Native name 三木線 Closed 2008 Line length 6.6 km (4.1 mi) Founded 1985 Stations 9 | Opened 1916 Owner Miki Railway Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Locale Hyōgo Prefecture Terminis Yakujin Station, Miki | |
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Miki railway miki line
The Miki Line (三木線, Miki-sen) was a Japanese railway line in Hyōgo Prefecture, between Yakujin Station in Kakogawa and Miki Station in Miki. This was the only railway line Miki Railway Company (三木鉄道株式会社, Miki Tetsudō) operated. The line linked Miki and the West Japan Railway Company Kakogawa Line at Yakujin station.
Contents
Basic data
History
The Banshū Railway (播州鉄道, Banshū Tetsudō) opened the line from 1916 to 1917. The railway was acquired by the Bantan Railway (播丹鉄道, Bantan Tetsudō) in 1923 and nationalised in 1943 together with other Bantan Railway lines, i.e. the Kakogawa Line, the Takasago Line, the Kajiya Line and the Hōjō Line.
Freight services ceased in 1974. The third sector (in Japanese sense) company was created and succeeded the line when Japanese National Railways abandoned the route in 1985.
The majority of commuters used Kobe Electric Railway's (Shintetsu) Ao Line to get to Kobe instead of the Miki–Kakogawa Line route. As a result, Miki Railway had been unable to justify continued financial support from the city. On March 1, 2007, the Miki City Council officially decided to abandon the line with the company agreeing on April 26, 2007. The line was closed on April 1, 2008. This was the fourth third-sector railway operator to cease operations, and the fifth third-sector line closed.