The is a 9.3 km long

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

line in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan owned and operated by the private railway operator

Hankyu Railway , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Gro ...

. It is the longest of three branchlines of the

Hankyu Kobe Line , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of the flagship properties of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., in turn part of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group ...

. The line connects the

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Nishinomiya 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of ...

and Takarazuka.

Operation

The Imazu Line runs between Imazu Station and

Takarazuka Station refers to either of the following two adjoining train stations in Takarazuka, Japan, one operated by West Japan Railway Company, the other by Hankyu Railway. West Japan Railway Company Lines Takarazuka Station operated by West Japan Railway ...

. However, no trains run directly from one end to the other because the tracks have split since 1984 at

Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Nishinomiya Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the private transportation company Hankyu Railway.It is one of the main stations in Nishinomiya City, with Hanshin Nishin ...

, where the line crosses the Kobe Line. Typical Imazu Line trains stop every station between Imazu and Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi (south section) or Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi and Takarazuka (north section). A small number of trains, called Semi-Express (''junkyū''), run from Takarazuka Station to

Umeda Station is a railway station in Kita-ku in the northern commercial center of Osaka, Japan. It is the busiest station in western Japan, serving 2,343,727 passengers daily in 2005. Umeda Station is served by the following railways: * Hankyu Railway ( K ...

(Hankyu's main terminal in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

) on weekdays not via the Takarazuka Line, but via the Imazu Line and the Kobe Line. Semi-Express trains of this route do not stop at Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station because of the layout of the track in the station; there is no platform for through trains. The distance between Takarazuka and Umeda stations via the Imazu Line is shorter than the route via the Takarazuka line.

Stations

*All stations are in Hyōgo Prefecture *Stops: **S: Semi-Express **E: Express (''Rinji-Kyūkō'') *Pass: |

Connections

Hanshin Main Line {{BS-map , title=Route map , title-bg=orangered , title-color=white , collapsible=yes , collapse=yes , map= {{BS, , , Lines are of Hanshin unless noted, } {{BS5, , hBHF, , , tBHF, , , {{STN, Osaka/{{STN, Kitashinchi} {{BS5, , hSTR, exKBHFa, tKACC ...

at Imazu *

at Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi * Hankyu Takarazuka Line at Takarazuka * Fukuchiyama Line at Takarazuka

History

The section between Takarazuka and Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi opened on 2 September 1921, named the . The section from Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi to Imazu opened on 18 December 1926, and the line was renamed the Imazu Line.

Attractions along the line

Hanshin Racecourse is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. It has a capacity of 139,000 and it is used for horse racing. The land was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during World War II World War I ...

near Nigawa Station *

Kwansei Gakuin University , colloquially known as , is a private, non-denominational Christian coeducational university in Japan. The university offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees to around 25,000 students in almost 40 different disciplines across 11 ...

near Kotoen Station

Culture

Hankyū Densha is a 2011 Japanese film. It is based on the novel ''Hankyū Densha'' by Hiro Arikawa and directed by Yoshishige Miyake. It was released in cinemas in the Kansai region of Japan on April 23, 2011, and then in other regions of the country from Ap ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hankyu Imazu Line *

Imazu Line Imazu may refer to: People * Eddie Imazu (1897–1979), Japanese art director *Hiroshi Imazu (born 1946), Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet Places *Ōmi-Imazu Station, a railw ...

Rail transport in Hyōgo Prefecture Standard gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1926