Hankyū Kobe Main Line

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Map of major Hankyu lines, with Kobe Line and branch lines in blue
Map of major Hankyu lines, with Kobe Line and branch lines in blue

The Kōbe Main Line (神戸本線 Kōbe Honsen?) of Hankyu Railway is one of the three major commuter heavy rail line 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.

Hanshin Electric Railway Hanshin Main Line and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) Tokaido Main Line (this section nicknamed JR Kobe Line) are the two lines perpendicular to the Hankyu Kobe Line with short distances.

Contents

[edit] Definition

The line is commonly called Kobe Line (神戸線 Kōbe sen?) for short, but 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.

[edit] Network

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.

[edit] Train services

Regular train services on the lines come in two kinds: the local (普通) service which stops at all stations, and the limited express (特急) which stops only at major stations along the line. Other commuter and express services operate only during limited time periods:

  • Expresses (急行) are operated from Umeda to Sannomiya every night. They also operate from Sannomiya to Umeda every morning, and Rapid Expresses (快速急行) every night.
  • The only Rapid Express (快速急行) from Shinkaichi for Umeda is operated every early morning and late in the evening.
  • Commutation Expresses (通勤急行, simply "Express") are operated on weekdays from Sannomiya to Umeda in the morning, and from Umeda to Sannomiya in the evening and at night.
  • Morning Commutation Limited Expresses (通勤特急, simply "Limited Express") are operated in both directions on weekday mornings.
  • Semi-Expresses (準急) are operated from Takarazuka on the Imazu Line to Umeda on weekday mornings.
  • Maximum speed: 115km/h

[edit] Stations

  • x: stop
  • | (^): pass (in only one direction)
  • Shukugawa Station became one of the stops of the Limited Express trains and the Morning Limited Express trains on October 28, 2006. (On the same day of the changing diagrams of the Takarazuka Line.)
Station km Semi-
Express
準急		 Commutation Express
通勤急行		 Express
急行		 Rapid Express
快速急行		 Morning Commutation Limited Express
通勤特急		 Limited Express
特急		 Connections Location
Kobe Line
Umeda
梅田		 0.0 x x x x x x Kita-ku, Osaka Osaka Prefecture
Nakatsu
中津		 0.9 ^
|		 | | | | |  
Jūsō
十三		 2.4 x x x x x x Yodogawa-ku, Osaka
Kanzakigawa
神崎川		 4.1 ^
|		 | | | | |  
Sonoda
園田		 7.2 ^
|		 | | | | |   Amagasaki Hyogo Prefecture
Tsukaguchi
塚口		 10.2 x x x x x |
Mukonoso
武庫之荘		 12.3 ^
|		 x | | | |  
Nishinomiya-kitaguchi
西宮北口		 15.6 ^
|		 x x x x x Nishinomiya
Shukugawa
夙川		 18.3 from Takarazuka, the Imazu Line x x x x x
  • Hankyu Koyo Line
Ashiyagawa
芦屋川		 21.0   x x | | |   Ashiya
Okamoto
岡本		 23.4 x x x x x   Higashi-
nada-ku, Kobe
Mikage
御影		 25.6 x x | | |  
Rokko
六甲		 27.4 x x x | |   Nada-ku, Kobe
Oji-Koen
王子公園		 29.2 x x | | |  
Kasuganomichi
春日野道		 30.7 x x | | |   Chūō-ku, Kobe
Sannomiya
三宮		 32.3 x x x x x
Kobe Rapid Railway Tozai Line
Hanakuma
花隈		 33.6     x x x x   Chūō-ku, Kobe Hyogo Prefecture
Kosoku Kobe
高速神戸		 34.5 x x x x
Shinkaichi
新開地		 35.1 x x x x Hyōgo-ku, Kobe

[edit] See also

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