Hankyū Kōbe Kōsoku Line

The idea of a railway tying together the separate Kōbe termini of the region's private railways dates back to the Kōbe city reconstruction plan drawn up in 1946 after the war. Kōbe wanted to speed up and expand the city-centre transport then carried by its tramway, using the four private railways — Keihanshin Express (today's Hankyū), Hanshin, Sanyō and Kōbe Electric Railway — while those companies had long wished to push their own lines into the heart of the city around Minatogawa. The two aims were reconciled in a 1948 agreement between Kōbe City and the four railways, and after years of adjustment the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway was incorporated in 1958 as a third-sector company, jointly funded by the city, the four railways and local business interests.

From the outset the company adopted an operating model that was highly unusual for a railway founded under the old Local Railway Act: it deliberately owned no rolling stock and employed no train crews. Instead it built and maintained only the fixed infrastructure — track, electrical equipment and stations — and had the trains and crews of the four private railways work through onto its lines. Because almost the whole route ran in tunnel and the company effectively did little but provide the bore, it was sometimes nicknamed the "tunnel company." Despite a route length of only a few kilometres, it came to be classed among Japan's semi-major private railways.

The Tōzai Line and the connecting Namboku Line were completed and opened on 7 April 1968, and on that day Keihanshin Express, Hanshin and Sanyō began through-running over the Tōzai Line while Kōbe Electric Railway began running onto the Namboku Line. Preparing for this had required substantial works: Keihanshin Express and Hanshin, which had still been electrified at 600 volts DC, both raised their voltage to 1,500 volts — Keihanshin on 8 October 1967 and Hanshin on 12 November 1967 — to match Sanyō, which had already converted after the war, and Keihanshin's stub-end Sannomiya terminus was rebuilt for through-running. With the opening, Sanyō's tracks east of Nishidai were abolished and the surviving street-running on the old Sanyō alignment between Dentetsu-Hyōgo and Nagata was eliminated.

When the Railway Business Act took effect on 1 April 1987 in preparation for the breakup of Japanese National Railways, railways were sorted into three categories, and the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway's wish to be licensed as a Category-1 operator (owning the line and running its own trains) was refused by the Ministry of Transport on the grounds that it borrowed both its rolling stock and its crews. To carry on as before, a scheme was approved under which the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway took a Category-3 licence and the four railways took Category-2 licences, with the operators entrusting station and operational management back to the infrastructure company. From 1 April 1988 the four railways applied a single shared line name for their Category-2 sections — the "Kōbe Kōsoku Line" — and continued a fare system kept separate from their other lines, so that in practice almost nothing changed for passengers.

The relationship between the operators and the infrastructure company shifted in the late 2000s. Following the 2006 merger that created Hankyū Hanshin Holdings, Kōbe City agreed in principle to sell part of its shareholding, and on 1 April 2009 the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway, together with its subsidiaries, became part of the Hankyū Hanshin group. Then, on 1 October 2010, the operating arrangement was overhauled: Sanyō gave up its Category-2 operation over the whole line and Hankyū gave up the Shinkaichi–Nishidai portion of its section, so that Hankyū's Kōbe Kōsoku Line was reduced to Sannomiya–Shinkaichi, overlapping with Hanshin only between Kōsoku-Kōbe and Shinkaichi. The day-to-day running of stations and trains passed from the infrastructure company to the Category-2 operators, the outward line names changed from "Tōzai Line" and "Namboku Line" to each company's "Kōbe Kōsoku Line," and station signage and staff uniforms were changed accordingly.

Today the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway has reverted to the pure infrastructure role originally envisaged for a Category-3 operator, owning and maintaining the track and collecting a fixed line-usage charge, while Hankyū, Hanshin and Kōbe Electric Railway operate the trains. Hankyū's Kōbe Kōsoku Line carries Hankyū services that run through from the Kōbe Main Line at Sannomiya as far as Kōsoku-Kōbe and Shinkaichi, stopping at Hanakuma along the way, and forms one strand of the dense web of cross-operator through services that links Hankyū, Hanshin, Sanyō and Kōbe Electric Railway trains across central Kōbe. The fares on the Kōbe Kōsoku section are still charged on a basis separate from the operators' other lines, a lasting trace of the line's origin as a jointly funded city railway.

• 1946The concept of a railway connecting the four private railways' Kōbe termini originates in Kōbe City's post-war reconstruction plan.
• 1948Kōbe City and the four private railways (Keihanshin Express, Hanshin, Sanyō, Kōbe Electric Railway) agree to build the connecting line.
• 195222 January: the east–west connecting-line licence is granted (application had been filed on 12 December 1949).
• 19582 October: Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway Co., Ltd. is established as a third-sector company funded by Kōbe City, the four railways and local business.
• 19625 March: construction of the Tōzai (east–west) Line begins.
• 1967Keihanshin Express (8 October) and Hanshin (12 November) raise their electrification from 600 V to 1,500 V DC to allow through-running over the new line.
• 19687 April: the Tōzai Line and Namboku Line open; Keihanshin Express, Hanshin and Sanyō begin through-running over the Tōzai Line and Kōbe Electric Railway onto the Namboku Line. Sanyō's tracks east of Nishidai, and the surviving street-running between Dentetsu-Hyōgo and Nagata, are abolished.
• 19871 April: the Railway Business Act takes effect; the company continues operating as before under transitional provisions after being refused Category-1 status.
• 19881 April: the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway begins Category-3 operation and the four railways begin Category-2 operation under the shared line name 'Kōbe Kōsoku Line'; with station work entrusted back to the infrastructure company, little changes in practice.
• 19991 October: the Surutto KANSAI stored-fare system and an automatic fare-collection (Fair Ride) system are introduced.
• 20021 April: the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway takes over the infrastructure of the Hokushin Line from Hokushin Kyūkō, becoming that line's Category-3 operator.
• 20091 April: Kōbe City sells part of its shareholding; the Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway and its subsidiaries become part of the Hankyū Hanshin Holdings group.
• 20101 October: the operating system is overhauled — Sanyō abolishes its Category-2 operation over the whole line and Hankyū abolishes the Shinkaichi–Nishidai portion; running of stations and trains passes to the Category-2 operators and the outward line names become each company's 'Kōbe Kōsoku Line'.
• 2015July: to improve its finances, the company reduces its capital from ¥2 billion to ¥100 million.
• 20201 June: the Hokushin Line is transferred to Kōbe City, becoming the Kōbe Municipal Subway Hokushin Line.