Nose Electric Railway

Nose Electric Railway logo

The Nose Electric Railway Co., Ltd. (能勢電鉄株式会社 Nose (pronounced No-say) Dentetsu) , occasionally abbreviated as Nose Railway or Noseden (能勢電), is a Japanese private railway company headquartered in Kawanishi, Hyogo, which links several areas in the mountainous Nose, Osaka, area to Kawanishi-noseguchi Station in Kawanishi, where one can transfer to Hankyu Takarazuka Line to Osaka.

Nose Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hankyu Railway. A rush-hour special express train, the Nissei Limited Express, operates from Nissei-chuo Station to Umeda Station, the terminal of Hankyu in Osaka, in the morning and back again in the evening for commuters.

Nose Railway uses second-hand EMUs of Hankyu. Nose Railway's series 1500, 1700 and 3100 cars are originally Hankyu 2100, 2000 and 3100 series respectively. The trains operate on 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) track.

Lines and stations

Nose Railway lines in red, with Hankyu Railway network

Nose Railway has two lines:

The former is the main route and the latter branches off at Yamashita Station.

In addition to the railway, Nose Railway operates a funicular (Myoken Cable) and a chairlift (Myoken Lift).

History

The Kawanishi-noseguchi - Ichinotorii section opened in 1913, electrified at 600 VDC. Due to the cost of construction, the company experienced financial difficulty and it was not until the Hankyu Railway Co. made an equity injection that the extension to Myōkenguchi was able to be opened in 1923.

The line originally featured 52 curves of less than 100m radius, and as the patronage increased due to the growth of Greater Osaka after 1945, the line has been progressively upgraded, including the duplication of the Kawanishi-noseguchi - Hirano section between 1967 and 1969, extended to Yamashita in 1977 in conjunction with the opening of the Nissei line (as dual track) the following year. The line voltage was increased to 1500 VDC in 1995.

Former connecting lines

A 700m line connected Kawanishi-noseguchi to Kawanishi Ikeda on the Fukuchiyama Line between 1917 and 1981.

Proposed connecting line

A proposal to extend the line from Kawanishi-noseguchi to the Hankyu Itami Line was first raised in 1922, and reconsidered in 1956 before being abandoned in 1958.

Operations

No. Station Japanese Distance (km) Local Myōken Express Nissei Express Limited Express Connections Location
Myoken Line
Through section Umeda (Hankyu)
NS01 Kawanishi-noseguchi 川西能勢口 0.0 S S S S
  • Hankyu Takarazuka Line
 Kawanishi Hyōgo Prefecture
NS02 Kinunobebashi 絹延橋 1.2 S ↑ ↑ |  
NS03 Takiyama 滝山 2.1 S ↑ ↑ |  
NS04 Uguisunomori 鶯の森 2.7 S ↑ ↑ |  
NS05 Tsuzumigataki 鼓滝 3.5 S ↑ ↑ |  
NS06 Tada 多田 4.2 S ↑ ↑ |  
NS07 Hirano 平野 5.2 S S S S  
NS08 Ichinotorii 一の鳥居 6.4 S S ↑ |  
NS09 Uneno 畦野 7.1 S S S S  
NS10 Yamashita 山下 8.2 S S S S
  • Nissei Line
NS11 Sasabe 笹部 8.6 S S Nissei Line Nissei Line  
NS12 Kōfūdai 光風台 10.3 S S   Toyono, Toyono District Osaka Prefecture
NS13 Tokiwadai ときわ台 11.2 S S  
NS14 Myōkenguchi 妙見口 12.2 S S
  • Myoken Cable
Nissei Line
NS21 Nissei-chuo 日生中央 2.6 (from Yamashita) S S S Inagawa, Kawabe District Hyōgo Prefecture

Myoken Cable and Myoken Lift

Station Japanese Connections Location
Myoken Cable
Kurokawa 黒川
  • Myoken Line via walk
 Kawanishi, Hyōgo
Cable Sanjō ケーブル山上
  • Myoken Lift via walk
Myōken Lift
Myōken-no-mizu Hiroba-mae 妙見の水広場前
  • Myoken Cable via walk
 Kawanishi, Hyōgo
Myōkensan 妙見山  

Rolling stock

See also

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia