Native name 阪急宝塚本線 Operator(s) Hankyu Railway Line length 24.5 km (15.2 mi) Terminis Umeda, Takarazuka | Stations 19 Depot(s) Hirai Depot Locale Kansai region | |
 | ||
Number of tracks Quad (Umeda - Jūsō)
Double (Jūsō - Takarazuka) | ||
1000 1006f
The Hankyu Takarazuka Main Line (阪急宝塚本線, Hankyū Takarazuka Honsen) is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Umeda Station in downtown Osaka with Takarazuka Station in Takarazuka, Hyogo.
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It has a branch line, the Minoo Line, and the Nose Electric Railway is another longer branch line. The Imazu Line connects at Takarazuka, but it is treated as a branch of the Kobe Line.
The Takarazuka Main Line is commonly called the Takarazuka Line (宝塚線, Takarazuka sen) for short, but the name Takarazuka Line is sometimes used as the name for the network composed of the main line and the branches.
The line has numerous sharp curves from the line's origins as a tramway, built and opened by its predecessor Minoo Arima Electric Tramway (箕面有馬電気軌道, Minoo Arima Denki Kido). The sharp curves have long hindered high speed operation, contrasting to the Hankyu's other main lines, Kobe and Kyoto.
8000 hankyu takarazuka main line
History
The Minoo Arima Electric Tramway opened the entire line on March 10, 1910 as 1435mm gauge dual track, electrified at 600 VDC. Although the line was not a prospect interurban as Takarazuka was not a big city, it saw initial success thanks to the company's aggressive measures. It strategically developed housing areas along the line for the increasing white-collar population who would commute to central Osaka by train. It also opened a zoo in Minoo (on the Minoo Line) in November 1910, a hot spring in Takarazuka in May 1911, and a ballpark in Toyonaka in 1913.
The track between Umeda and Jūsō was shared with the Kobe Line from 1920 to 1926 when the original double track was replaced by an elevated four-track line.
In comparison with the Kobe Line, cars used on the Takarazuka Line were small and old. Larger (Kobe Line standard) cars could not operate on the line until 1952 due to its small structure gauge. Small cars were eliminated in December 1963. On August 24, 1969 the voltage was raised to 1500 VDC. As the commuters increased, Hankyu's first 10-car operation began on the Takarazuka Line in March 1982.
Following the elevation work of Kawanishi-Noseguchi Station, through services to Nose Electric Railway began on November 17, 1997.
Service patterns
As of diagram revision on March 21, 2015