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Kobe has 1.5 million inhabitants and lies near Osaka in Kansai in central Japan.

Kobe's first subway line, the Seishin-Yamate Line (Seishinchuo - Shin-Kobe), is operated jointly with the Hokushin-Kyuko Railway (Shin-Kobe - Tanigami). It opened between 1977 and 1987 and has a total length of 22.7 km with 16 stations. It runs on the surface between Myohoji and Seishinchuo. A trip on the subway from Seishinchuo to Shin-Kobe takes 32 minutes and a further 8 minutes to Tanigami. The subway carries an average of 260,000 passengers a day.

A second subway line, the 7.9 km Kaigan Line (Coast Line) opened on 7 July 2001. It intersects at both ends with the Seishin-Yamate Line and JR services at Shinnagata and at Sannomiya.

Apart from the subway and some local rail lines there are two automated elevated rubber-tyred light metro lines which connect the mainland to two islands:

- The Portliner opened on 5 Feb 1981 (6.4 km, 9 stops), and it was extended south to the new Kobe Airport on 2 Feb 2006 (4.3 km, 3 stops).

- The Rokko-Liner opened on 21 Feb 1990 (4.5km)

13 March 1977: Shin-Nagata - Myodani (5.7km)
17 June 1983: Shin-Nagata - Okurayama (4.3km)
18 June 1985: Myodani - Gakuen-toshi (3.5km) and Okurayama - Shin-Kobe (3.3km)
18 March 1987: Gakuen-toshi - Seishinchuo (5.9km)

2 Apr 1988: Shin-Kobe - Tanigami (Hokushin-Kyuko Railway) - 7.5 km

7 July 2001: Shinnagata - Sannomiya-Hanadokeimae (7.9 km - Kaigan Line)

 Projects

..

05:30 - 24:00, every 3-8 minutes. Every other train continues from Shin-Kobe to Tanigami.

- FARES

Single fares are 200-390 on the subway and 350-710 if travelling on to Tanigami.

Sets of tickets, "Kaisuken", (11 for the price of 10) are available.

Magnetic fare cards which automatically deduct fare are sold for 1,000, 3,000 (worth 3,200) and 5,000 (worth 5,400) Yen.

Commuter Passes are available at certain stations.

Kobe Subway (Official site)

Kobe Municipal Subway Kaigan Line incl. construction pictures, at Kobe Railway Stadium

Osamu Abe's Kobe page with some photos

Photos of all stations

UrbanRail.Net > Kobe Subway Gallery (by Sean Soo)

Kobe Subway on Wikipedia