History
Hanshin Kasuganomichi Station opened on 12 April 1905 with the Hanshin Main Line, originally on the two-lane road north of present National Route 2. It was temporarily abolished on 17 June 1933 when the line was placed underground, then reopened as a subway station on 1 May 1934. On 7 April 1968, Sanyō Electric Railway through-services to Ōishi via Kobe Rapid Transit's East-West Line began. The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 17 January 1995 suspended service; trains resumed between Iwaya and Kobe-Sannomiya on 20 February 1995, with full line restoration on 26 June 1995. Sanyō's limited-express through service was shortened to Sannomiya on 15 February 1998, leaving only S-Limited Express and locals stopping here; on 10 March 2001 even those were truncated and Sanyō trains no longer stopped at Kasuganomichi. Improvement work began on 6 November 2001 (with station facilities transferred to Kobe Rapid Transit Railway as project sponsor). On 25 September 2004 the new platforms (relative type) entered provisional service (5-car effective length) and a new west ticket gate opened; from 27 September 2004 to 6 August 2005, eastbound six-car morning peak suburban semi-express trains used door-cut on the Kobe-side car. Full barrier-free facilities and the platform extension opened on 7 August 2005. The improvement project completed on 27 March 2006, and the 28 October 2006 timetable revision discontinued all premium-service stops here, leaving only locals. Station numbering (HS 31) was introduced on 1 April 2014.
History summarized from Japanese & English Wikipedia · last reviewed 2026-06-09.
Where the English and Japanese sources differ, this account follows the Japanese source.
Notes
From 1934 until 2004, this station had a single island platform just 2.6 m wide - narrower than a train car (about 2.8 m) - earning it the reputation of 'Japan's narrowest platform' and appearances on national TV shows as 'Japan's most dangerous' or 'most frightening' station. Originally planned at 3 m wide by 120 m long, the platform was shaved 0.2 m on each side after train bodies were widened, and a thick concrete column at the centre left only the width of a child's arm-span between the column and platform edge. Express trains, originally passing at about 75 km/h, were eventually restricted to 45 km/h with mandatory whistles on approach. Waiting benches were placed not on the platform itself but in an adjacent waiting area near the ticket gate, with custom-recorded announcements timing customers' descent. Despite the danger, no passenger accidents occurred during the platform's seventy years of service. Reconstruction with side-platforms was prompted by safety concerns, scheduling bottlenecks, and the HAT Kobe redevelopment of the former Kawasaki Steel and other factory sites - which after the 1995 earthquake included public housing for the displaced, many elderly. The old island platform, now stripped of safety fencing, is still visible from the new platforms and trains; photos of it are displayed in the concourse.