Hanshin Electric Railway

Nihongo|Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd.|阪神電気鉄道株式会社|Hanshin Denki-tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha 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 second character for Osaka (大阪) and the first character for Kobe (神戸) combine to form the company name, 阪神, which can be read "Han-shin".

IC cards (PiTaPa and ICOCA) are accepted when taking trains.

Rail lines

Current lines

*Main Line (本線) (ja-stalink|Umeda – ja-stalink|Motomachi|Motomachi|Hyōgo, 32.1 km)
*Nishi-Osaka Line (西大阪線) (ja-stalink|Amagasaki|Amagasaki|Hanshin – ja-stalink|Nishikujō, 6.3 km):The Nishi-Osaka Line will be renamed Nihongo|the Hanshin Namba Line|阪神なんば線 when the line is extended from Nishikujō Station to Kintetsu Namba Station on March 20, 2009.
*Mukogawa Line (武庫川線) (ja-stalink|Mukogawa – ja-stalink|Mukogawa-danchimae, 1.7 km)

Line sceduled to open

*Hanshin Namba Line (阪神なんば線) (Nishikujo - Kintetsu Namba); opening on March 20, 2009:Kintetsu Namba Station will be renamed "Osaka Namba Station" on the day of the opening of the Hanshin Namba Line.

Abandoned lines

*Kita-Osaka Line (北大阪線) (ja-stalink|Noda|Noda|Hanshin – ja-stalink|Tenjimbashisuji Rokuchome)
*Kokudo Line(国道線) (Noda – Higashi-Kobe)
*Koshien Line (甲子園線) (Kamikoshien - ja-stalink|Koshien - Hamakoshien - Nakatsuhama)
*Amagasaki Kaigan Line (尼崎海岸線) (ja-stalink|Deyashiki - Higashihama)
*Mukogawa Line (武庫川線) (Mukogawa - Muko-ohashi - ja-stalink|Nishinomiya|Nishinomiya (Japanese National Railways)|JR West): the line between Muko-ohashi and Nishinomiya (JNR) was used only for freight trains operated by JNR.

Incompleted lines

*Imazu Deyashiki Line (今津出屋敷線): Takasu - Suzaki - Hamakoshien - Imazu
*Amagasaki Takarazuka Line (尼崎宝塚線): Amagasaki - ja-stalink|Takarazuka|Takarazuka|Hankyu: planned by Takarazuka Amagasaki Railway Company
*Daini Hanshin Line: Umeda - ja-stalink|Chidoribashi - Amagasaki - ja-stalink|Sannomiya - ja-stalink|Minatogawa

History

*June 12, 1899: Nihongo|Settsu Electric Railway Co., Ltd.|摂津電気鉄道株式会社|Settsu Denki-tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha was established.
*July 7, 1899: The company was renamed "Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd."
*April 7, 1968: Kobe Rapid Railway was opened and joint operation with Sanyo Electric Railway was started.
*February 15, 1998: Joint operation with Sanyo Electric Railway of limited expresses service between Umeda and Himeji was started.
*June 20, 2006: Hankyu Holdings, Inc. completed its purchase of a controlling interest in Hanshin in a transaction valued at about $2.2 billion. [cite web| url=http://today.reuters.com/investing/FinanceArticle.aspx?type=mergersNews&storyID=2006-06-20T045411Z_01_T334035_RTRIDST_0_TRANSPORT-JAPAN-HANKYU-UPDATE-2.XML| title=UPDATE 2-Hankyu takes over fellow railway operator Hanshin| publisher=Reuters| year=2006-06-20| accessdate=2006-06-20| ]

References

External links

* [http://www.hankyu-hanshin.co.jp/ Hankyu Hanshin Holdings portal site (in Japanese)]
** [http://www.hankyu-hanshin.co.jp/english/index.html Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Group index page (in English)]
** [http://rail.hanshin.co.jp/ Hanshin Electric Railway (in Japanese)]
** [http://www.hanshin.co.jp/ Hanshin Group (in Japanese)]
** [http://www.hanshin.co.jp/group/english/ Corporate Profile (in English)]