Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd. (阪神電気鉄道株式会社, Hanshin Denki-tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha) 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 the company name, 阪神, which can be read Han-shin.
IC cards (PiTaPa and ICOCA) are accepted when taking trains.
The section between Nishikujō and Ōsaka-Namba is the newest line of Hanshin that opened on March 20, 2009. Prior to this extension the line was called the Nishi-Ōsaka Line.
One of the company's subsidiaries is the Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link, that operates the Billboard Japan brand under licence from Billboard's publisher.[4][5]
^阪神5550系が営業運転を開始 [Hanshin 5550 series enters service]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Koyusha Co., Ltd. 30 December 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
^阪神5700系が営業運転を開始 [Hanshin 5700 series enters revenue service]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
‡ indicates rapid transit operators § indicates semi-major rail operators *Not a member of Associations of Private Japanese Railways, therefore excluded under the formal Japanese definition, although its comparable size is undisputed