Meikō Line

The route originated in a 1961 recommendation of the Urban Transit Council’s Nagoya division, which planned Line No. 2 to run from Ōzone in the north to the Port of Nagoya. The southern part of that plan was built as an extension of the existing Meijō Line, which by then already ran between Shiyakusho (City Hall, today Nagoyajō / Nagoya Castle) and Kanayama. The original design called for an elevated line running as far as Tsukijiguchi alongside the Japanese National Railways’ Tōrinkō freight line, but construction of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and the increasing difficulty of acquiring land in the built-up area led to the route being placed underground beneath the city’s Egawa road, and as development of the port advanced the terminus was moved from Tsukijiguchi to Nagoyakō.

Because the area through which the line runs was historically reclaimed from the shallows of Ise Bay, flood protection was built in from the start: station entrances were raised above their surroundings and protective flood doors were installed. When construction began on 20 February 1969, two overlapping sections of the Nagoya city tram network were abolished — the Tsukkō Line between Tsukijiguchi and Nagoyakō and the Notate-Tsukijiguchi Line between Hibino and Tsukijiguchi.

The line opened on 29 March 1971 as the southern extension of the Meijō Line, running 6.0 km from Kanayama to Nagoyakō. At first roughly every other train continued through to the Sakae and Ōzone direction. The opening of the first part of Line No. 4 between Kanayama and Aratamabashi (Shin-Mizuhashi) in 1974 reshaped operations: early-morning, late-night and New Year daytime services turned back between Kanayama and Nagoyakō, while at other times trains were shared with the Aratamabashi direction. For the 1989 World Design Exposition, Hibino and Nagoyakō stations — gateways to the fair’s venues — were refurbished and new 2000-series trains were introduced.

The Kanayama–Nagoyakō section had until then been counted, together with the line north of Kanayama, under the name “Meijō Line.” That changed on 6 October 2004, when the final segment of Line No. 4 between Nagoya University and Aratamabashi opened and continuous loop operation began. The line names were put to a public vote, and the Kanayama–Nagoyakō branch — now hanging off the new loop — was renamed the “Meikō Line” because the name made the Nagoyakō (Port of Nagoya) destination easy to understand, while the loop itself became the Meijō Line. From the same date the line’s daytime headway was lengthened from eight to ten minutes as part of a municipal transport restructuring plan.

Through the 2000s and 2010s the line was steadily modernised. LED departure indicators had been fitted at every station in December 1999; station approach melodies were changed to JR East-style tunes on a trial basis on 6 October 2005 and then replaced with original compositions on 19 March 2007, and from 18 March 2009 the LED boards showed actual departure times rather than “next” and “following” markers. Women-only cars were introduced on weekday mornings until 9 a.m. from 4 July 2016, and in 2019 the departure boards were upgraded from LED to LCD as synthesized and English-language announcements were introduced.

More recent changes have focused on automation and safety. A timetable revision on 23 May 2020 extended through-running with the Meijō Line until 9 p.m. and introduced automatic train operation (ATO); platform-edge gates entered service first at Nagoyakō on 25 May 2020 and were completed line-wide when the gates at Kanayama’s Meikō platform began operating on 12 July 2020. One-person (driver-only) operation began across the whole line on 1 July 2021. Today the Meikō Line operates as a through service with the Meijō Line — most trains run between Nagoyakō and Ōzone — tying the Port of Nagoya to the city centre, and trains are shared with the Meijō Line, the current fleet being the 2000 series.

• 1961The Urban Transit Council’s Nagoya division recommends Line No. 2, running from Ōzone to the Port of Nagoya.
• 196920 February: construction begins; the overlapping Nagoya tram Tsukkō Line (Tsukijiguchi–Nagoyakō) and Notate-Tsukijiguchi Line (Hibino–Tsukijiguchi) are abolished.
• 197129 March: the line opens as the Meijō Line’s southern extension, Kanayama–Nagoyakō, 6.0 km.
• 1974The first part of Line No. 4, Kanayama–Aratamabashi (Shin-Mizuhashi), opens, changing the line’s operating pattern.
• 1989For the World Design Exposition, Hibino and Nagoyakō stations are refurbished and the new 2000-series trains are introduced.
• 1999December: LED departure indicators are installed at all stations.
• 20046 October: with the completion of Line No. 4 and the start of loop operation, the Kanayama–Nagoyakō branch is renamed the “Meikō Line” (the loop becoming the Meijō Line); the daytime headway is lengthened from 8 to 10 minutes.
• 20056 October: station approach chimes are replaced on a trial basis with melodies identical to JR East’s departure tunes.
• 200719 March: the approach melodies are changed from the JR East-style tunes to original compositions.
• 200918 March: the LED departure boards begin showing departure times instead of “next” and “following” markers.
• 20164 July: women-only cars are introduced on weekday mornings from the first train until 9 a.m.
• 2019The departure boards are upgraded from LED to LCD, and synthesized and English-language announcements are introduced.
• 202023 May: a timetable revision extends Meijō Line through-service until 9 p.m. and introduces automatic train operation (ATO); 25 May: the first platform-edge gates enter service at Nagoyakō; 12 July: gates at Kanayama’s Meikō platform begin operating, completing line-wide installation.
• 20211 July: one-person (driver-only) operation begins across the whole line.