Hankyū Kobe Main Line

The Nihongo|Kōbe Main Line|神戸本線|Kōbe Honsen of Hankyu Railway is one of the three major commuter heavy rail line in the Keihanshin conurbation of Japan. It links the urban centres of Osaka and Kobe by connecting the major stations of Umeda in Osaka and Sannomiya in Kobe.

Hanshin Electric Railway Main Line and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) Tokaido Main Line (this section nicknamed JR Kobe Line) are the two lines perpendicular to the Hankyu Kobe Line with short distances.

Definition

The line is commonly called Nihongo|Kobe Line|神戸線|Kōbe sen for short, but broader sense Kobe Line refers to the entire network of the trunk Kobe Main Line and connecting branch lines of Itami, Imazu and Kōyō Lines.

Network

At the Kobe end of the line some trains continue through onto the Kobe Rapid Railway, an underground line allowing interchange between the lines of several commuter rail companies operating in Kobe.

The Kobe Main Line has interchanges at several of its stations with other lines operated by Hankyu. The Hankyu main lines to Kyoto and Takarazuka share stations at Umeda and Juso with the Kobe Line. The other lines with connections to the Kobe line are smaller lines with only local trains: the Itami Line connects at Tsukaguchi, the Imazu Line at Nishinomiya-kitaguchi and the Koyo Line at Shukugawa.

Train services

Regular train services on the lines come in two kinds: the local (普通) service which stops at all stations, and the limited express (特急) which stops only at major stations along the line. Other commuter and express services operate only during limited time periods:
*Expresses (急行) are operated from Umeda to Sannomiya or Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi in the morning on weekdays and every midnight. There is also the only eastbound Express operated from Sannomiya to Umeda every early morning.
*Rapid Expresses (快速急行) are operated between Umeda and Kosoku Kobe or Shinkaichi every midnight. There is also the only eastbound Rapid Express (快速急行) operated from Shinkaichi for Umeda every early morning.
*Commutation Expresses (通勤急行, simply "Express") are operated on weekdays, from Sannomiya to Umeda in the morning, and from Umeda to Sannomiya in the evening and at night.
*Morning Commutation Limited Expresses (通勤特急, simply "Limited Express") are operated in both directions on weekday mornings.
*Semi-Expresses (準急) are operated from Takarazuka on the Imazu Line to Umeda on weekday mornings.

*Maximum speed: 115km/h

tations

*x: stop
*| (^): pass (in only one direction)

See also

* Hankyu Kyoto Line
* Hankyu Takarazuka Line