Hanshin Namba Line - History

History

The Dempō Line (伝法線?), the predecessor of the Hanshin Namba Line, was planned as the bypass of the Hanshin Railway Main Line, and to connect from Amagasaki to Noda via Dempō. Then the plan was changed to connect to Nishikujō. Finally the line was extended to Namba station in 2009.

• January 20, 1924 - The Dempō Line was opened (Daimotsu - Dempō).
• August 1, 1924 - The line was extended from Dempō to Chidoribashi.
• December 28, 1928 - The line was extended from Daimotsu to Amagasaki.
• June 1960 - The first term of the construction of the extending line to Namba was started (Chidoribashi - Nishikujō).
• May 20, 1964 - The first term of the construction of the extending line to Namba was completed, thus, the Line was extended from Chidoribashi to Nishikujō. The Dempo Line was renamed the Nishi-Osaka Line (西大阪線?).
• September 1965 - Nishi-Osaka limited express service started.
• August 10, 1967 - The second term of the construction of the extending line to Namba was started (Nishikujō - Kujō).
• September 1967 - The second term of the construction of the extending line to Namba was cancelled.
• December 1, 1974 - Nishi-Osaka limited express service was abandoned.
• July 10, 2001 - Nishi-Osaka Railway Co., Ltd. was established to restart the extension from Nishikujō to Namba.
• October 7, 2003 - The construction of the extending line from Nishikujō to Namba was restarted.
• March 20, 2009 - The line from Nishikujō to Namba opened, and the rail line was renamed Hanshin Namba Line.

Before the extension, there were 3 returning tracks in the west of Kintetsu Namba Station (present: Osaka Namba Station). The track on each side became the track of the Hanshin Namba Line and the new returning track were located in the west of Sakuragawa Station because the portion between Sakuragawa and Osaka Namba is controlled by Kintetsu while it is on the Hanshin Namba Line.