Tsushima Line

Plans to lay a railway west from Nagoya into the western Owari region date back to the dawn of Japanese railways. A scheme called the "Bisei Electric Railway," running from Nagoya through Tsushima to Kuwana, was filed in June 1889 but rejected because electric-railway technology of the day was deemed too immature to make it feasible. The region's first private railway, the Kansai Railway (today's JR Kansai Main Line), opened soon after but did not pass through Tsushima, and amid the railway-building boom of the late 1890s numerous further proposals to link Nagoya and Tsushima were all rejected on the grounds that they would compete with the Kansai Railway.

The search for a Nagoya–Tsushima line continued into the late 1900s, by which time promoters increasingly secured concessions under the Tramway Ordinance rather than the Private Railway Act. In November 1906 three companies — the Owari Electric Railway, the Tsushima Electric Railway and the Nagoya Electric Railway — each applied to build between Nagoya and Tsushima. The Nagoya Electric Railway won the contest and was granted a tramway patent in 1907; the line was later converted to a light railway under the Light Railway Act so that passenger and freight cars could be operated coupled together.

The company's chosen route ran along the Tsushima road, branching at Biwajimabashi (today's Biwajima Junction) where its "county lines" crossed the Shōnai River — a more roundabout path than a Saya-road alignment. Although the Tsushima project had been filed ahead of the company's other county lines, delays in land purchase and in fabricating bridge girders set its construction back; surveying began around October 1910 and work started from the Tsushima end in December 1912. Because the many rivers along the route raised disputes over how bridges would affect flooding, the company and local authorities sought mediation from Aichi Prefecture, which was resolved around June 1913. The line was completed in January 1914 and opened on 23 January that year between Biwajimabashi, Sukaguchi and Shin-Tsushima.

The opening reshaped the local railway landscape. In 1921 the Nagoya Electric Railway transferred the Tsushima Line and its other county lines to the (old) Nagoya Railway, and in 1925 the rival Bisai Railway likewise handed its operations to that company, making Tsushima Station a Nagoya Railway station; the awkward transfer between Shin-Tsushima and Tsushima was resolved in 1931 by merging the two stations. The company was renamed Meigi Railway in 1930 and, after merging with the Aichi Electric Railway in 1935, became today's Nagoya Railroad. When the east–west connecting line through Shin-Nagoya (today's Meitetsu Nagoya) opened in 1941, the Biwajimabashi–Sukaguchi section was absorbed into the Meigi Line, leaving the Tsushima Line as the Sukaguchi–Tsushima route it is today.

The line was electrified at 600 V from the outset, and the voltage was raised to 1,500 V on 12 May 1948. Running through low-lying wetlands that include land below sea level, it has repeatedly suffered flooding: on 26 September 1959 the entire line was inundated by the Isewan (Vera) Typhoon, with service restored only in stages between October and late November as the floodwaters receded, and a torrential downpour flooded the line again in June 1961. In the post-typhoon recovery the trackside increasingly developed into commuter suburbs, deepening the line's role as a commuting route.

From the 1960s the line was progressively upgraded. The area around Tsushima Station was elevated in 1968, eight-car operation began in January 1981, and the Shobata–Tsushima section was grade-separated in 2002. The line was not spared further water damage — the Tōkai Heavy Rain of September 2000 flooded the line and several of its stations before service was restored on 13 September. Prepaid IC ticketing arrived with the introduction of Transpass in 2005, and the line now accepts nationwide interoperable transit IC cards such as Manaca at every station.

• 1889June: the "Bisei Electric Railway" scheme from Nagoya via Tsushima to Kuwana is filed, but rejected as electric-railway technology is judged too immature.
• 19065 November: a tramway construction patent is applied for between Oshikiri-chō in Nagoya and Tsushima; three companies vie to build the Nagoya–Tsushima line.
• 190710 December: the Nagoya Electric Railway is granted the tramway patent (later converted to a light railway under the Light Railway Act).
• 191212 March: the line comes under the Light Railway Act; construction begins from the Tsushima end in December.
• 191423 January: the Tsushima Line opens between Biwajimabashi, Sukaguchi and Shin-Tsushima.
• 19211 July: the Nagoya Electric Railway transfers the Tsushima Line and other county lines to the (old) Nagoya Railway.
• 19305 September: the company is renamed Meigi Railway.
• 193125 October: Shin-Tsushima Station is merged into the Bisai Line's Tsushima Station, resolving the transfer problem.
• 19351 August: Meigi Railway merges with the Aichi Electric Railway to form today's Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu).
• 194112 August: the Biwajimabashi–Sukaguchi section is absorbed into the Meigi Line, leaving the Tsushima Line as the Sukaguchi–Tsushima route.
• 194812 May: the overhead voltage is raised from 600 V to 1,500 V.
• 195926 September: the entire line is inundated by the Isewan (Vera) Typhoon; service is restored in stages from October to late November.
• 196127 June: torrential rain floods the line, suspending service west of Jimokuji Station.
• 19683 May: the area around Tsushima Station is elevated.
• 19818 January: eight-car operation begins on the line.
• 200011 September: the Tōkai Heavy Rain floods the line and several stations; service is restored on 13 September.
• 200213 July: the Shobata–Tsushima section is grade-separated (elevated).
• 200514 July: prepaid IC ticketing arrives with the introduction of Transpass.