is a railway station in

Chūō-ku, Kobe is one of 9 wards of Kobe, Japan. It has an area of 28.46 km2, and a population of 127,602 with 74,814 households as of January 31, 2012. The ward was formed from the 1980 merger of the former Fukiai-ku () and Ikuta-ku (). The Consulat ...

, Japan, operated by

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

(JR West). Although Kobe Station is the namesake of the city of

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Kobe City Hall and the commercial center of Kobe is closer to Kobe-Sannomiya Station.

Lines

The station technically forms the end point of the Tokaido Main Line and the starting of the Sanyo Main Line. This fact is barely discernible in current practice because only a few trains originate or terminate at Kobe; as a result, the station is more commonly perceived as being in the midsection of the

JR Kobe Line JR, J. R. or Jr. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' J R'', a 1975 novel by William Gaddis * J. R. Ewing, a ''Dallas'' television character * JR Chandler, an ''All My Children'' television character * '' Jornal da Record'', a Brazilian ne ...

, an alternative name for the section of the Tokaido and Sanyo lines between

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is ...

Layout

The station has one

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

and two

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

s serving five elevated tracks.

Platforms

Adjacent stations

History

Kobe Station opened on 11 May 1874. With the

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of JNR on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR West. Station numbering was introduced in March 2018 with Kobe being assigned station number JR-A63.

Surrounding area

The area to the south of the station was previously a freight yard, but was redeveloped and became a waterfront commercial center called

Harborland is a shopping district in Chūō-ku, Kobe, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Japan. Kobe Port Tower is located there. This shopping district was made on the site of the former freight yard, Minatogawa Kamotsu Station of the Japanese National Railways. The yard ...

. Escalators and underground pathways link pedestrian traffic from the above-ground Kobe Station with the relatively close underground stations of Kosoku Kobe on the Kobe Rapid Railway and

on the

Kaigan Line The , also known as the "Yumekamome" (), is one of two lines of the Kobe Municipal Subway. Trains of the line are propelled by linear motors. This is the third linear motor rapid transit line to be built in Japan. History Construction of the ...

of the

Kobe Municipal Subway The is a rapid transit system in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Like other large Japanese cities, Kobe's subway system is heavily complemented by suburban rail. In addition, two people mover lines also serve the Kobe area: the Port Island Line ...

In popular culture

* The station is referred to in GaGaGa SP's song of the same name, 「神戸駅」''(Kōbe-eki)''.

References

External links

JR West - Kobe Station
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobe Tōkaidō Main Line Sanyō Main Line Railway stations in Kobe Stations of West Japan Railway Company Railway stations in Japan opened in 1874