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Seishin Line

西神線

The Seishin Line (西神線, Seishin-sen) is the original 5.7-kilometre core of the Kobe Municipal Subway, running from Shin-Nagata Station to Myōdani Station in the western wards of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the Kobe Municipal Transportation Bureau and counts four stations along its length, including both termini.

The line is built to 1,435 mm standard gauge and electrified at 1,500 V DC with overhead lines. Although it is the founding section of the subway, in everyday service the Seishin Line is no longer treated separately: together with the Yamate Line and the later Seishin Extension Line it forms a single through-running route that the operator markets as the Seishin-Yamate Line, carrying the line symbol S and a green line colour.

KobeNagataTarumi2 km
Route of the Seishin Line · Hyogo · Boundaries: MLIT / GSI / Japan Post

History

The Seishin Line was conceived as the trunk artery serving Suma New Town, a planned residential district then being developed in western Kobe. It was the first municipal subway built in the city, and it runs partly in the open: the stretches around Myōdani and Myōhōji stations are at the surface, with Myōhōji half-underground. From the outset the project was planned as part of a longer corridor that would eventually reach the Shin-Kobe Shinkansen station to the east.

Authorisation came in the early 1970s. On 15 October 1971 the Ministry of Transport granted the Kobe Municipal Transportation Bureau a railway-business licence for a subway line linking the Myōdani district with Shin-Kobe, and construction of the first segment, between Shin-Nagata and Myōdani, followed. The line's 1000-series rolling stock was completed at Kawasaki Heavy Industries on 23 February 1976 in readiness for the opening.

The Shin-Nagata–Myōdani section opened on 13 March 1977, becoming the first municipal subway line in Kobe; the 1000-series entered revenue service the same day. The opening established the core of what would grow into a much longer route, and work to extend it toward the city centre began the same year, with construction of the Shin-Nagata–Ōkurayama section starting on 17 December 1977.

Through the 1980s the Seishin Line became the middle link of a steadily lengthening subway. The Yamate Line was built eastward from Shin-Nagata: the Ōkurayama–Shin-Nagata segment opened on 17 June 1983, and on 18 June 1985 the Shin-Kobe–Ōkurayama segment was completed, joining the line to the Shinkansen interchange at Shin-Kobe. That same day the Seishin Extension Line opened its first stage west of Myōdani to Gakuentoshi, and on 18 March 1987 the extension was completed through to Seishin-Chūō, so that the original Seishin Line now sat in the centre of a continuous Shin-Kobe–Seishin-Chūō route. Reciprocal through services with the Hokushin Express Electric Railway's Hokushin Line began at Shin-Kobe on 2 April 1988, extending journeys north toward Tanigami.

The line was caught up in the Great Hanshin earthquake of 17 January 1995, which damaged the subway and forced a shutdown. Recovery was staged: the Itayado–Seishin-Chūō portion, which includes the Seishin Line between Itayado and Myōdani, resumed limited running from the following day, 18 January, while the worst-hit central tunnels took far longer. Service across the whole route was restored on 16 February 1995 — among the earliest railways in the city to reopen, achieved by carrying out repairs overnight after a shortened operating day — with the three most heavily damaged stations, Sannomiya, Kamisawa and Shin-Nagata, reopening over the following weeks and normal operation returning on 21 July.

Today the Seishin Line is operated as an integral part of the Seishin-Yamate Line; from 1 March 2000 the Kobe Municipal Subway adopted "Seishin-Yamate Line" as the unified guidance name for the combined route. Successive generations of rolling stock have worked the line, from the original 1000-series through the 6000-series introduced from 16 February 2019, and on 5 January 2026 driver-only (one-man) operation began across the route.

Stations on this line

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

Timeline
  • 197115 October: the Ministry of Transport grants the Kobe Municipal Transportation Bureau a railway-business licence for the Shin-Kobe–Myōdani subway line.
  • 1971/197225 November: construction of the first segment, Shin-Nagata–Myōdani, begins. The year is given as 1971 or 1972.
  • 197623 February: the line's 1000-series rolling stock is completed at Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
  • 197713 March: the Shin-Nagata–Myōdani section (the Seishin Line) opens as Kobe's first municipal subway; the 1000-series enters service.
  • 197717 December: construction of the Shin-Nagata–Ōkurayama section, toward the city centre, begins.
  • 198317 June: the Ōkurayama–Shin-Nagata section (Yamate Line) opens, connecting the Seishin Line toward central Kobe.
  • 198518 June: the Shin-Kobe–Ōkurayama section opens, reaching the Shinkansen interchange at Shin-Kobe; the same day the Seishin Extension Line's first stage, Myōdani–Gakuentoshi, opens.
  • 198718 March: the Gakuentoshi–Seishin-Chūō section opens, completing the through route from Shin-Kobe to Seishin-Chūō around the original Seishin Line.
  • 19882 April: the Hokushin Express Electric Railway Hokushin Line opens and reciprocal through services begin at Shin-Kobe.
  • 199517 January: the line is damaged in the Great Hanshin earthquake (Southern Hyōgo Prefecture earthquake) and is shut down.
  • 199518 January: limited service over the Itayado–Seishin-Chūō section resumes from 15:33.
  • 199516 February: service is restored across the whole route — among the first railways in Kobe to reopen; normal operation returns on 21 July.
  • 20001 March: the combined route's guidance name is changed to "Seishin-Yamate Line".
  • 201916 February: the 6000-series enters service on the route.
  • 20265 January: one-man (driver-only) operation begins across the route.

Sources

Last updated 16 October 2026.

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