History
Arai Station opened on 19 August 1923 with the Kobe-Himeji Electric Railway. The line was absorbed by Ujigawa Electric in 1927, and the rail division was spun off in 1933 to form the present-day Sanyo Electric Railway. The station was relocated 200 metres east in 1941 and gained an underpass to connect its two side platforms. Express stops started in 1961, the turnback siding was removed in 1967, and the express category was abolished system-wide in 1984; in April 2008 selected through-running limited expresses began calling here again. Step-free access via a dedicated footbridge with lifts on both sides opened in spring 2011.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-05-18.
Notes
On 12 February 2013 a six-car limited express bound for Umeda struck a truck on the Shinkō-mae level crossing west of the station; the lead two cars derailed and slid 170 m before colliding with the platform edge, injuring fifteen people and damaging the station building.