Etymology The name is an abbreviation of . refers to the area served by Hankyu trains, comprising the cities of , and , along with the suburbs that connect them to each other. means "express train(s)".
Foundation In 1907, the , a forerunner of
Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc., was established by
Ichizō Kobayashi (precisely, he was one of the "promoters" of the tramway). On 10 March 1910, Minoo Arima Tramway opened the rail lines from Umeda to Takarazuka (the
Takarazuka Main Line) and from Ishibashi to Minoo (the
Minoo Line). The tramway was popular due to Kobayashi's pioneering act to develop housing around stations along the line (a first in Japan), a forerunner to
transit-oriented developments.
Expansion to Kobe On February 4, 1918, Minoo Arima Tramway was renamed . On July 16, 1920, the
Kobe Main Line from Jūsō to Kobe (later, renamed Kamitsutsui) and the Itami Line from Tsukaguchi to Itami were opened. On April 1, 1936, the Kobe Main Line was extended from Nishi-Nada (present-day Ōji-kōen) to the new terminal in Kobe (present-day
Kobe-Sannomiya Station), and the Kobe Main Line from Nishi-Nada to Kamitsutsui was named the Kamitsutsui Line, which was abandoned on May 20, 1940. In 1936, Hankyu established a
professional baseball team and in 1937 the
Nishinomiya Stadium as the team's home field was completed near
Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station. The Hankyu Braves (named in 1947) played until the 1988 season and became the predecessors of the present-day
Orix Buffaloes.
Merger and separation with Keihan On October 1, 1943, under the order of the government, Hanshin Kyūkō and
Keihan Electric Railway were merged, and renamed . The merged lines included the
Keihan Main Line, the
Uji Line, the
Shinkeihan Line (present-day Kyoto Main Line), the
Senriyama Line (present-day Senri Line), the Jūsō Line (part of Kyoto Main Line), the
Arashiyama Line, the
Keishin Line and the
Ishiyama Sakamoto Line. The
Katano Line was also added in 1945. On December 1, 1949, the Keihan Main Line, the Katano Line, the Uji Line, the Keishin Line, and the Ishiyama-Sakamoto Line were split off to become part of the newly established
Keihan Electric Railway Co., Ltd. Although this revived the former Keihan Electric Railway, Keihan was now smaller than before the 1943 merger, because the Shinkeihan Line and its branches were not given up by Keihanshin. The present structure of the Hankyu network with the three main lines was fixed by this transaction. The abbreviation of Keihanshin Kyūkō Railway was changed from "Keihanshin" to "Hankyū".
Postwar development On April 7, 1968, the Kobe Main Line started through service to the
Kobe Rapid Transit Railway Tozai Line and the
Sanyo Electric Railway Main Line. On December 6, 1969, the Kyoto Main Line and the Senri Line started through service to the
Osaka Municipal Subway Sakaisuji Line. In 1970, the Senri Line was one of access routes to the
Expo '70 held in Senri area. On April 1, 1973, Keihanshin Kyūkō Railway Company assumed its current name. , and the symbols for
Osaka City and
Kobe are incorporated. On April 1, 2005, former Hankyu Corporation became a holding company and was renamed . The railway business was ceded to a subsidiary, now named
Hankyu Corporation (before the restructuring, the new company which reused a dormant company founded on December 7, 1989, was called until March 28, 2004, then from the next day). On October 1, 2006, Hankyu Holdings became the wholly owning parent company of
Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd. and the holdings were renamed
Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc.. Hankyu's stock purchase of Hanshin shares was completed on June 20, 2006. == Rail lines ==