Himeji Station

Himeji Station

姫路駅
Himeji Station; 姫路駅
	Himeji Station, March 2020
General information
Location	188 Ekimaecho, Himeji-shi, Hyōgo-ken 670-0927; Japan
Coordinates	34°49′39.5″N134°41′27.06″E / 34.827639°N 134.6908500°E Coordinates: 34°49′39.5″N134°41′27.06″E / 34.827639°N 134.6908500°E
Operated by	JR West
Line(s)	San'yō Shinkansen ; A San'yō Main Line (JR Kobe Line); J Bantan Line ; K Kishin Line ;
Platforms	5 island + 1 side platform
Connections	Sanyo Electric Railway Main Line (at Sanyo Himeji)
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Status	Staffed
Station code	JR-A85 (San'yo Main Line)
Website	Official website
History
Opened	23 December 1888;134 years ago
Passengers
FY2019	51,763 daily
Services
Location
	Himeji Station Location within Hyōgo Prefecture Himeji Station Himeji Station (Japan)

Last updated February 23, 2023

Himeji Station (姫路駅, Himeji-eki) is a passenger railway station located in the city of Himeji, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Himeji is a major stop on the San'yō Main Line and the Sanyō Shinkansen, and the western end of the JR Kobe Line. The station building is located close to the Sanyo Electric Railway Himeji Station and Himeji Castle.

Lines

Himeji Station is served by the JR San'yō Main Line, and is located 54.8 kilometers from the terminus of the line at Kobe and 87.9 kilometers from Osaka . On the Shinkansen network it is 91.7 kilometers from Shin-Osaka and 644.3 kilometers from Tokyo. The 65.7 kilometer Bantan Line to Wadayama and the 158.1 kilometer Kishin Line to Niimi terminate at Himeji Station.

Station layout

The station has a complex layout of elevated platforms. The conventional trains operate from four island platforms, the first two of which have one dead-headed track each. The Shinkansen portion of the station has one side platform and one island platform with two passing trains between.

Platforms

1	■ Bantan Line	for Teramae and Wadayama
2	■ Limited Express Hamakaze	for Osaka
3, 4	■ Kishin Line	for Sayo
5, 6	■ San'yō Main Line	for Sannomiya and Osaka
5	■ Limited Express Super Hakuto	for Kyoto
7, 8	■ San'yō Main Line	for Aioi, Banshū-Akō and Kamigōri
7	■ Limited Express Hamakaze	for Kinosaki Onsen
7, 8	■ Limited Express Super Hakuto	for Tottori Kurayoshi
11	■ San'yō Shinkansen	for Shin-Osaka and Tokyo
12,13	■ San'yō Shinkansen	for Okayama, Hakata and Kagoshima-Chūō

Adjacent stations

«	Service
San'yō Main Line (JR Kobe Line)
Hamamatsu CA34 (westbound) Sannomiya (JR-A61) (eastbound)	Sleeper Limited Express Sunrise Seto & Sunrise Izumo	Okayama
Akashi (JR-A73) Kakogawa (JR-A79) (No. 13 only)	Limited Express Super Hakuto	Aioi or Kamigori
Kakogawa (JR-A79)	Commuter Limited Express Rakuraku Harima	Terminus
Kakogawa (JR-A79)	Special Rapid Service	Agaho
Higashi-Himeji (JR-A84)	Local (Rapid Service)	Agaho
Bantan Line
Akashi (JR-A73) Kakogawa (JR-A79) (No. 5 only)	Limited Express Hamakaze	Fukusaki
Terminus	Local	Kyoguchi
Kishin Line
Terminus	Local	Harima-Takaoka

History

Himeji Station was opened by Sanyo Railway, the present-day San'yō Main Line, in 1888. At the time, railway stations were usually built either outside or alongside urban areas,^[1] but Himeji Station was built bordering the old city walls, at the end of the main street (Ootemae-dori). The current Sanyo Railway Station is actually constructed on top of part of the old city wall.^[2] It is thought that the reason was that the army was based in Himeji Castle. This proximity to the city helped to contribute to urban development.^[3]

Himeji Station was linked to Bantan Railway (播但鉄道, Bantan Tetsudō), the present day Bantan Line, in 1894. Kishin Line was linked to the station in 1930.

The station was expanded with the opening of the Sanyo Shinkansen in 1972.

The preparation for elevation of the conventional lines has been undertaken since 1989, and begun in earnest in 1994 after the relocation of Himeji's freight terminal and train yards. On March 26, 2006, platforms for the JR Kobe Line and Sanyo Main Line switched to the elevated railway, while the remainder of the platforms, for the Bantan and Kishin Lines, were elevated beginning on December 22, 2008.

