Let's Create a Kobe Electric Railway Rare Destination Collection!

This time, we are reporting from the Kobe Kosoku Line, which plays the role of connecting the Hankyu, Hanshin, and Sanyo Electric Railway lines in the center of Kobe City. Almost the entire section of the Kobe Kosoku Line is located underground in the downtown area of Kobe City, and it is a railway line with a somewhat vague reality, as it only owns the railway facilities. Actual operations are carried out by the various companies that run through it, and although the line is less than 10km long, for some reason it is classified as a quasi-major private railway in documents.

...However, the main character this time is not the Kobe Kosoku Line 'Tozai Line' that connects the three companies of Hankyu, Hanshin, and Sanyo. We will move to the 'Namboku Line' that extends directly to Shinkaichi Station on the Tozai Line.

The Kobe Kosoku Namboku Line actually functions as the downtown terminal section of the Kobe Electric Railway, and it is a line that is only 400m long between Shinkaichi and Minatogawa. Furthermore, since there are no operations that terminate at Minatogawa, through-service from the Kobe Electric Railway line is carried out.

The Kobe Electric Railway once functioned as a major artery connecting the Hokushin region and Kobe, but now a subway has opened that heads to the Kobe city area in the shortest distance as a bypass route for the Sanda Line, and the Ao Line is also in a difficult situation due to the declining population along the line.

Previously, nearly 12 trains per hour were operated even during the day, and many express trains ran. In the current daytime hours, it has become a simple configuration of two semi-express trains that skip only two small stations and four local trains, and you can only aim for express trains or rare intermediate station stops during certain times in the morning and evening. This time is a record of that.

Before I knew it, an express train appeared that was reduced to only 2 trains per day, weekday evenings only, for outbound service. It is operated by the 1300 series, which has a face that looks quite like an old man. It seems that the marker lights are lit on one side, just like the semi-express.

As shown on the departure information board that was captured earlier, rare trains will continue to arrive even after this express leaves.

Although this is a 'Semi-Express' that runs during the daytime, it is an Okaba-bound train that only runs once a day. People from the Kanto region might wonder, 'Where is Okaba?', but it is located quite deep in the Sanda Line, and Okaba itself is quite developed as a Kobe suburb.

Next, a destination that is synonymous with the Kobe Electric Railway but for some reason has a low encounter rate is coming.

Arima Onsen is a nationally famous tourist destination served by the Kobe Electric Railway. While there is naturally all-day service on the branch lines, trains departing from Shinkaichi are limited to only 2 or 3 per day throughout the week, so unless you live along the line, you rarely get to see them. Since I'm here, I'll take some shots in the underground section.

The Ono-bound trains, which run a few times in the morning and about twice an hour during the evening rush, were operated by the 5000 series on this day. Since it's underground, I couldn't quite gauge the size of the front, and the skirt was barely in the frame. Don't worry~.

Well, I've already waited for about 40 minutes. The highlight of this trip starts now.

Of all the times, just when the one-of-two-daily express trains arrived, a kid in a white hoodie (left in the photo) started practicing his swing right in front of my frame, which was the worst-case scenario, but I managed to capture it somehow. I really wanted to photograph the 5000 series express...

This is also a 'Dojo-minamiguchi' bound train, which stops just short of the Sanda terminus. It's a super rare destination, with the Semi-Express running only once on weekdays and the Local running only once a day, right before the last train, on all days of the week. Apparently, there is a place called 'Dojo' in the Kanto region too, but I wonder what the origin of the place name in Hyogo is?

By the way, the station one stop after Dojo-minamiguchi Station is 'Shintetsu-Dojo' Station. Maybe they have Spartan training in the martial arts of mastering the railway there. Quiet sky, blue sky. Ossu.

Since the 6 PM hour is the most efficient time to collect rare destinations, I was thinking about packing up when the Memorial Train arrived. It's a train from the Rokko area where the green really stands out. I'll pack up for now, kill some time in another area until just before the last train, and then return to the Shintetsu line again.

The grand finale is...?

You might be thinking, 'Isn't that just a 'Semi-Express' that runs during the day, and a 'Miki-bound' train that runs once an hour during the day?' While neither 'Semi-Express' nor 'Miki-bound' are particularly rare, the 'Semi-Express bound for Miki' is limited to only two trains at 23:00 from Shinkaichi.

The 'Sanda' bound trains, which you can see four times an hour during the day, head to the Sanda Line on the east side, but the 'Miki' bound trains, which differ by only one character, run through about 70% of the Ao Line, so if you fall asleep and get on one, you'll be in trouble💦

With this, the night session of collecting rare Kobe Electric Railway destinations/types is over... but since there is still more to find, I will attack again the next morning at a different time! That will be in a later article!