Corporate headquarters of Hanshin

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.

[edit] Rail lines

[edit] Current lines

• Main Line (本線) (Umeda – Motomachi, 32.1 km)
• Hanshin Namba Line (阪神なんば線) (Amagasaki – Ōsaka Namba, 10.1 km)

The section between Nishikujō and Ōsaka-Namba is the newest line of Hanshin that opened on March 20, 2009. Prior to this extension the line was called the Nishi-Ōsaka Line.

• Mukogawa Line (武庫川線) (Mukogawa – Mukogawa-danchimae, 1.7 km)

[edit] Abandoned lines

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

[edit] Incomplete lines

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

[edit] History

• June 12, 1899: 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 for limited express 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.^[1]

[edit] Rolling stock

1000 series

9300 series

5500 series

9000 series

[edit] References

1. ^ "UPDATE 2-Hankyu takes over fellow railway operator Hanshin". Reuters. 2006-06-20. http://today.reuters.com/investing/FinanceArticle.aspx?type=mergersNews&storyID=2006-06-20T045411Z_01_T334035_RTRIDST_0_TRANSPORT-JAPAN-HANKYU-UPDATE-2.XML. Retrieved 2006-06-20. 

[edit] External links

• Hankyu Hanshin Holdings portal site (in Japanese)
  • Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Group index page (in English)
  • Hanshin Electric Railway (in Japanese)
  • Hanshin Group (in Japanese)
  • Corporate Profile (in English)

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