Meitetsu Takehana Line

The line originated with the Takehana Railroad (竹鼻鉄道), which opened its first section from Shin-Kasamatsu — today's Nishi-Kasamatsu — to Shin-Sakae, the present Takehana Station, on 25 June 1921. This opening stretch was electrified from the outset, at 600 V DC. The Takehana Railroad had been incorporated in November 1919 after receiving its railway licence earlier that year, and its line gave the rice-growing country south of Kasamatsu its first rail connection toward the Mino-region tram and rail network around Gifu.

The railway was extended southward in stages. Shin-Sakae was renamed Sakaemachi in February 1929, and on 1 April 1929 the Takehana Railroad opened the extension from Sakaemachi to Ōsu, completing the line's full length and carrying it deep into what is now Hashima. For the next decade the Takehana Railroad continued as an independent company operating this Kasamatsu–Ōsu route.

The wider corporate consolidation of railways around Nagoya soon reached the line. In August 1930 Nagoya Railroad absorbed the Mino Electric Tramway (美濃電気軌道), whose Kasamatsu-area trackage connected with the Takehana Railroad's terminus, and on 1 March 1943 the Takehana Railroad itself was merged into Nagoya Railroad, making Meitetsu the line's sole operator. The route has been part of the Meitetsu network ever since.

Under Meitetsu the line was modernised and more closely integrated with the rest of the network. On 10 June 1962 the supply voltage was raised from the original 600 V to 1,500 V DC, bringing it into line with Meitetsu's main routes. On 11 December 1982 the new Hashima Line opened from Egira to Shin-Hashima, beside the Tōkaidō Shinkansen's Gifu-Hashima Station, and express operation began over the Takehana and Hashima lines, giving the corridor a fast link to the bullet-train interchange and onward to Nagoya.

The line's southern end did not survive that shift. With through traffic redirected onto the new Hashima Line toward Shin-Hashima, the original tail from Egira south to Ōsu lost its purpose, and on 1 October 2001 the Egira–Ōsu section was closed and replaced by a Hashima City substitute bus service. Since then the Takehana Line has run from Kasamatsu only as far as Egira, where its trains continue onto the Hashima Line; many services run through to Meitetsu Gifu on the Nagoya Main Line, yet remain entirely within Gifu Prefecture.

• 191914 November: the Takehana Railroad Company is incorporated, having received its railway licence on 24 June 1919.
• 192125 June: the Takehana Railroad opens its first section, Shin-Kasamatsu (now Nishi-Kasamatsu) to Shin-Sakae (now Takehana), electrified at 600 V DC.
• 19291 April: the line is extended from Sakaemachi (renamed from Shin-Sakae in February) to Ōsu, completing its full length.
• 1930August: Nagoya Railroad absorbs the Mino Electric Tramway, whose Kasamatsu-area line connected with the Takehana Railroad's terminus.
• 19431 March: the Takehana Railroad is merged into Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu), the line's present operator.
• 196210 June: the supply voltage is raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC.
• 198211 December: the Hashima Line opens from Egira to Shin-Hashima (beside the Tōkaidō Shinkansen's Gifu-Hashima Station), and express operation begins.
• 20011 October: the Egira–Ōsu section is closed and replaced by a Hashima City substitute bus service; the line now runs only from Kasamatsu to Egira.