Rokkō Island Line

The line was conceived as the transport link between central Kobe and Rokkō Island, a large artificial island reclaimed in the sea off the port of Kobe. The route is unusual in being divided between two legal regimes: under Japanese law the Sumiyoshi–Minami-Uozaki and Island Kitaguchi–Marine Park sections are licensed as tramway (軌道) track, while the Minami-Uozaki–Island Kitaguchi section, which crosses Kobe Harbour on the Rokkō Great Bridge, is licensed under the Railway Business Act, the distinction following whether the structure runs above a public road or another kind of right of way.

Authorisation came in 1986. On 25 April 1986 Kobe New Transit received the tramway licences for the Sumiyoshi–Minami-Uozaki and Island Kitaguchi–Marine Park sections and the railway construction licence for the Minami-Uozaki–Island Kitaguchi section. Construction was approved on 25 August and work began on 2 September of the same year. The reported cost of the project came to 38.8 billion yen in total, of which the operator's share was 16.6 billion yen, working out to about 8.6 billion yen per kilometre.

The Sumiyoshi–Marine Park line opened on 21 February 1990, becoming Kobe New Transit's second automated guideway transit line. It was equipped from the outset with the 1000 series cars introduced for the opening, of which eleven four-car sets were built, and it adopted the side-guided AGT format running on a 1,700 mm track gauge, electrified at 600 V three-phase alternating current at 60 Hz. Although every train is four cars long, the platforms at all stations were built long enough for six-car trains, with the unused portions screened off by glass rather than platform-edge doors.

On 17 January 1995 the Great Hanshin earthquake (阪神・淡路大震災) struck the Kobe area and put the entire line out of service. Restoration was carried out in stages: the Island Kitaguchi–Marine Park section reopened on 12 May 1995, the Uozaki–Island Kitaguchi section on 20 July, and the final Sumiyoshi–Uozaki section on 23 August, by which time the whole line had returned to service. The line carries IC fare cards such as PiTaPa and ICOCA.

A new generation of rolling stock arrived later. The 3000 series entered service on 31 August 2018, built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and overseen in design by Ken Okuyama, the industrial designer also associated with the Ferrari Enzo and the Shinkansen E6 series; the 3000 series was planned to replace the 1000 series fleet, a process completed in 2023. On the night of 4 July 2022 a Sumiyoshi-bound train made an emergency stop between Island Kitaguchi and Minami-Uozaki because of an equipment fault; the line ran on a single track on 5 July and returned to normal operation on 6 July once the affected car had been removed.

A long-standing proposal would extend the line south from Marine Park to Rokkō Island South, an area under reclamation; the extension was identified as a direction for future study in the 1989 Transport Policy Council Report No. 10 on the Osaka-area rail network. Today the Rokkō Liner functions as the principal access route for Rokkō Island, linking its residential and commercial districts to the JR, Hanshin and wider rail network at Sumiyoshi and Uozaki.

• 198625 April: Kobe New Transit receives the tramway licences for the Sumiyoshi–Minami-Uozaki and Island Kitaguchi–Marine Park sections and the railway construction licence for the Minami-Uozaki–Island Kitaguchi section.
• 198625 August: construction is approved; work begins on 2 September.
• 199021 February: the Sumiyoshi–Marine Park line opens, Kobe New Transit's second AGT line; it begins with the 1000 series cars.
• 199517 January: the Great Hanshin earthquake (阪神・淡路大震災) puts the entire line out of service.
• 199512 May: the Island Kitaguchi–Marine Park section is restored to service.
• 199520 July: the Uozaki–Island Kitaguchi section is restored.
• 199523 August: the Sumiyoshi–Uozaki section is restored, returning the whole line to service.
• 201831 August: the 3000 series enters service, built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries with design overseen by Ken Okuyama.
• 20224–6 July: a Sumiyoshi-bound train makes an emergency stop on 4 July owing to an equipment fault; the line runs on a single track on 5 July and returns to normal operation on 6 July.
• 2023The 1000 series fleet, introduced for the 1990 opening, is fully replaced by the 3000 series (replacement completed by 2023).