JR Kobe Line

JR Kobe Line
A
321 series on a local service
Overview
Native name	JR神戸線
System	Urban Network
Locale	Osaka Prefecture and Hyōgo Prefecture
Termini	Osaka (Tokaido Main Line) Himeji (Sanyo Man Line)
Stations	38
Operation
Opened	May 11, 1874 (as part of Tokaido Main Line) March 13, 1988 (renamed as JR Kobe Line)
Owner	JR West
Operator(s)	JR West JR Freight
Technical
Line length	87.9 km (54.6 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	1,500 V DC, overhead lines
Operating speed	130 km/h (81 mph)

The JR Kobe Line (JR神戸線 JR Kōbe sen) is the nickname of portions of the Tokaido Main Line and the Sanyo Main Line, between Osaka Station in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture and Himeji Station in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture. The line, along with the JR Kyoto Line and the Biwako Line, forms a contiguous service that is the main trunk of West Japan Railway Company's Urban Network commuter rail network in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area. The line also offers continuous service to the Gakkentoshi Line via the JR Tōzai Line. It was damaged during the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake.^[1]

Trains

• Special Rapid Service (新快速 shin-kaisoku)
  • Continuing service from the Kyoto Line, trains stop at Osaka, Amagasaki, Ashiya, Sannomiya, Kobe, Akashi, Nishi-Akashi, Kakogawa and Himeji. Service extends beyond Himeji on Sanyo Main Line to Aboshi and Ako Line to Banshu-Ako.
• Rapid Service (快速 kaisoku)
  • Continuing service from the Kyoto Line, trains stop at Osaka, Amagasaki, Nishinomiya, Ashiya, Sumiyoshi, Rokkomichi, Sannomiya, Motomachi, Kobe, Hyōgo, Suma, Tarumi, Maiko and Akashi as rapid service trains and every station after Akashi as local trains. Service extends beyond Himeji on Sanyo Main Line to Aboshi and Ako Line to Banshu-Ako. In the morning and at night, trains pass Suma, Tarumi and Maiko.
• Local trains (普通 futsu)
  • Continuing service from the Kyoto Line at Osaka and the JR Tōzai Line at Amagasaki. Makes every stop to Nishi-Akashi, with some extended service to Kakogawa during rush hour.

Stations

Stations are listed from east to west.

●: Trains stop at all times,｜: Trains pass at all times, ▲: Eastbound trains pass in the morning

