Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway


Kōbe Rapid Transit Railway Company, Limited is a railway company in central Kobe, Japan.

Lines

Kobe Rapid Railway owns three lines.
The Tozai And Namboku lines have been operated since the founding of the railway company while the Hokushin Line is a recent addition to its business. The company is a Category-3 Operator under the 1986 Railway Business Act of Japan in respect to all three lines.

Tozai Line and Namboku Line

The company does not run its own services on these lines but provides the necessary infrastructure for four private railway lines, Hanshin Main Line, Shintetsu Arima Line and Sanyo Electric Railway Main Line to be able to run trains through Kobe.
The company operated and administrated the stations on the Tozai Line and the Namboku Line until September 2010, when the operation of the stations on the Tozai Line were transferred to Hanshin and Hankyu, and Shinkaichi Station on the Namboku Line to Shintetsu.

Hokushin Line

The Hokushin Line was formerly owned by the operator, Hokushin Kyuko Electric Railway. When Hokushin Kyuko suffered financial difficulties in 2002, Kobe Rapid Railway purchased the assets of the railway trackage from Hokushin Kyuko.
Unlike the Tozai Line and the Namboku Line stations, the stations of the Hokushin Line are operated and administrated by Hokushin Kyuko and Kobe Municipal Subway. On June, 1st 2020, the operation of the line was transferred to Kobe Municipal Subway.