Nishinomiya Station (JR West)

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This article is about JR Nishinomiya Station. For Hanshin Nishinomiya Station, see Nishinomiya Station (Hanshin).
JR Nishinomiya Station - North Entrance (JR西宮駅 - 北口)
JR Nishinomiya Station - North Entrance (JR西宮駅 - 北口)
JR Nishinomiya Station - South Entrance (JR西宮駅 - 南口)
JR Nishinomiya Station - South Entrance (JR西宮駅 - 南口)

Nishinomiya Station (西宮駅 Nishinomiya-eki?) is a train station located in Ikeda-chō (池田町), Nishinomiya City, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan operated by the West Japan Railway Company. The station is on the JR Kobe Line which runs between Osaka Station and Himeji Station; part of the main Tōkaidō Line. As a part of the JR West Urban Network, the following cards are accepted: J-Thru Card, ICOCA, Suica, and PiTaPa.

From 1874, when passenger service began at Nishinomiya Station, the official name included the katakana character "ノ" (no) to indicate the correct pronunciation of the name, 西ノ宮駅. However, for many years, Nishinomiya (西宮) City has been requesting that the "ノ" be removed to match the city's name. On March 18, 2007, in coordination with the opening of Sakura Shukugawa Station, the official name was changed to 西宮駅.

Contents

[edit] Station Layout and Design

[edit] Station Placement

Most of the JR Kobe Line runs on four tracks, or fukufukusen in Japanese, meaning that there are two tracks for each direction. Similar to other stations such as Sannomiya Station, Nishinomiya Station is of the island type, with two above-ground platforms which service four tracks. The inner tracks, Nos. 2 and 3, are for Local (普通 futsū) and Rapid Service trains, which do stop at this station. On the outside tracks, Nos. 1 and 4, Special Rapid Service and Limited Express trains pass and do not stop.

[edit] Gates

The station has only one gate, with two entrances. Entrances are located on the north and south sides of the station. The gate is located one flight down from ground level. After passing through the gate, a passenger must take the stairs, escalator or elevator up to the platform.

[edit] Ticket Office

Nishinomiya Station has a Midori-no-Madoguchi, which is the JR ticket office. It is open everyday from 05:30 until 23:00.

[edit] Train Platforms

　　1　　 ■ JR Kobe Line
(Tōkaidō Line)		 Rapid Service (rush hour only) for Ashiya, Sannomiya, Kōbe, Akashi, Nishi-Akashi, Kakogawa, Himeji
　　2　　 ■ JR Kobe Line
(Tōkaidō Line)		 Local, Rapid Service for Ashiya, Sannomiya, Kōbe, Akashi, Nishi-Akashi, Kakogawa, Himeji
　　3　　 ■ JR Kobe Line
(Tōkaidō Line)		 Local, Rapid Service for Amagasaki, Ōsaka, Shin-Ōsaka, Takatsuki, Kyōto
　　4　　 ■ JR Kobe Line
(Tōkaidō Line)		 Rapid Service (rush hour only) for Amagasaki, Ōsaka, Shin-Ōsaka, Takatsuki, Kyōto

During rush hour, Track Nos. 1 and 4 are used for Rapid Service, while Local trains stop at Track Nos. 2 and 3. This allows people to transfer quickly from Local to Rapid Service trains, and allows the Rapid Service trains to pass ahead of the Local trains, which operate on the same track, unlike the Special Rapid Service and Limited Express trains. During the afternoon and night hours, when there is less traffic, Rapid Service trains stop at Track Nos. 2 and 3 only, and Track Nos. 1 and 4 are roped off as they are not in use.

Nishinomiya Station also has two short spurs that allow non-passenger trains (e.g. freight or maintenance) to stop and allow other traffic to pass.

[edit] Adjacent stations

« Service »
JR Kōbe Line (Tōkaidō Main Line)
Special Rapid: no stop
Amagasaki   Rapid   Ashiya
Kōshienguchi   Local   Sakura Shukugawa

[edit] Area Around the Station

[edit] Inside the Station

  • Daily-In

[edit] North Exit

  • FamilyMart
  • Nishinomiya Police Station
  • Nishinomiya Shinmei Post Office

[edit] South Exit

  • Route 2
  • FamilyMart
  • Frente Nishinomiya
  • Nishinomiya Ekimae Post Office
  • Nishinomiya Fire Station

[edit] Bus Routes

[edit] North Exit

Hankyū Bus (Nishinomiya City Inner Line)
  • Boarding Area No. 1
  • Boarding Area No. 2
  • Nos. 22・23・23A Asanagi-chō (via Nishinomiya City Hall (Hanshin Nishinomiya East Exit), Seiseikōrin Hall (Only on days the Hall is open))
  • No. 26 Hanshin Nishinomiya Station (via Nishinomiya Shiyakusho Mae)
  • No. 1・2 Gokaike (via Sakura Shukugawa Station, Hankyū Shukugawa Station・Nishinomiya Kabutoyama Kōkō Mae, Kabutoyama Boen Mae)
  • No. 6 Hankyū Shukugawa Station (via Nishinomiya Shiyakusho Mae, Hanshin Kōroen Station)
  • No. 7 Hankyū Shukugawa Station (via Egami-chō, JR Sakura Shukugawa Station)
Hanshin Bus

