Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅) is an elevated station in Chūō Ward, Kobe. West Japan Railway Company runs it. It opened on 11 May 1874, when the government railway between Osaka and Kobe opened.
History
Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅) opened on 11 May 1874, together with the government railway between Osaka and Kobe. On 30 August 1889 the single-storey wooden station building was rebuilt in brick, partly with two storeys. In 1895 the line was named and became part of the Tōkaidō Line; later it was called the Tōkaidō Main Line. On 1 May 1918 freight handling moved to Kobe Port station, so freight at Sannomiya ended.
In March 1929 the station building was moved for elevation work. On 10 October 1931 the station moved to its present site when it became an elevated station. Japanese Wikipedia says the move from near Sannomiya Shrine was made because plans to build up the Sannomiya area as a town centre included Sogo (now Kobe Hankyu) moving to the present site. In 1934 Motomachi Station was set up near the old site.
On 5 July 1938 the Great Hanshin Flood submerged the station. On 1 December 1980 the station's address changed from Fukiai Ward to Chūō Ward after a merger of city wards. In March 1981 the Sannomiya Terminal Building opened.
On 1 April 1987 the station became part of West Japan Railway Company (JR West). On 13 March 1988 the name JR Kobe Line came into use. On 14 November 1992 the Chūō and East ticket gates, which had been for boarding or alighting only, became usable for both. On 17 January 1995 the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck early in the morning. The platforms cracked, and the Tōkaidō Line was closed, so the station closed. On 20 February 1995 the station reopened when the section from Nada to Kobe was restored. At first only the Chūō and East exits were used. On 19 June 1995 the West exit reopened. On 11 October 1997 automatic ticket gates came into use at the Chūō and West exits, and on 8 November 1997 at the East exit.
On 1 November 2003 ICOCA became usable. On 1 December 2003 the upper floor of the Chūō exit was renovated as the Dining Road restaurant area. On 24 June 2013 a fashion zone opened inside the station, on 19 July 2013 the Entre Marché shops opened, and on 1 September 2013 a paid make-up space for women opened. On 28 April 2014 the last renovated part of the concourse opened. On 26 March 2016 the connection between Shinkaisoku and local trains here ended. On 31 March 2016 the Sannomiya Terminal Building closed, because its earthquake resistance was not enough under the revised law. In 2016 the station announced that it would install lifting platform gates first here. On 20 October 2019 lifting platform gates came into use on one platform, and on another on 22 November 2019. On 20 December 2022 they came into use on another platform, and on 27 May 2023 on a further platform.
See all 45 dated events in the Data view →
Written by an AI from this station's own sourced facts (the dated events in the Data view), nothing else, and checked by a program for dates and numbers that are not in those facts. It can still be wrong. Found a mistake? . Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; this text is shared under the same licence.