Hankyu Railway
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Hankyu Railway (阪急電鉄, Hankyū Dentetsu) is a Japanese private railway that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region. Its main terminal is at Umeda Station in Osaka. The signature color of Hankyu cars is maroon. IC cards (PiTaPa and ICOCA) are accepted.
The Hankyu network serves 1,950,000 people every weekday and offers several types of express service with no extracharge.
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[edit] History
[edit] Foundation
Minoo Arima Electric Tramway Company (箕面有馬電気軌道株式会社 Minoo Arima Denki Kidō Kabushiki Gaisha?), a forerunner of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc., was established by Ichizō Kobayashi in 1907 and opened the rail lines from Umeda to Takarazuka (the Takarazuka Line) and from Ishibashi to Minoo (the Minoo Line) on March 10, 1910.
[edit] Expansion to Kobe
In 1918, Minoo Arima Electric Tramway Company was renamed Hanshin Kyūkō Railway Company (阪神急行電鉄株式会社 Hanshin Kyūkō Dentetsu Kabushiki Gaisha?, referred to as "Hankyū", 阪急), then, the Kobe Line from Jūso to Kobe (later, renamed Kamitsutsui) and the Itami Line from Tsukaguchi to Itami were opened on July 16, 1920. On April 1, 1936, the new terminal in Kōbe (Sannomiya Station) was opened.
[edit] Merger and separation with Keihan
On October 1, 1943, under the order of the government, Hanshin Kyūkō and Keihan Electric Railway were merged, and renamed Keihanshin Kyūkō Railway Company (京阪神急行電鉄株式会社 Keihanshin Kyūkō Dentetsu Kabushiki Gaisha?, referred to as "Keihanshin", 京阪神). The merged lines included the Keihan Main Line, the Uji Line, the Shinkeihan Line (present-day Kyoto Main Line), the Senriyama Line (present-day Senri Line), the Jūsō Line (part of Kyoto Main Line), the Arashiyama Line, the Keishin Line and the Ishiyama Sakamoto Line. In 1945, the Katano Line was joined.
On December 1, 1949, the Keihan Main Line, the Katano Line, the Uji Line, the Keishin Line, and the Ishiyama-Sakamoto Line were dealt with the newly-established Keihan Electric Railway Co., Ltd. Although this revived the former Keihan Elctric Railway, the size of the Keihan's business was smaller than that of the pre-merger years because the Shinkeihan Line and its branches were not given up by Keihanshin. The preent structure of the Hankyu network with the three main lines was fixed by this transaction. The abbreviation of Keihanshin Kyūkō Railway was changed from "Keihanshin" to "Hankyū".
[edit] Postwar development
On April 1, 1973, Keihanshin Kyūkō Railway Company was renamed Hankyu Corporation (阪急電鉄株式会社 Hankyū Dentetsu Kabushiki Gaisha?).
On April 1, 2005, the company became a holding company and was renamed Hankyu Holdings, Inc. (阪急ホールディングス株式会社 Hankyū Hōrudhingusu Kabushiki Gaisha?). The railway business was ceded to a subsidiary, now named Hankyu Corporation (before the restructuring, the new company, which reused a dormant company founded on December 7, 1989, was called Hankyū Dentetsu Bunkatsu Junbi K.K. (阪急電鉄分割準備株式会社)).
On October 1, 2006, Hankyu Holdings started wholly owning Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd. and the holdings were renamed "Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc. (阪急阪神ホールディングス株式会社 Hankyū Hanshin Hōrudingusu Kabushiki Gaisha?)". Hankyu's stock purchase of Hanshin shares was completed on June 20, 2006.[1]
Now the head office of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc. and Hankyu Corp. is at 1-16-1, Shibata, Kita-ku, Osaka; its registered headquarters are at 1-1, Sakaemachi, Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture.
[edit] Rail Lines
Hankyu operates three main trunk lines, connecting Osaka with Kobe, Takarazuka and Kyoto respectively, and their branches. Nose Electric Railway works as a feeder of Hankyu line although it is a separate railway company under control of Hankyu.
Kobe Main Line (神戸本線) (Umeda - Sannomiya)
- Itami Line (伊丹線) (Tsukaguchi - Itami)
- Imazu Line (今津線) (Imazu - Nishinomiya-kitaguchi - Takarazuka)
- Kōyō Line (甲陽線) (Shukugawa - Kōyōen)
Takarazuka Main Line (宝塚本線) (Umeda - Takarazuka)
- Minoo Line (箕面線) (Ishibashi - Minoo)
- Nose Electric Railway (能勢電鉄) (Kawanishi-Noseguchi - Myōkenguchi/Nissei-Chūō)
Kyoto Main Line (京都本線) (Umeda - Kawaramachi)
- Senri Line (千里線) (Tenjimbashisuji Roku-chome - Awaji - Kita-Senri)
- Arashiyama Line (嵐山線) (Katsura - Arashiyama)
The three groups of the lines, the Kobe Lines, the Takarazuka Lines and the Kyoto Lines, can be further grouped into two, the Kobe-Takarazuka Lines and the Kyoto Lines from a historical reason. Hankyu have two groups of rolling stock, one for the Kobe-Takarazuka Lines and the other for the Kyoto Lines.
[edit] Rolling stock
Most have six doors and bench seating facing the center of the train, however limited express and rapid express on Kyoto Line often use four-door cars with rows of seats aligned with the direction of the train (reversible).
Kobe Line and Takarazuka Line use almost the same types of fleet, instead, by historical reason Kyoto Line is served by another types of rolling stock.
[edit] Kobe Line / Takarazuka Line
- 9000 series
- 8200 series
- 8000 series
- 7000 series
- 6000 series
- 5100 series
- 5000 series
- 3100 series (transferred to Nose Electric Railway)
- 3000 series
- 2000 series (transferred to Nose Electric Railway)
[edit] Kyoto Line
- 9300 series
- 8300 series
- 7300 series
- 6300 series
- 5300 series
- 3300 series
- 2300 series
[edit] Fare
Single fare (adult) fare in JPY by travel distance (km)
- 1-4: 150
- 5-9: 180
- 10-14: 220
- 15-19: 260
- 20-26: 270
- 27-33: 310
- 34-42: 360
- 43-51: 390
- 52-60: 450
- 61-70: 510
- 71-76: 600
[edit] Etymology
The name Hankyu stands for Keihanshin Kyuko (京阪神急行). Keihanshin (京阪神) means the cities of Kyoto (京都), Osaka (大阪), Kobe (神戸), and the suburbs of theirs. Kyuko (急行) means express train.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ UPDATE 2-Hankyu takes over fellow railway operator Hanshin. Reuters (2006-06-20). Retrieved on 2006-06-20.
[edit] External links
- Hankyu Railway Website (Japanese)
- Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Group index page
- Hankyu Railway Area Guide - Guide to using Hankyu railways, Fares from Umeda, Terminal area map
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