Myōken Line

The operating company was founded on 23 May 1908 as the Nose Electric Tramway (能勢電気軌道株式会社). Its purpose was to link the area around Kawanishi with the Myōken shrine on Myōken-zan, long a destination for worshippers, and to open up the Nose district to the railway. The first trains, however, did not run for several more years, and the line was opened in stages over the following decade and a half.

The first section, from Noseguchi — today's Kawanishi-Noseguchi — to Ichinotorii, opened on 13 April 1913, carrying both passengers and freight and electrified at 600 volts DC from the outset. A short branch from Ikeda-Ekimae (later Kawanishi-Kokutetsu-mae) to Noseguchi followed on 8 August 1917, linking the line to the national railway at Kawanishi. The route reached its mountain terminus on 3 November 1923, when the segment from Ichinotorii to Myōken — now Myōkenguchi — was completed, giving the line its full length.

From early on the company's fortunes were tied to the larger interurban railways of the Hankyū sphere. On 4 October 1922 the Hanshin Kyūkō Electric Railway — the forerunner of today's Hankyū Corporation — took a capital stake in the company through a share issue. That relationship deepened over the decades: on 10 August 1961 the railway, by then capitalised at ninety-six million yen, became a subsidiary of Keihanshin Kyūkō (again, the later Hankyū), which held a 57 percent stake. The company adopted its present name, Nose Electric Railway (能勢電鉄株式会社), on 1 October 1978, and it remains a principal subsidiary of Hankyū today.

As the hills north of Kawanishi filled with housing in the postwar decades, the line was progressively upgraded for heavier commuter traffic. The busy southern end was double-tracked in stages: Kawanishi-Noseguchi to Uguisunomori on 30 November 1967, Uguisunomori to Hirano on 5 October 1969, and Hirano to Yamashita on 24 April 1977. The short connecting stub to the national railway lost its purpose as Kawanishi-Noseguchi developed into the principal interchange, and the Kawanishi-Kokutetsu-mae–Kawanishi-Noseguchi section was closed on 20 December 1981.

The single most important modernisation came in the 1990s. On 26 March 1995 the line's overhead voltage was raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC, bringing it into line with the Hankyū network and allowing the use of larger, faster rolling stock. This paved the way for direct services onto the Hankyū system: on 16 November 1997 the "Nissei Express" limited express was introduced, running through from the Nissei Line at Nissei-Chūō onto the Hankyū Takarazuka Line and on to the Umeda terminal in Osaka, giving commuters from the new towns a one-seat ride into the city centre during peak hours.

Today the Myōken Line functions as a compact but busy feeder into the Hankyū network. Most local trains work the Kawanishi-Noseguchi–Nissei-Chūō corridor over the line's double-tracked southern half, while the northern reach toward Myōkenguchi serves a quieter, more rural area and the gateway to Myōken-zan. Through the Hankyū Takarazuka Line at Kawanishi-Noseguchi, the line ties the Nose district firmly into the wider Keihanshin commuter system.

• 190823 May: the operating company is founded as the Nose Electric Tramway (能勢電気軌道).
• 191313 April: the first section, Noseguchi (now Kawanishi-Noseguchi)–Ichinotorii, opens for passengers and freight, electrified at 600 V DC.
• 19178 August: the Ikeda-Ekimae (later Kawanishi-Kokutetsu-mae)–Noseguchi section opens, connecting the line to the national railway at Kawanishi.
• 19224 October: the Hanshin Kyūkō Electric Railway (forerunner of Hankyū) takes a capital stake in the company via a share issue.
• 19233 November: the Ichinotorii–Myōken (now Myōkenguchi) section opens, completing the full line.
• 196110 August: the railway becomes a subsidiary of Keihanshin Kyūkō (later Hankyū), which takes a 57 percent stake.
• 196730 November: the Kawanishi-Noseguchi–Uguisunomori section is double-tracked.
• 19695 October: the Uguisunomori–Hirano section is double-tracked.
• 197724 April: the Hirano–Yamashita section is double-tracked.
• 19781 October: the company changes its name to Nose Electric Railway (能勢電鉄株式会社).
• 198120 December: the Kawanishi-Kokutetsu-mae–Kawanishi-Noseguchi section is closed.
• 199526 March: the overhead line voltage is raised from 600 V to 1,500 V DC.
• 199716 November: the 'Nissei Express' limited express begins through-running from the Nissei Line onto the Hankyū Takarazuka Line to Umeda.