Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd.

When Nagoya's tram lines were to be municipalized, Nagoya Electric Railway spun off its suburban division as the (first) Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. on 13 June 1921 — counted as a second founding, and still the company's legal establishment date; after handing the city lines to the municipality in 1922, Nagoya Electric Railway was dissolved. The new company set out to link Nagoya directly with Gifu: the Oshikirichō–Shin-Ichinomiya section opened in 1928, the company absorbed Gifu's Mino Electric Tramway in 1930 and renamed itself Nagi Railway (名岐鉄道), and with the completion of the Kiso River bridge on 29 April 1935 the through route to Shin-Gifu was finished.

East of Nagoya a second lineage had grown up. Aichi Electric Railway ('Aiden'), established on 21 November 1910 to develop the western Chita Peninsula, completed the present Tokoname Line in 1913, then absorbed the stalled Tōkaidō Electric Railway trunk-line scheme in 1922 and built the Toyohashi Line to its high standard. Completed from Jingū-mae to Yoshida (now Toyohashi) on 1 June 1927, the line carried limited expresses whose 59 km/h scheduled speed was the fastest in Japan at the time. Its enormous construction cost, exceeding Aiden's entire capital, combined with the depression to cause a crisis the company overcame under president Kiyoshige Aikawa.

The present Nagoya Railroad was created on 1 August 1935, when Nagi Railway and Aichi Electric Railway merged as equals (formally, Nagi survived and took the new name); after the Nagi president-designate died two weeks before the merger took effect, Aiden's Aikawa became the first president. The former Nagi routes became the 'Western Lines' and the former Aiden routes the 'Eastern Lines', and in the war years most surrounding operators, many already tied to Meitetsu by capital, merged in by agreement — though Seto Electric Railway (1939) and Mikawa Railroad (1941), the two independents among them, took hard bargaining, the latter settled only through Railway Ministry mediation. With Chita Railway (1943), these mergers brought in today's Seto, Mikawa and Kōwa lines. The underground Shin-Nagoya terminal (now Meitetsu Nagoya) opened beside the national railway's Nagoya Station on 12 August 1941, and on 1 September 1944 the east–west connecting line to Jingū-mae joined the two systems at Kanayama — though the 600 V Western Lines could not yet run through to the 1,500 V Eastern Lines. On 16 May 1948 the main western routes were raised to 1,500 V, through services began across the network, and the Toyohashi–Shin-Gifu corridor was named the Nagoya Main Line.

Postwar Meitetsu diversified — the Meitetsu Department Store opened above Shin-Nagoya Station in 1954 — while modernizing its trains: the 5500 series of 1959 brought Japan's first no-supplement air-conditioned production cars, and in June 1961 the 7000 series 'Panorama Car', with its front observation lounge, entered Nagoya Main Line expresses as top speeds rose to 110 km/h. Meitetsu is famous for its red trains, nearly all of them built by Nippon Sharyo. Through running onto the JNR Takayama Main Line resumed in 1965 and lasted, latterly as the 'Kita-Alps', until 2001. After the 1973 oil shock the company refocused on commuter transport, introducing true three-door commuter cars (the 6000 series) in 1976, extending the Seto Line under downtown to Sakaemachi in 1978, and opening the Toyota New Line in 1979 for its first subway through service, with the Tsurumai Line. Regular freight ended in 1984, and the 1000 series 'Panorama Super' of 1988 took main-line expresses to 120 km/h from 1990.

Having inherited many loss-making lines through its many mergers, and facing strong car competition in the home prefecture of Japan's automobile industry, Meitetsu pruned its network from 1988 onward, eventually closing about one fifth of its entire system, including the Tanigumi Line and other Gifu-area lines. On 29 January 2005 the Airport Line opened with the new 2000 series 'μ-Sky', making Meitetsu the only railway serving Chubu Centrair International Airport when it opened that February; that April the remaining 600 V lines around Gifu were abolished, leaving an all-1,500 V network and dropping Meitetsu below Tobu, to third place by route length among non-JR private railways. The Panorama Car ended regular service on 27 December 2008 after nearly half a century. The manaca IC card arrived in 2011, and over December 2024 – January 2025 the head office moved to the Enishio Meieki building in Nagoya's Meieki district.

• 189425 June: the company's origin, Aichi Basha Tetsudō (Aichi Horsecar Company), was established to operate horse-drawn trams in Nagoya.
• 1898Nagoya Electric Railway (renamed from Aichi Basha Tetsudō in 1896) began Japan's second electric tram service, after Kyoto Electric Railway.
• 191021 November: Aichi Electric Railway ('Aiden'), the eastern forerunner of Meitetsu, was established to develop the western Chita Peninsula; it completed the present Tokoname Line in 1913.
• 192113 June: the (first) Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd. was established to take over Nagoya Electric Railway's suburban lines — the legal establishment date of the present company.
• 19271 June: Aichi Electric Railway completed the Toyohashi Line from Jingū-mae to Yoshida (now Toyohashi); its limited expresses' scheduled speed of 59 km/h was the fastest in Japan at the time.
• 19351 August: Nagi Railway (renamed from the old Nagoya Railroad after it absorbed Mino Electric Tramway in 1930) and Aichi Electric Railway merged as equals, creating the present Nagoya Railroad Co., Ltd.; Kiyoshige Aikawa became its first president.
• 194112 August: the New Nagoya underground tunnel was completed and the underground Shin-Nagoya Station (now Meitetsu Nagoya) opened beside the national railway's Nagoya Station.
• 19441 September: the east–west connecting line between Shin-Nagoya and Jingū-mae opened, joining the former Nagi ('Western') and former Aiden ('Eastern') networks at Kanayama.
• 194816 May: the main Western Lines were raised to 1,500 V and through running between the western and eastern networks began; the Shin-Gifu–Toyohashi route was named the Nagoya Main Line.
• 196112 June: the 7000 series 'Panorama Car', with its front observation lounge, entered Nagoya Main Line limited express service, and the maximum speed was raised to 110 km/h.
• 197929 July: the Toyota New Line opened and Meitetsu's first urban mutual through service began, with the Nagoya Municipal Subway Tsurumai Line.
• 19841 January: regular freight operations were abolished, though rolling-stock transfer trains continue to run.
• 200529 January: the Airport Line opened with the new 2000 series 'μ-Sky', serving Chubu Centrair International Airport from its February opening; on 1 April the 600 V lines around Gifu were abolished, leaving an all-1,500 V network and dropping Meitetsu to third place by route length among non-JR private railways.
• 200827 December: the Panorama Car 7000 series ended regular service; apart from the μ-Sky, all limited expresses now combined reserved 'special' and ordinary cars.