyūbashi (1.1 km).
• 192521 July: the line is extended from Fudagi-jūjiro to Akamon-mae (1.1 km).
• 192525 December: the line is extended from Akamon-mae to Azumada (1.2 km), the stop that gives the line its name.
• 194520 June: the whole line is suspended after damage in the Toyohashi air raid; services are restored over the following months.
• 19491 September: the Toyohashi Electric Railway is renamed Toyohashi Traffic (Toyohashi Kōtsū).
• 195422 July: the company is renamed the Toyohashi Railroad, the name it still uses.
• 19601 June: the Kyōrinjō-mae–Akaiwaguchi section (1.2 km) opens, extending the line to its present eastern terminus, with a new depot at Akaiwaguchi; the 11 m-radius curve at Ihara dates from this extension.
• 19767 March: the Shinkawa–Yagyūbashi section (0.9 km) of the Yagyūbashi branch is closed.
• 198231 July: the Ihara–Undō-Kōen-mae branch (0.6 km) opens — described as the first new tram extension in Japan in fourteen years.
• 199819 February: the Ekimae terminus is relocated about 150 m, in under the pedestrian deck in front of Toyohashi Station.
• 200531 March: a new stop, Ekimae-Ōdōri, opens between Ekimae and Shinkawa.
• 20051 April: the closure of the Meitetsu Gifu City Line and Mino-machi Line leaves the Azumada Main Line as the only tram line in the Tōkai region.