Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway

Kita-Osaka Kyūkō Railway

Kita-Osaka Kyuko 8000 series train (between Momoyamadai Station and Senri-Chūō Station)
Locale	Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Dates of operation	1970–
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Length	5.9 km (3.7 mi)
Headquarters	Toyonaka, Japan
Website	http://www.kita-kyu.co.jp/

Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway (北大阪急行電鉄 Kita Ōsaka Kyūkō Dentetsu, lit. "North Osaka Express Railway") is a railway operator in Osaka, Japan. Its sole line, officially named the Namboku Line (南北線 Namboku sen), operates as an extension of the Midōsuji Line of the Osaka Municipal Subway.

Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway Co., Ltd. (北大阪急行電鉄株式会社 Kita Ōsaka Kyūkō Dentetsu Kabushiki Kaisha), established December 11, 1967, is a subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc. headquartered at 2-4-1, Terauchi, Toyonaka, Osaka. Kitakyu, as it is often abbreviated, also owns various commercial and residential properties along the line.

Stations on the Kitakyu Namboku Line

No.	Station	Japanese	Transfers	Location
M08	Senri-Chūō	千里中央	Osaka Monorail Main Line	Toyonaka	Osaka Prefecture
M09	Momoyama-dai	桃山台		Suita
M10	Ryokuchi-kōen	緑地公園		Toyonaka
M11	Esaka	江坂	Osaka Municipal Subway Midōsuji Line (through trains)	Suita

Former line

• Kaijō Line (Senri-Chūō - Bankokuhaku-chūōguchi)

Rolling stock

Kita-Osaka Kyuko 9000 series train (between Momoyamadai Station and Senri-Chūō Station)

• 8000 series (since 1987)
• 9000 series (since 28 April 2014)

Former rolling stock

• 2000 series (from 1969 until 1993)
• 7000/8000 series (from 1969 until 1970)

History

The line was opened on February 24, 1970, to connect the then northern terminus of the Midōsuji Line, Esaka Station, with the grounds of the Expo '70. The Expo link was closed on September 14, and the line was redirected to a new underground terminal of Senri-Chūō Station.

Takeo Miki, then Minister of International Trade and Industry, brokered the deal creating the railway as a joint venture between the City of Osaka and Hankyu Railway. Although the line was originally envisioned as a straightforward extension of the Midosuji Line, the city government was unable to independently complete the extension because it went beyond municipal boundaries, thus raising issues of expropriation and financing.

The tracks between Senri-Chuo and the Expo Park were removed following the Expo, and the right-of-way repurposed as part of the Chugoku Expressway.

Since the late 1980s there has been a plan to extend the line 2.5 km northward from Senri-Chuo to a new station in the city of Minoh. The Minoh municipal government exchanged a letter of confirmation with Hankyu and Kitakyu regarding studies of the extension in 2011, and the government of Osaka Prefecture joined a four-party memorandum of understanding in 2012. The extension is not yet finalized or funded.^[1]

References

1. http://www.city.minoh.lg.jp/kitakyu/kitakyu-enshin.html

External links

• Official website (Japanese)