, publicly trading as , is a private railway company operating around Aichi Prefecture and Gifu Prefecture of Japan.

Meitetsu, headquartered in Nagoya, is a core company of the Meitetsu Group which is involved in transport, retail, hotels, leisure/tourism and real estate, among other industries.

Meitetsu is famous for its red trains, with almost all trains being either fully red or feature red in combination with white, black or unpainted stainless steel. Apart from special liveries, the only current train type to not feature red is the 2000 series "μ-Sky" trains used on Airport Line Limited Express services which feature a blue and white livery. The 300 series used on the through service to the Nagoya Municipal Subway Kamiiida Line has unpainted stainless steel with a thick pink stripe (the line colour of the Kamiiida Line) below a thin red stripe.

As of March 2025, Meitetsu, as one of the largest private railway companies in Japan, operated 20 railway lines, of track, 276 stations, and 1,080 train cars.

Over time, Meitetsu has acquired many small railway and interurban companies in the Nagoya area, many of whom were constructed and operated before and during World War II. For example, Meitetsu acquired its Kōwa Line on the Chita Peninsula from its merger with Chita Railroad on February 1, 1943, and it acquired its Mikawa Line from its merger with Mikawa Railroad.

Meitetsu's red trains include its famous 7000 series "Panorama Car" (which was retired in 2009 after a career lasting nearly half a century) and the Panorama Car Super, both of which offered panoramic views through their wide front windows. The most recent cars, however, are not solid red but rather brushed steel as in the case of the 4000 series and 5000 series, or white as in the case of the 1700 series and 2000 series.

While the company used to engage in the freight business and still possesses some freight locomotives, it no longer carries freight on a regular basis.

Lines

thumb|300px|Line map

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Direction

! Name

! Japanese

! Terminals

! Length (km)

|-

| Main

|

| 名古屋本線

| Toyohashi - Meitetsu Gifu

| 99.8

|-

| rowspan="5" | Eastern Aichi (Mikawa)

|

|豊川線

|Kō - Toyokawa-inari

|7.2

|-

|

|西尾線

|Shin Anjō - Kira Yoshida

|24.7

|-

|

|蒲郡線

|Kira Yoshida - Gamagōri

|17.6

|-

|

|三河線

|Sanage - Hekinan

|39.8

|-

|

| 犬山線

| Biwajima Junction - Shin Unuma

| 26.8

|-

|

| 各務原線

| Meitetsu Gifu - Shin Unuma

| 17.6

|-

|

| 広見線

| Inuyama - Mitake

| 22.3

|-

|

| 小牧線

| Kami Iida - Inuyama

| 20.4

|-

|

| 竹鼻線

| Kasamatsu - Egira

| 10.3

|-

|

| 羽島線

| Egira - Shin Hashima

| 1.3

|}

Major stations

thumb|300px|The Meitetsu limited express network

Major stations in Nagoya

  • NH36 : Meitetsu Nagoya Station
  • NH34 : Kanayama Station
  • NH33 : Jingū-mae Station
  • ST01 :

Nagoya Line (east side) and Toyokawa Line

  • NH01 : Toyohashi Station (Toyohashi)
  • NH13 : Higashi Okazaki Station (Okazaki)
  • NH17 : Shin Anjō Station (Anjō)
  • NH19 : Chiryū Station (Chiryū)
  • NH23 : Zengo Station (Toyoake)
  • TK04 : Toyokawa-inari Station (Toyokawa)

Tokoname Line, Chikkō Line, and Airport Line

  • TA09 : Ōtagawa Station (Tokai)
  • TA12 : Asakura Station (Chita)
  • TA22 : Tokoname Station (Tokoname)
  • TA24 : Central Japan International Airport Station

Kōwa Line and Chita New Line

  • KC08 : Agui Station (Agui)
  • KC12 : Chita Handa Station (Handa)
  • KC16 : Chita Taketoyo Station (Taketoyo)
  • KC19 : Kōwa Station (Mihama)
  • KC24 : Utsumi Station (Minami Chita)

