History
Harima-Katsuhara Station opened on 15 March 2008 between Agaho and Aboshi on the JR San'yō Main Line, after Himeji City formally petitioned JR West in 2000. The new station was designated as part of the city's "new business hub" plan adopted in 1997, and JR West's approval application went to the Kinki Transport Bureau in 2005. The station was originally targeted for a March 2007 opening but slipped a year due to construction delays. The final name was set in September 2007. The Midori-no-Madoguchi ticket office closed in April 2013 and was replaced by a self-service Midori-no-Kenbaiki Plus the following day. The station joined the Rakuraku-Harima limited-express stop list on 16 March 2024.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
The opening-day forecast of 5,000 daily boardings was already in sight by the early 2010s, helped along when Aeon Mall Himeji-Ōtsu opened just south of the station in late 2004 — four years before the station itself even started serving passengers.