The Meishō Line (名松線) is a rural, regional railway line of Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in Mie Prefecture, Japan, connecting Matsusaka station in Matsusaka and Ise-Okitsu station in Tsu. The line takes its name from the kanji characters of the cities of Nabari (名張) and Matsusaka (松阪). Although this line was planned to connect them, the section from Ise-Okitsu to Nabari was never built, due to the prior completion of the present Kintetsu Osaka Line.

History

The section between Matsusaka and Ieki opened in stages between 1929 and 1931, and was extended to Ise-Okitsu in 1935. Freight services ceased in 1965.

Former connecting lines

Service disruptions

Damage from Typhoon Vera closed the line between Ise-Takehara and Ise-Okitsu for two months in 1959. The entire line was closed for nine months in 1982–83 due to damage caused by Typhoon Bess. In October 2009, Typhoon Melor struck the area, resulting in over 40 washouts on the section between Ieki and Ise-Okitsu, and the section remained closed for six years after. A rail replacement bus served the section during its closure. The section reopened in March 2016. During the summer in 2016, some of the KiHa 11 units, used on the line were unavailable due to inspections so KiHa 25 series DMUs were deployed to temporarily replace them, until they returned to service.

Basic data

Service

The Meishō Line is a rural line in the inland of Mie Prefecture. There are eight return workings a day. All trains are Local driver-only services and stop at every station. There are no limited-stop services such as rapids. Services are nearly always formed of single-car KiHa 11 series DMUs, though two cars may occasionally be used during events or busy seasons.

Stations

All stations are located in Mie Prefecture.