Official line name	Station	Japanese	Distance (km)		Stop			Transfers	Location
				from Osaka	Local	Rapid	Special Rapid		Ward, city	Prefecture
Through service to/from the JR Kyoto Line
Tokaido Main Line	Osaka	大阪	-	0.0	●	●	●	JR Kyoto Line (Tokaido Main Line), Osaka Loop Line Hankyu Kyoto Line, Hankyu Kobe Line, Hankyu Takarazuka Line (HK-01: Umeda Station) Hanshin Main Line (HS 01: Umeda Station) Osaka Municipal Subway: Midosuji Line (M16: Umeda Station), Yotsubashi Line (Y11: Nishi-Umeda Station), Tanimachi Line (T20: Higashi-Umeda Station)	Kita-ku, Osaka	Osaka
	Tsukamoto	塚本	3.4	3.4	●	｜	｜		Yodogawa-ku, Osaka
	Amagasaki	尼崎	4.3	7.7	●	●	●	JR Tōzai Line, JR Takarazuka Line (Fukuchiyama Line)	Amagasaki	Hyōgo
	Tachibana	立花	3.0	10.7	●	｜	｜
	Koshienguchi	甲子園口	2.2	12.9	●	｜	｜		Nishinomiya
	Nishinomiya	西宮	2.5	15.4	●	●	｜
	Sakura Shukugawa	さくら夙川	1.5	16.9	●	｜	｜
	Ashiya	芦屋	2.3	19.2	●	●	●		Ashiya
	Konan Yamate	甲南山手	1.4	20.6	●	｜	｜		Higashinada-ku, Kobe
	Settsu-Motoyama	摂津本山	1.5	22.1	●	｜	｜
	Sumiyoshi	住吉	1.6	23.6	●	●	｜	Kobe New Transit: Rokko Island Line (R01)
	Rokkomichi	六甲道	2.2	25.9	●	●	｜		Nada-ku, Kobe
	Maya[Note 1]	摩耶	1.4	27.3	●	｜	｜
	Nada	灘	0.9	28.2	●	｜	｜
	Sannomiya	三ノ宮	2.4	30.6	●	●	●	Hankyu Kobe Line, Kobe Kosoku Line (HK-16: Kobe Sannomiya Station) Hanshin Main Line (HS 32: Kobe Sannomiya Station) Kobe New Transit: Port Island Line (P01) Kobe Municipal Subway: Seishin-Yamate Line (S03: Sannomiya Station), Kaigan Line (K01: Sannomiya-Hanadokeimae Station)	Chuo-ku, Kobe
	Motomachi	元町	0.8	31.4	●	●	｜	Hanshin Main Line, Kobe Kosoku Line (HS 33)
	Kobe	神戸	1.7	33.1	●	●	●	Hanshin Kobe Kosoku Line (HS 35) Hankyu Kobe Kosoku Line (HS 35) Kobe Municipal Subway: Kaigan Line (K04: Harborland Station)
Sanyo Main Line
	Hyōgo	兵庫	1.8	34.9	●	●	｜	Wadamisaki Line(Sanyo Main Line Wadamisaki Branch)	Hyogo-ku, Kobe
	Shin-Nagata	新長田	2.3	37.2	●	｜	｜	Kobe Municipal Subway: Seishin-Yamate Line (S09), Kaigan Line (K10)	Nagata-ku, Kobe
	Takatori	鷹取	1.0	38.2	●	｜	｜		Suma-ku, Kobe
	Suma-Kaihinkōen	須磨海浜公園	0.9	39.1	●	｜	｜
	Suma	須磨	1.3	40.4	●	▲	｜	Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 06: Sanyo Suma Station)
	Shioya	塩屋	2.0	43.3	●	｜	｜	Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 08: Sanyo Shioya Station)	Tarumi-ku, Kobe
	Tarumi	垂水	2.9	46.2	●	▲	｜	Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 11: Sanyo Tarumi Station)
	Maiko	舞子	2.0	48.2	●	▲	｜	Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 13: Maiko-koen Station)
	Asagiri	朝霧	1.9	50.1	●	｜	｜		Akashi
	Akashi	明石	2.4	52.5	●	●	●	Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 17: Sanyo Akashi Station)
	Nishi Akashi	西明石	3.4	55.9	●	●	●	Sanyō Shinkansen
	Okubo	大久保	2.8	58.7	●	●	｜
	Uozumi	魚住	3.5	62.2	●	●	｜
	Tsuchiyama	土山	3.1	65.3	●	●	｜		Harima
	Higashi-Kakogawa	東加古川	3.3	68.6	●	●	｜		Kakogawa
	Kakogawa	加古川	3.6	72.2	●	●	●	Kakogawa Line
	Hoden	宝殿	3.3	75.5		●	｜		Takasago
	Sone	曽根	4.0	79.5		●	｜
	Himeji Bessho	ひめじ別所	2.0	81.5		●	｜		Himeji
	Gochaku	御着	2.1	83.6		●	｜
	Higashi-Himeji[Note 1]	東姫路	2.4	86.0		●
	Himeji	姫路	1.9	87.9		●	●	Sanyo Main Line, Sanyo Shinkansen, Bantan Line, Kishin Line Sanyo Railway Main Line (SY 43: Sanyo Himeji Station)
Through service to/from the Sanyo Main Line and the Ako Line

1. New station opening 26 March 2016

Rolling stock

Local

• 207 series (from 1991, through service with Fukuchiyama Line and katamachi Line via JR Tōzai Line)
• 321 series (from 2005, through service with Fukuchiyama Line and katamachi Line via JR Tōzai Line)

Special Rapid and Rapid

• 221 series (from 1989, through service with Akō Line via Sanyo Line)
• 223-1000/2000/6000 series (from 1995, through service with Akō Line via Sanyo Line)
• 225-0 series (from 2010, through service with Akō Line via Sanyo Line)

Limited Express

• 285 series (Sunrise Izumo/Sunrise Seto service from July 1998, through service with Seto-Ōhashi Line and Hakubi Line)
• KiHa 189 series (Hamakaze service from 2010, through service with Sanin Main Line via Bantan Line)
• Chizu Express HOT7000 series (Super Hakuto service from 1994, through service with Sanin Main Line via Chizu Line)

Former

201 series, August 2004

• 103 series (until August 1, 2005)
• 113 series (until October 16, 2004)
• 115 series
• 117 series (from 1980 until May 10, 1999)
• 201 series (from 1983 until 2007)
• 205-0 series (from 1986 until 2006, from 2011 until March 2013)
• KiHa 181 series (Hamakaze limited express, until 2010)

References

1. Schiff, Anschel (1999). Hyogoken-Nanbu (Kobe) Earthquake of January 17, 1995: Lifeline Performance. ASCE Publications. ISBN 9780784474662.

See also

• Hankyu Kobe Line
• Biwako Line
• JR Kyoto Line