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The Kōbe Main Line (神戸本線, Kōbe Honsen)ofHankyu Railway is one of the three major commuter heavy rail lines in the Keihanshin conurbation of Japan. It links the urban centres of Osaka and Kobe by connecting the major stations of Umeda in Osaka and Sannomiya in Kobe.
| Hankyu Kobe Main Line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
An 8000 series EMU on a local service
| |||
| Overview | |||
| Native name | 阪急神戸本線 | ||
| Locale | Kansai | ||
| Termini |
| ||
| Stations | 19 | ||
| Service | |||
| Operator(s) | Hankyu Railway | ||
| Depot(s) | Nishinomiya Depot | ||
| Rolling stock | 1000 series EMU 3000 Series EMU 6000 Series EMU 7000 Series EMU 8000 Series EMU 8200 Series EMU 9000 Series EMU | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 32.3 km (20.1 mi) | ||
| Number of tracks | Double | ||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Electrification | 1500 volts DC, overhead lines | ||
| Operating speed | 115 km/h (71 mph) | ||
| |||
The Hanshin Electric Railway Main Line and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) Tokaido Main Line (this section nicknamed JR Kobe Line) are the two lines parallel to the Hankyu Kobe Line within a short distance of each other.
The line is commonly called Kobe Line (神戸線, Kōbe sen) for short, but in the broader sense 'Kobe Line' refers to the entire network of the trunk Kobe Main Line and connecting branch lines of Itami, Imazu and Kōyō Lines.
At the Kobe end of the line some trains continue through onto the Kobe Rapid Railway, an underground line allowing interchange between the lines of several commuter rail companies operating in Kobe.
The Kobe Main Line has interchanges at several of its stations with other lines operated by Hankyu. The Hankyu main lines to Kyoto and Takarazuka share stations at Umeda and Juso with the Kobe Line. The other lines with connections to the Kobe line are smaller lines with only local trains: the Itami Line connects at Tsukaguchi, the Imazu Line at Nishinomiya-kitaguchi and the Koyo Line at Shukugawa.
The Umeda - Juso section was opened in 1910 as part of the Hankyu Takarazuka Line.
The Juso - Oji-Koen section opened as a 1435mm gauge line electrified at 600 VDC in 1920. In 1926 the line was duplicated, and in 1936 it was extended to Kobe Sannomiya. In 1967 the voltage was increased to 1500 VDC.
Until 1936, the line's terminal in Kobe was in Kamitsutsui. As a branch of the main line, the 1 km (0.62 mi) line between Oji-Koen Station and Kamitsutsui Station continued to provide a connection to the Kobe tram network until 1941.
The Kobe Main Line was damaged by the Great Hanshin earthquake in January 1995. Restoration work on the Kobe Line took 7 months to complete.[1]
Station numbering was introduced on 21 December 2013.[2]
A new station will be built near the Muko River between Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi and Tsukaguchi. The project, which includes a bicycle parking lot and reconstruction of the surrounding roads, is expected to cost ¥6 billion.[3] Agreements to build the station were signed by the railway and the national treasury was signed in October 2022.
During the day, only local trains (普通) and limited express trains (特急) which stop only at major stations along the line, are operated. Other commuter and express services operate only early mornings, commuting times, and late nights.[4]
| No. | Station | Native Name | km | Semi-Express | Commuter Express | Express | Semi-Limited Express | Commuter Limited Express | Limited Express | Connections | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobe Line | ||||||||||||
| HK-01 | Osaka-Umeda | 大阪梅田 | 0.0 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
|
Kita-ku, Osaka | Osaka |
| HK-02 | Nakatsu | 中津 | 0.9 | ↑ | | | | | | | | | | | |||
| HK-03 | Jūsō | 十三 | 2.4 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | Yodogawa-ku, Osaka | ||
| HK-04 | Kanzakigawa | 神崎川 | 4.1 | ↑ | | | | | | | | | | | |||
| HK-05 | Sonoda | 園田 | 7.2 | ↑ | | | | | | | | | | | Amagasaki | Hyōgo | |
| HK-06 | Tsukaguchi | 塚口 | 10.2 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | | | |||
| HK-07 | Mukonosō | 武庫之荘 | 12.3 | ↑ | ● | | | | | | | | | |||
| HK-08 | Nishinomiya-kitaguchi | 西宮北口 | 15.6 | ↑ | ● | ◆ | ● | ● | ● | Nishinomiya | ||
| HK-09 | Shukugawa | 夙川 | 18.3 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||||
| HK-10 | Ashiyagawa | 芦屋川 | 21.0 | ● | ● | | | | | | | Ashiya | |||
| HK-11 | Okamoto | 岡本 | 23.4 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | Higashinada-ku, Kobe | |||
| HK-12 | Mikage | 御影 | 25.6 | ● | ● | | | | | | | ||||
| HK-13 | Rokko | 六甲 | 27.4 | ● | ● | ● | | | | | Nada-ku, Kobe | |||
| HK-14 | Oji-Koen | 王子公園 | 29.2 | ● | ● | | | | | | | ||||
| HK-15 | Kasuganomichi | 春日野道 | 30.7 | ● | ● | | | | | | | Chūō-ku, Kobe | |||
| HK-16 | Kobe Sannomiya | 神戸三宮 | 32.3 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| |||
| Kobe Kosoku Line | ||||||||||||
| HK-17 | Hanakuma | 花隈 | 33.6 | ● | ● | ● | ● | Chūō-ku, Kobe | Hyōgo | |||
| HS 35 | Kosoku Kobe | 高速神戸 | 34.5 | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| ||||
| HS 36 | Shinkaichi | 新開地 | 35.1 | ● | ● | ● | ● |
|
Hyōgo-ku, Kobe | |||
| Through services: | From Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi:
Semi-Express from
(Extra services) Express trains: | |||||||||||
