The is a railway line operated by the private railway operator

Hanshin Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway company of Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group that links Osaka and Kobe. It also owns the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. The first character for Kobe (神戸) and the second character for Osaka (大阪) combine to form the c ...

connecting Amagasaki Station in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and

Ōsaka Namba Station is a railway station on the Kintetsu Namba Line and Hanshin Namba Line in the Namba district of Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is adjacent to Namba Station and JR Namba Station. Trains of the Nara Line depart from and arrive at the station. Lin ...

in Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

History

The , the predecessor of the Hanshin Namba Line, was planned as a bypass for the Hanshin Railway Main Line, and to connect from Amagasaki to Noda via Dempō. Then the plan was changed to connect to Nishikujō. The line was finally extended to Namba station in 2009. *January 20, 1924 - The Dempō Line was opened (Daimotsu - Dempō). *August 1, 1924 - The line was extended from Dempō to Chidoribashi. *December 28, 1928 - The line was extended from Daimotsu to Amagasaki. *June 1960 - The first stage of construction to extend line to Namba was started (Chidoribashi - Nishikujō). *May 20, 1964 - The first stage of construction to extend the line to Namba was completed, thus, the line was extended from Chidoribashi to Nishikujō. The Dempo Line was renamed the . *September 1965 - Nishi-Osaka limited express service started. *December 1, 1974 - Nishi-Osaka limited express service was abandoned. *July 10, 2001 - Nishi-Osaka Railway Co., Ltd. was established to restart the extension from Nishikujō to Namba. *October 7, 2003 - The construction of the extending line from Nishikujō to Namba was restarted. *March 20, 2009 - The line from Nishikujō to Namba opened, and the line was renamed the Hanshin Namba Line.

Operations

There are through rapid express operations between Kobe Sannomiya on the Main Line in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

and

Kintetsu Nara Station is a railway station on the Nara Line in Nara, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Kintetsu Railway. Lines The station is the terminal station on the Nara Line. Kintetsu operates through expresses and limited expresses from Kyoto ...

on the Kintetsu Nara Line in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

via the Hanshin Namba Line, and through local, semi-express, and suburban semi-express operations between Amagasaki Station and Kintetsu Nara Station. *Rapid Express **Three to five trains per hour on weekdays, and three trains per hour at weekends and holidays **Trains stop at Kobe Sannomiya, Uozaki, Ashiya, Nishinomiya, Koshien, Amagasaki, Nishikujo, Kujo, Dome-mae, Sakuragawa, Ōsaka Namba, Kintetsu Nippombashi, Osaka Uehommachi, Tsuruhashi, Ikoma, Gakuen-mae, Yamato-Saidaiji, Shin-Omiya and Kintetsu Nara. Rapid express services also stop at Imazu and Mukogawa during the weekday offpeak, and on weekends and holidays, but pass Ashiya on weekends and holidays. **The first 3 trains are operated from Shinkaichi Station on the Kobe Kosoku Line for Nara at weekends and holidays. **6, 8 or 10 cars (Weekdays: 6 cars between Kobe Sannomiya and Amagasaki / weekends and holidays: many trains have 8 cars between Kobe Sannomiya and Kintetsu Nara) *Local, semi-express, suburban semi-express **6 trains per hour every day **Local trains stop at every station on the Hanshin Namba Line, the Kintetsu Namba Line, and the Kitntetsu Nara Line. **Semi-express trains stop at every station between Amagasaki and Tsuruhashi, Fuse, Kawachi-Kosaka, Higashi-Hanazono, and every station between Ishikiri and Kintetsu Nara. Suburban semi-express trains also stop at Hyotan-yama, Hiraoka and Nukata. **6 cars

Stations

*● : trains stop *, : trains pass *Local / Suburban semi-express / Semi-express trains stop at every station on this line

Rolling stock

* Hanshin 1000 series EMU * Hanshin 9000 series EMU * Kintetsu 1026 series EMU * Kintetsu 1252 series EMU * Kintetsu 5800 series EMU * Kintetsu 5820 series EMU * Kintetsu 9020 series EMU * Kintetsu 9820 series EMU * Kintetsu 22600 series EMU (chartered trains) File:Hanshin 1000 series 1203F (49904023131).jpg, Hanshin 1000 series File:Hanshin-Series9000.jpg, Hanshin 9000 series File:Kintetsu1026 hanshin.JPG, Kintetsu 1026 series File:Kintetsu-1252-uozaki.JPG, Kintetsu 1252 series File:Kintetsu Series5800.jpg, Kintetsu 5800 series File:Kintetsu 5820 DH51 Rapid Express.jpg, Kintetsu 5820 series File:Kintetsu 9020 and 5800 series Nara Line express 2014-01-25 (12364980433).jpg, Kintetsu 9020 series File:KINTETSU22600 5.JPG, Kintetsu 22600 series

References

{{Osaka transit Lines of Hanshin Electric Railway Rail transport in Osaka Prefecture Rail transport in Hyōgo Prefecture Standard gauge railways in Japan Railway lines opened in 1924