The is a Japanese railway line operated by the private railway operator Hankyu Railway. It connects Umeda Station in downtown Osaka with Takarazuka Station in Takarazuka, Hyogo.

It has a branch line, the Minoo Line, and the Nose Electric Railway is another longer branch line. The Imazu Line connects at Takarazuka, but it is treated as a branch of the Kobe Line.

The Takarazuka Main Line is commonly called the for short, but the name Takarazuka Line is sometimes used as the name for the network composed of the main line and the branches.

The line has numerous sharp curves from the line's origins as a tramway, built and opened by its predecessor . The sharp curves have long hindered high speed operation, contrasting to the Hankyu's other main lines, Kobe and Kyoto.

History

The Minoo Arima Electric Tramway opened the entire line on 10 March 1910 as 1435mm gauge dual track, electrified at 600 VDC. Although the line was not a prospect interurban as Takarazuka was not a big city, it saw initial success thanks to the company's aggressive measures. It strategically developed housing areas along the line for the increasing white-collar population who would commute to central Osaka by train. It also opened a zoo in Minoo (on the Minoo Line) in November 1910, a hot spring in Takarazuka in May 1911, and a ballpark in Toyonaka in 1913.

The track between Umeda and Jūsō was shared with the Kobe Line from 1920 to 1926 when the original double track was replaced by an elevated four-track line.

On 24 August 1969 the voltage was raised to 1500 VDC.

As the commuters increased, Hankyu's first 10-car operation began on the Takarazuka Line in March 1982, but 10 car trains were discontinued again in December 2022.

Following the elevation work of Kawanishi-Noseguchi Station, through services to Nose Electric Railway began on 17 November 1997.

Since the 1970s there have been plans to build a spur line to Itami Airport from Sone Station. Although Hankyu shelved the plans in the 1980s due to capacity constraints, the plans were reportedly revived in 2017 and remain under consideration as of 2018.

Service patterns

As of 11 June 2025

  • 2000 series EMU (from 24 February 2025)
  • 5100 series EMU
  • 6000 series EMU
  • 7000 series EMU
  • 8000 series EMU
  • 9000 series EMU
  • Nose Electric Railway 6000 series EMU

<gallery widths=180>

File:Hankyu1000II.JPG|1000 series, December 2013

File:Noseden 6000 umeda.JPG|Nose Electric Railway 6000 series, August 2014

</gallery>

Former

  • 1100 series EMU
  • 1200 series EMU
  • 2021 series EMU
  • 2100 series EMU
  • 3000 series EMU
  • 3100 series EMU

References

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in the Japanese Wikipedia