The , occasionally abbreviated as Nose Railway or , is a Japanese

private railway A private railway is a railroad run by a private business entity (usually a corporation but not need be), as opposed to a railroad run by a public sector. Japan In Japan, , commonly simply ''private railway'', refers to a public transit railway o ...

company headquartered in Kawanishi, Hyogo, which links several areas in the mountainous

Nose, Osaka () is a town situated in Toyono District, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. As of October 2016, the town has an estimated population of 9,971 and a density of 100 persons per km² (262/sq mi). The total area is 98.68 km² (38.1 sq mi). Nose is note ...

, area to

Kawanishi-noseguchi Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Kawanishi, Hyōgo, Kawanishi, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the private transportation companies Nose Electric Railway and Hankyu Railway.It is connected to the Kawani ...

in Kawanishi, where one can transfer to

Hankyu Takarazuka Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Umeda Station in downtown Osaka with Takarazuka Station in Takarazuka, Hyogo. It has a branch line, the Minoo Line, and the Nose Electric Rai ...

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 2. ...

. Nose Electric Railway is a principal subsidiary of Hankyu Corporation. A rush-hour special express train, the ''Nissei Limited Express'', operates from

Nissei-chuo Station is a passenger railway station located in the town of Inagawa, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the private transportation company Nose Electric Railway."Nissei" is named after Nippon Life Insurance Company. Lines Nissei-chuo S ...

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� ...

, the terminal of Hankyu in Osaka, in the morning and back again in the evening for commuters.

Lines and stations

Nose Railway has two lines: * Myōken Line (Kawanishi-noseguchi - Myōkenguchi) * Nissei Line (Yamashita - Nissei-chuo) The former is the main route and the latter branches off at Yamashita Station. In addition to the railway, Nose Railway operates a

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

( Myoken Cable) and a

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

(Myoken Lift).

Operations

*S: Trains stop; , , ↑: Trains pass; ↑: Only one direction * trains are operated all day every day * trains run from Nissei Chūō to Osaka-umeda in the morning, and vice versa in the evening on weekdays.

Myoken Cable and Myoken Lift

Rolling stock

Nose Railway uses second-hand EMUs from Hankyu. The trains operate on track. , the fleet operated is as follows. * 1700 series 4-car EMUs x 6 (former

Hankyu 2000 series The was an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated in Japan by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway since 1960. It was the recipient of the inaugural Laurel Prize presented by the Japan Railfan Club in 1961. Variants The 2000 ...

) * 3100 series 4-car EMU x 1 (former

Hankyu 3100 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type formerly operated in Japan by the private railway operator Hankyu Corporation from 1964 until 2016. Formations Trains were formed as four-car and permanently coupled 3+3-car sets, as follows. 4- ...

) * 5100 series 4-car EMUs x 5 and 2-car EMUs x 2 (former

Hankyu 5100 series , trade name, 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 Hanshi ...

, transferred 2014-2016) * 6000 series 8-car EMU x 1 (former

Hankyu 6000 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated in Japan by the private railway operator Hankyu , trading as , is a Japanese private railway company that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and ...

, transferred in August 2014) A four-car 7200 series EMU (set 7200) is scheduled to enter service on 19 March 2018. This is made up of former Hankyu EMU cars. File:NoseRailway 1757.jpg, Nose Electric Railway 1700 series train File:NoseRailway3170F.jpg, Nose Electric Railway 3100 series train File:Noseden5136.jpg, Nose Electric Railway 5100 series train File:Noseden 6000 umeda.JPG, Nose Electric Railway 6000 series train File:Noseden7200.jpg, Nose Electric Railway 7200 series train File:Hankyu series 8000 at noseden.jpg, Hankyu 8000 series on a Limited Express service File:Hankyu1004nissei.JPG, Hankyu 1000 series on a Limited Express service

Former rolling stock

* 1500 series EMUs (former Hankyu 2100 series) File:Noseden1554F MIHARA-Liner 20171105.jpg, An ex-Nose Electric Railway 1500 series converted to a "MIHARA-Liner" test train at

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...

's test track at Mihara

History

The Nose Electric Railway was founded on 23 May 1908. The Kawanishi-noseguchi to Ichinotorii section opened on 13 April 1913, electrified at 600 V DC. The extension to Myōkenguchi was opened on 3 November 1923. The line voltage was increased from 600 V to 1,500 V DC on 26 March 1995.

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia. {{Authority control Railway companies of Japan Rail transport in Osaka Prefecture Rail transport in Hyōgo Prefecture Standard gauge railways in Japan Companies based in Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese companies established in 1908 Hankyu Hanshin Holdings