[edit] South Exit

Hanshin Railway Bus
Hanshin Bus
  • Nishinomiya Danchi Line
  • Hamakōshien Danchi (via Kamikōshien, Hanshin Kōshien Station)
  • Nishinomiya Hamate Line (Marine Park Line)
  • Marine Park South (Loop via Hanshin Nishinomiya Station East Exit, Nishinomiya Ōhashi South, Nishinomiyahama East No. 4)
  • Marine Park South (Loop via Hanshin Nishinomiya Station East Exit, Nishinomiya Ōhashi South, Nishinomiyahama Center)
  • Hanshin Nishinomiya Station
Airport Limousine
  • Hankyū Bus
  • Hanshin Railway Bus
  • Ōsaka Municipal Transportation
  • Kansai Airport Transportation
  • Nankai Bus

[edit] History

Originally built around Nishinomiya Jinja as an inn town for travelers going further west and for those going to the east and central parts of Japan, beginning in the Edo period, Nishinomiya flourished as an important trading port and fishing harbor, and because the population was large, a train station was placed there. Originally, it is said, that a Katakana character "ノ" was inserted into the station's name in accordance with the policy of the original national railway company because people from Tōkyō couldn't read the names correctly. In the same way, when JR Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅) began operations, the "ノ" was also included. However, truth behind this is not clearly known. Furthermore, at JR West's Nishinomiya Najio Station (西宮名塩駅) on the Fukuchiyama Line (福知山線, JR Takarazuka Line (JR宝塚線)), when operations began in 1986, a "ノ" was never included.

Unlike Hanshin Electric Railway, which was built after the opening of JR Nishinomiya and ran directly between Osaka and Kobe, at the time passenger service began, JR Nishinomiya Station was built away from the city's center in a slightly agricultural area. The rail that passed through divided the city north and south, it is said that this caused the flow of people to begin moving east and west.

Later, after the construction of the Tōkaidō Line through to Kobe, [[Hanshin Electric Railway|Hanshin Electric Railway and Hankyu Railway each built their own lines connecting Osaka to Kobe. In the same area as JR Nishinomiya Station, Hanshin Nishinomiya Station and Hankyū Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station were built, which decentralized rail service in Nishinomiya City, and provided customers other rail service options. Previously, there was a Hanshin Nishinomiya-Higashiguchi Station , however in March 2003, that station has since been closed and operations consolidated to Hanshin Nishinomiya Station. In 1920, Hankyū Shukugawa Station opened for passenger service, adding a fourth station in the area.

In a similar way, JR Kōshienguchi Station (JR甲子園口駅) built adjacent to JR Nishinomiya Station (JR西ノ宮駅), when it began operation is 1934, the number of passengers using that station quickly exceeded that of JR Nishinomiya Station (JR西ノ宮駅). During era of Japan National Railways (JNR, 日本国有鉄道), that number was approximately double.

In 1957, a study was conducted to find a station that would be suitable as a Rapid Service (快速) stop. An argument unfolded between the adjacent Ashiya Station (芦屋駅) and Nishinomiya Station (西ノ宮駅). In the end, it was decided that Rapid Service trains running on the inner tracks of the four track line, the Local service tracks, would stop at Ashiya Station. The Rapid Service trains operating on the two outer tracks would stop at Nishinomiya Station. However, in 2003, it was decided that all Local (普通) and Rapid Service (快速) trains would stop at both stations.

With the area around the station quickly becoming developed, and with the aforementioned fact that all Rapid Service (快速) trains stop at Nishinomiya Station (西ノ宮駅), the difference between the number of passengers using Nishinomiya Station (西ノ宮駅) and JR Kōshienguchi Station (JR甲子園口駅) suddenly began shrinking.

On 18-MAR-2007, in coordination with the beginning of passenger service at JR Sakura Shukugawa Station (JRさくら夙川駅), at the request of Nishinomiya City (西宮市), the "ノ" was removed from the station's name and renamed 西宮駅. However, there has been no discussion of removing the "ノ" from the name of JR Sannomiya Station (JR三ノ宮駅) for similar reasons as with Nishinomiya Station.

From 1926 to 1975, on Japan Route 2, which passes in front of the station, there used to be an inner-city street car which shared the road with other vehicle traffic.

  • The closest street car stop to the then Nishinomiya Station (西ノ宮駅) was named Nishinomiya Ekimae (西宮駅前), without the "ノ", did not indicate the street car stop was in front of Hanshin Nishinomiya Station (阪神西宮駅). The street car stop in front of that station was named Nishinomiya Ebisu (西宮戎).
  • After Hanshin Electric Railway (阪神電気鉄道) took down both street car stops, Nishinomiya Ekimae (西宮駅前) and Nishinomiya Ebisu (西宮戎), Hanshin Railway Bus (阪神電鉄バス) took them over as stops on their Amagasaki-Kobe Line (尼崎神戸線). At the south exit to the station, a roundabout was built, and the Nishinomiya Ekimae (西宮駅前) bus stop was moved to this location and renamed to Kokudō JR Nishinomiya Eki Mae (国道JR西宮駅前). In addition, on the inside of the roundabout, another bus stop was established with the name JR Nishinomiya Ekimae (JR西宮駅前), allowing busses running in both directions to be able to line up outside the station at one place. In either case, both bus stops were called Nishinomiya Ekimae (西宮駅前), without the "ノ" even during the time when the station name itself was written with it.

[edit] Other Information

[edit] External links

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Stations of the JR West JR Kobe Line (Tōkaidō Main Line • Sanyō Main Line)
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