EN日本語

Kobe Electric Railway line2 min read

Shintetsu Sanda Line

三田線

The Sanda Line (三田線, Sanda-sen) is a 12.0-kilometre commuter railway line in Hyōgo Prefecture operated by Kobe Electric Railway, commonly known as Shintetsu.

It runs from Arima-guchi Station in the Kita ward of Kobe to Sanda Station in the city of Sanda, with a maximum gradient of 33.3 per mille. The line is laid to 1,067 mm narrow gauge and electrified at 1,500 V DC, has ten stations, and connects Sanda and the residential districts along its route with Kobe and with the JR network.

Kobe2 km
Route of the Shintetsu Sanda Line · Hyogo · Boundaries: MLIT / GSI / Japan Post

History

The line is one piece of the Shintetsu network, which grew out of the Kōbe Arima Electric Railway, a company established on 27 March 1926. The Arima Line, which the Sanda Line joins at Arima-guchi, opened on 28 November 1928 between Minatogawa and Arima-Onsen.

The Sanda Line's own origins go back to a railway licence granted on 2 June 1927 for a line between Arima-machi and Miwa village in Arima District. Construction followed, and on 18 December 1928 — less than three weeks after the Arima Line opened — the section between Karakute Station (today's Arima-guchi) and Sanda Station opened to traffic, electrified at 1,500 V DC from the start. An intermediate station, Sanda-honmachi, was added on 10 October 1929.

The Kobe terminus, Karakute, was renamed Arima-Onsen-guchi on 20 March 1951 and then Arima-guchi on 1 September 1954, while Yokoyama Station became Dentetsu-Yokoyama on 1 October 1952. The company itself had been renamed Kobe Electric Railway (神戸電気鉄道) on 30 April 1949.

From the late twentieth century the Sanda Line was progressively upgraded for heavier commuter traffic as Kobe's northern suburbs filled in. Only two sections of the single-track line have been doubled: the Yokoyama–Sanda stretch on 24 March 1991 and the Okaba–Taoji stretch on 20 March 1998. A new express category, the Special Rapid (特快速), was added to the timetable on 26 November 1995.

Many Sanda Line trains run through onto the Arima Line at Arima-guchi and continue toward Shinkaichi, so passengers from Sanda reach Kobe without changing, while at Sanda Station the line connects with JR West's Fukuchiyama Line (the JR Takarazuka Line) for onward travel toward Osaka. The company abolished the smoking corners at every Sanda Line station and made the stations entirely non-smoking on 1 March 2011.

Stations on this line

10 stations tracked on the map, listed alphabetically. Select any to read its page.

Timeline
  • 192627 March: the Kōbe Arima Electric Railway, the company that would become Kobe Electric Railway (Shintetsu), is established.
  • 19272 June: a railway licence is granted for a line between Arima-machi and Miwa village in Arima District — the future Sanda Line.
  • 192828 November: the Arima Line opens between Minatogawa and Arima-Onsen.
  • 192818 December: the Sanda Line opens between Karakute (now Arima-guchi) and Sanda, less than three weeks after the Arima Line.
  • 192910 October: Sanda-honmachi Station opens as an intermediate station on the line.
  • 194930 April: the company is renamed Kobe Electric Railway (神戸電気鉄道).
  • 195120 March: Karakute Station is renamed Arima-Onsen-guchi Station.
  • 19521 October: Yokoyama Station is renamed Dentetsu-Yokoyama Station.
  • 19541 September: Arima-Onsen-guchi Station is renamed Arima-guchi Station, the present name of the line's starting point.
  • 199124 March: the Yokoyama–Sanda section is double-tracked.
  • 199526 November: a new express category, the Special Rapid (特快速), is added to the timetable.
  • 199820 March: the Okaba–Taoji section is double-tracked.
  • 20111 March: smoking corners are abolished and every Sanda Line station is made entirely non-smoking.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

← All lines