Mikawa Line, Toyota Line, Nishio Line, and Gamagōri Line

  • MY07 : Toyotashi Station (Toyota)
  • TT06 : Nisshin Station (Nisshin)
  • MU02 : Kariya Station (Kariya)
  • MU06 : Mikawa Takahama Station (Takahama)
  • MU10 : Hekinan-chūō Station (Hekinan)
  • GN10 : Nishio Station (Nishio)
  • GN13 : Kira Yoshida Station
  • GN22 : Gamagōri Station (Gamagōri)

Nagoya Line (west side), Takehana Line, and Hashima Line

  • NH42 : Sukaguchi Station (Kiyosu)
  • NH47 : Kōnomiya Station (Inazawa)
  • NH50 : Meitetsu Ichinomiya Station (Ichinomiya)
  • NH56 : Kasamatsu Station (Kasamatsu)
  • NH60 : Meitetsu Gifu Station (Gifu)
  • TH07 : Hashima-shiyakusho-mae Station (Hashima)

Tsushima Line and Bisai Line

  • TB01 : Jimokuji Station (Ama)
  • TB07 : Tsushima Station (Tsushima)
  • TB09 : Saya Station (Aisai)
  • TB11 : Yatomi Station (Yatomi)
  • BS06 : Morikami Station
  • BS23 : Okuchō Station

Inuyama Line, Kakamigahara Line, and Hiromi Line

  • IY03 : Kami Otai Station
  • IY04 : Nishiharu Station (Kitanagoya)
  • IY07 : Iwakura Station (Iwakura)
  • IY10 : Kōnan Station (Kōnan)
  • IY15 : Inuyama Station (Inuyama)
  • IY17 : Shin Unuma Station
  • KG06 : Mikakino Station
  • KG08 : Kakamigahara-Shiyakusho-mae Station (Kakamigahara)
  • HM06 : Shin Kani Station (Kani)
  • HM10 : Mitake Station (Mitake)

Komaki Line

  • KM06 : Komaki Station (Komaki)
  • KM13 : Kami Iida Station

Seto Line

  • ST06 : Ōzone Station
  • ST15 : Owari Asahi Station (Owariasahi)
  • ST20 : Owari Seto Station (Seto)

Rolling stock

[[File:Meitetsu 1000 & 2000 series 001.JPG|thumb|right|Meitetsu 1000 series "Panorama Super" (left) and 2000 series "Airport Limited Express [μSky]" (right)]]

Nippon Sharyo has produced nearly every car that Meitetsu operates or has operated, a notable exception being its Class EL120, an electric locomotive, which was produced by Toshiba, but very few units were produced for Meitetsu. The Class EL120 is one of the few locomotives that Meitetsu possesses.

The following are the train types that Meitetsu operates today, as well as selected types that Meitetsu has retired.

Limited express

  • 1200 and 1230 series "Panorama Super"
  • 1800/1850 series
  • 2000 series "μ-Sky"
  • 2200/2300 series

Commuter

thumb|Meitetsu 5000 series commuter train

  • 100/200 series
  • 300 series
  • 3100/3500/3700 series
  • 3150 series
  • 3300 series
  • 4000 series
  • 5000 series (2008)
  • 6000/6500/6800 series
  • 9100/9500 series

Withdrawn train types

thumb|Meitetsu 7000 series "Panorama Car" train

  • 1380 series
  • 1600 series "Panorama Super"
  • 1700 series
  • 7000 series "Panorama Car"
  • 5000 series (1955)
  • 5300/5700 series

Electric locomotives

  • Meitetsu DeKi 300
  • Meitetsu DeKi 400
  • Meitetsu DeKi 600
  • Meitetsu Class EL120

Rationalization

thumb|Line map of Meitetsu closed lines

thumb|Tamatsu-ura Station, one of the stations that were closed due to low passengers

Meitetsu inherited many deficit lines as a result of multiple mergers. The railway lines were also seeing competition from cars due to Aichi prefecture's notable automobile industry in cities such as Toyota. Meitetsu has abolished over 15 lines over the past 70 years, while also closing sections with low ridership. Additionally, with the collapse of the asset price bubble in the 1990s, and the privatization of JNR, formation of Central Japan Railway Company, the company also cut the number of companies in its corporate group from 250 to 139.

References

  • Nagoya Railroad (English Official Site)
  • Nagoya Railroad (Japanese Official Site)
  • Museum Meiji Village