Transport in Greater Osaka

Transport in Greater Osaka is much like that of the Tokyo, includes public and private rail and highway networks; airports for international, domestic, and general aviation; buses; motorcycle delivery services, walking, bicycling, and commercial shipping. The nexus is in the central part of Osaka, though Kobe and Kyoto are major centers in their own right. Every part of Keihanshin has rail or road transport services. The sea and air transport is available from limited number of ports for general public.

Public transport within Greater Osaka is dominated by the world's 2nd most extensive urban rail network ( [http://mukiryoku.com/Osaka_suburban.jpgsee map] , only after Greater Tokyo, consisting of over 70 railway lines of clean and efficient surface trains and subways run by a variety of operators, with feeder buses, monorails, and trams playing a secondary role. More than 10 million people use the public transit system daily as their primary means of travel. Like Tokyo, walking and bicycling are much more common than in many cities around the globe. Private automobiles and motorcycles play a secondary role in urban transport.

Airports

Kansai International Airport is the main international airport in the region, replacing Osaka International (Itami Airport), now primarily domestic.

Kobe Airport is also international but within East Asia.
Yao Airport (In Osaka Prefecture)

Tokushima Airport is just outside the region.

There are also a number of military facilites.

Railway and subway

Railway in Greater Osaka is extremely dense, with primary rail riders hovering over ten million daily passengers. Railway usage and density is similar to that of Greater Tokyo, despite Greater Osaka's smaller size. Shinkansen also functions as commuter rail for nearby countryside as well as intercity and interregional rail.

* JR West
** Sanyō Shinkansen
** ●Tōkaidō Main Line (JR Kobe Line, JR Kyoto Line, Biwako Line)
** ●Sanyō Main Line
** ●Kosei Line
** ●Osaka Loop Line
** ●Hanwa Line
** ●Kansai Main Line (Yamatoji Line)
** ●Sanin Main Line / Sagano Line
** ●Takarazuka Line
** ●JR Tozai Line / ●Gakkentoshi Line
** ●Osaka Higashi Line
* JR Central
** Tōkaidō Shinkansen
* Hanshin Electric Railway Main Line
* Hankai Tramway
** Hankai Line
** Uemachi Line
* Hankyu Railway
** ●Kobe Line
** ●Takarazuka Line
** ●Kyoto Line
* Keihan Electric Railway Keihan Main Line
* Kintetsu
** Kashihara Line
** Osaka Line
** Nara Line
** Minami-Osaka Line
** Keihanna Line
** Yoshino Line
* Nankai Electric Railway
** Nankai Main Line
** Koya Line
* Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway
* Osaka Municipal Subway and ●New Tram
** ●Chūō Line
** ●Imazatosuji Line
** ●Midōsuji Line
** ●Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line
** ●Sennichimae Line
** ●Sakaisuji Line
** ●Tanimachi Line
** ●Yotsubashi Line
* Kyoto Municipal Subway
** ●Karasuma Line
** ●Tōzai Line
* Kobe Municipal Subway
** ●Seishin-Yamate Line
** ●Kaigan Line
* Osaka Monorail
* Kobe Electric Railway
** Arima Line
** Ao Line
** Sanda Line
* Sanyo Electric Railway
* Kobe Rapid Railway
* Keifuku Electric Railroad
* Nose Electric Railway
* Kobe New Transit

Buses

Taxis

Taxis also serve a similar role to buses, supplementing the rail system, especially after midnight when most rail lines cease to operate. Persons moving around the city on business often chose taxis for convenience, as do people setting out in small groups.

Walking and cycling

Walking and cycling are very common forms of transport in Japan. Cycling shared 14% in whole Japan, 27% in the Netherlands, 18% in Denmark, 3% in France, 2% in United Kingdom, and 0.7% in United States. [From [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/edz/pdf/2000/transstat.pdf EU Transport in Figures Statistical Pocket Book] , page 82.]

Roads

Local roads

National, prefectural and metropolitan, and local roads crisscross the region.

Local and regional expressways

*Route 1
*Route 2
*Route 9
*Route 24 (Kyoto - Nara Prefecture - Wakayama Prefecture)
*Route 25 (Osaka - Nara - Nagoya)
*Route 26 (Osaka - Wakayama)
*Route 28 (Kobe - Awaji - Tokushima, Tokushima)
*Route 171 (Kobe - Kyoto , San'yōdō)
*Route 423 (Osaka - Senri - Kameoka , "New-Midosuji")

National

* Meishin Expressway (Asian Highway 1)
* Chūgoku Expressway (Asian Highway 1)
* Sanyō Expressway
* Kinki Expressway
* Maizuru Expressway ( To Maizuru )
* West-Meihan Expressway ( To Nara Prefecture,Nagoya )
* Hanwa Expressway ( To Wakayama Prefecture )
* Hanshin Expressway

Japan is now focusing on a nationwide expressway system. However, because of high tolls, expressways are prohibitively expensive for basic transport.

Shipping

Shipping plays the crucial role for the freights coming in and out of the area nationally and internationally. Osaka's international ferry connections are far greater than Tokyo's, mostly due to geography. There are international ferries that leave Osaka for Shanghai, Korea, Okinawa, and until recently Taiwan.

* Port of Osaka
* Port of Kobe
* Port of Sakai-Senboku (In Osaka Prefecture)
* Port of Himeji

ee also

* Transport in Greater Tokyo

External links