Hanshin Ishiyagawa Train Base - panoramio

of the

Hanshin Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway company owned by Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group that links Osaka and Kobe. It also owns the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. The first character for Kobe (神戸) and the second character for Osaka (大阪) combine to form ...

is a Japanese

traction maintenance depot A motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or just "sheds". Facilit ...

situated between and stations of the

Hanshin Main Line The is a railway line operated by the private railway company Hanshin Electric Railway in Japan. It connects the two cities of Osaka and Kobe, between and stations respectively. Outline The Main Line of Hanshin is the southernmost railw ...

. It is situated in Higashinada Ward,

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Hyogo Prefecture. Ishiyagawa Syako a064

History

Initially there was a depot next to Shinzaike station, but it was closed in July 1967 when the line from Ishiyagawa to Nishinada was grade-separated by elevating it. The new depot at Ishiyagawa was opened on 18 April 1968 and was the first elevated train depot in Japan, being built out of reinforced concrete. At the ground level there was a

Sumitomo Rubber Industries is a global tire and rubber company based in Japan. It is part of the Sumitomo Group. The company makes a wide range of rubber based products, including automobile tires, golf balls and tennis balls. Sumitomo tire brands include Dunlop (in ce ...

facility. The original structure collapsed in the aftermath of the

Great Hanshin earthquake The Great Hanshin Earthquake (, ) occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region of Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 o ...

on 17 January 1995, which occurred at 5:46 in the morning. Aside from disruptions caused on the Hanshin Main Line, 58 cars stabled at the depot were also damaged and 24 had to be scrapped after being declared damaged beyond repair. The depot was then closed for repairs until the original structure was cleared out and replaced with a new one, which opened on 20 March 1996. With this reconstruction, the capacity of cars that can fit in the depot increased from 76 to 84. After this, the ground level was occupied by Konan Shoji, then Kojima Co. Ltd, before finally hosting two different stores (Hankyu Oasis and Sugi Pharmacy respectively). Hankyu Oasis Ishiyagawa shop opens under the elevated Ishiyagawa depot, 28 August 2013 (in Japanese)
/ref> The depot also hosts trains of the

Sanyo Electric Railway is a Japanese private railway operating company based in western Hyōgo Prefecture. It runs local and express rail service between Himeji and Kobe, and also connects directly with Hanshin Main Line to Osaka. Although the Hanshin Electric Rai ...

and those of

Kinki Nippon Railway , referred to as and officially Kinki-Nippon Railway, is a Japanese passenger railway company, managing infrastructure and operating passenger train service. Its railway system is the largest in Japan, excluding Japan Railways Group. The railw ...

References

{{Coord, 34, 42, 41.2, N, 135, 14, 41.2, E, display=title Railway depots Hanshin Main Line