Meishō Line

The line's name records a route that was never built in full. Under the railway-construction planning of the period it was conceived as part of a corridor reaching from Sakurai in Nara Prefecture through Haibara and on through Nabari in Mie to Matsusaka. The name 名松 was coined by taking the first character of Nabari (名張) and the first character of Matsusaka (松阪); the intention was a Nabari-to-Matsusaka railway. In the event the line was extended only as far inland as Ise-Okitsu and never reached Nabari, so the name commemorates an intended terminus that the rails never attained.

Construction proceeded in stages from the Matsusaka end during the late 1920s and the 1930s. The first section, from Matsusaka to Gongenmae (a distance recorded as 4.4 miles, about 7.08 km), opened on 25 August 1929. The line was then pushed inland to Iseki on 30 March 1930 (a further 5.3 miles, about 8.53 km), and on to Ieki on 11 September 1931 (a further 10.2 km).

The final and longest segment, from Ieki to Ise-Okitsu (17.7 km), opened on 5 December 1935, completing the line as it stands today. With the upper section in place the railway reached its inland terminus at Ise-Okitsu, the point at which the originally planned push towards Nabari was abandoned.

In the post-war decades the line settled into the role of a quiet local railway. Its trains were fully converted to diesel multiple-unit operation in September 1965, and freight services were discontinued on 1 October 1965, leaving it a passenger-only branch. Operating economies continued under Japanese National Railways: on 20 February 1989 KiHa 11 diesel railcars were introduced and one-man (driver-only) operation began.

The Meishō Line passed from public to private hands with the break-up of Japanese National Railways. On 1 April 1987, when JNR was divided and privatised, the line was inherited by the newly created Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central), under which it has operated ever since.

The line's most serious modern setback came in 2009. On 8 October 2009 the heavy rain of Typhoon No. 18 (Typhoon Melor) caused landslides and roadbed washouts at roughly forty places along the upper section between Ieki and Ise-Okitsu, forcing the suspension of the entire line. The lower section from Matsusaka to Ieki was restored to service within a week, on 15 October 2009, but the damaged upper section remained closed for years while the embankments and hillsides were repaired. Train services on the Ieki–Ise-Okitsu section finally resumed on 26 March 2016, restoring through running over the whole line for the first time in about six and a half years.

• 192925 August: the first section, Matsusaka–Gongenmae (4.4 mi ≈ 7.08 km), opens.
• 193030 March: the line is extended inland from Gongenmae to Iseki (5.3 mi ≈ 8.53 km).
• 193111 September: the line is extended from Iseki to Ieki (10.2 km).
• 1934Diesel multiple units begin running on the line.
• 19355 December: the final section, Ieki–Ise-Okitsu (17.7 km), opens, completing the line; it never reaches its originally planned terminus at Nabari.
• 1965September: all trains are converted to diesel multiple-unit operation. 1 October: freight services are discontinued.
• 19871 April: with the division and privatisation of Japanese National Railways, the line is inherited by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central).
• 198920 February: KiHa 11 diesel railcars are introduced and one-man (driver-only) operation begins.
• 20098 October: heavy rain from Typhoon No. 18 (Melor) causes landslides and roadbed washouts at about 40 sites on the Ieki–Ise-Okitsu section, suspending the whole line. 15 October: the Matsusaka–Ieki section is restored to service.
• 201626 March: train services resume on the Ieki–Ise-Okitsu section, restoring through running over the whole line for the first time in about six and a half years.