Timeline

December 23, 1888: The Sanyo Railway segment between Akashi Station and Himeji Station opens.
July 26, 1894: The Bantan Railway segment between Himeji Station and Teramae Station opens.
June 1, 1903: Sanyo Railway purchases Bantan Railway.
December 1, 1906: Sanyo Railway is nationalized.
September 1, 1930: Kishin Line is connected.
March 15, 1972: The Sanyo Shinkansen segment between Okayama and Shin-Osaka opens.
April 1, 1987: Japanese National Railways is divided and privatized. The line is taken over by the West Japan Railway Company.
January 17, 1995: There was a blockage of the segment of the Sanyō Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Himeji, caused by the Great Hanshin earthquake.
April 8, 1995: The blocked section reopens.
October 1, 2003: Nozomi service is added to the schedule.
March 15, 2014: Mizuho service is added to the schedule.

Passenger statistics

In fiscal 2016, the station was used by an average of 51,763 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).^[4]

Related Research Articles

The West Japan Railway Company, also referred to as JR West, is one of the Japan Railways Group companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and is also one of only three Japan Railways Group constituents of the Nikkei 225 index: the others are JR East and JR Central. It was also listed in the Nagoya and Fukuoka stock exchanges until late 2020.

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 and has a geographic area of 8,400 square kilometres (3,200 sq mi). Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, and Okayama Prefecture and Tottori Prefecture to the west.

Himeji is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. As of 1 June 2022, the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is 534.35 square kilometres (206.31 sq mi).

Keihanshin is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population of 19,302,746 over an area of 13,228 km² (5,107 sq mi). It is the second-most-populated urban region in Japan, containing approximately 15% of Japan's population.

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The Sanyo Electric Railway Main Line is a railway line in Japan operated by the private railway operator Sanyo Electric Railway. It stretches from Kobe west to Himeji via Akashi, Kakogawa and other municipalities in Hyōgo Prefecture. The line runs parallel to West Japan Railway Company JR Kobe Line, with closest sections between Sanyo Suma and Sanyo Akashi stations, and competes with the JR line for its entire stretch. Despite the name, no part of the line is located in the San’yō region.

Sanyo Himeji Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private Sanyo Electric Railway.

Akashi Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Akashi, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, operated by the West Japan Railway Company.

Kyōguchi Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company.

Nozato Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">San'yō Shinkansen</span> Shinkansen (high-speed railway) line between Osaka and Fukuoka

The San'yō Shinkansen (山陽新幹線) is a line of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network, connecting Shin-Osaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka, the two largest cities in western Japan. Operated by the West Japan Railway Company, it is a westward continuation of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen and also serves other major cities in between on Honshu and Kyushu islands such as Kobe, Himeji, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Kitakyushu. The Kyushu Shinkansen continues south of Hakata to Kagoshima. The San'yō Shinkansen connects Hakata with Osaka in two and a half hours, with trains operating at a maximum operating speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) for most of the journey Some Nozomi trains operate continuously on San'yō and Tōkaidō Shinkansen lines, connecting Tokyo and Hakata in five hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Higashi-Himeji Station</span> Railway station in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan

Higashi-Himeji Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, operated by the West Japan Railway Company.

References

↑ "A comparative study of the relation between the elevated railroad project and urban area development in western-part-of-Japan (Kochi University of Technorogy Library)" (PDF) (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-04-13. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
↑ "Outline of Himeji castle" (in Japanese). Himeji Information Web site. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
↑ "Master plan of Himeji city" (in Japanese). Himeji city office. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
↑ 兵庫県統計書令和元年(2019) [Hyogo Prefectural Statistics Reiwa First Year (2019)] (in Japanese). Japan: Hyogo Prefecture. 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2022.

External links

Media related to Himeji Station at Wikimedia Commons

JR West Station Official Site

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[1] "A comparative study of the relation between the elevated railroad project and urban area development in western-part-of-Japan (Kochi University of Technorogy Library)" (PDF) (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-04-13. Retrieved February 22, 2007.

[2] "Outline of Himeji castle" (in Japanese). Himeji Information Web site. Retrieved February 22, 2007.

[3] "Master plan of Himeji city" (in Japanese). Himeji city office. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2007.

[Hyogo2019_stats-4] 兵庫県統計書令和元年(2019) [Hyogo Prefectural Statistics Reiwa First Year (2019)] (in Japanese). Japan: Hyogo Prefecture. 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2022.

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