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Nigawa Station (仁川駅, Nigawa-eki) is a railway station in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, on the Hankyu Imazu Line operated by the Hankyu Railway. It is located near JRA Hanshin Racecourse and Kwansei Gakuin University. It is also an entrance station to Mount Kabutoyama, the east end of the Rokkō Mountains. Trains connect from this station to Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station or Takarazuka Station every 10 minutes.
The name Nigawa is originally the name of the river on the border of Takarazuka city and Nishinomiya city, and today Nigawa is used as the name of a town along the river of both cities. In 2002, the station installed barrier-free facilities for the elderly and the disabled.
According to the annual statistics done by Nishinomiya city, 3,904,000 passengers used the station in 2004.
Layout
- 2 side platforms on the ground serving a track each, and a side platform for getting off the trains from Takarazuka.
| west side | ■ Imazu Line | for Takarazuka (Change trains for Kawanishi-Noseguchi, Nakayama, Kiyoshikojin and Minoo) |
| east side | ■ Imazu Line | for Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi (Change trains for Osaka, Kobe and Imazu) |
Surroundings
- Hanshin Racecourse
- Kwansei Gakuin University
- Kwansei Gakuin Junior High School
- Kwansei Galuin Senior High School
- Nigawa Gakuin
- ShinMaywa
Adjacent stations
| « | Service | » | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hankyu Imazu Line | ||||
| Obayashi | Local | Kōtōen | ||
| Obayashi | Semi-Express (only running for Umeda) | Kōtōen | ||
| Obayashi | Arashiyama Limited Express (Extra) | Kōtōen | ||
| Terminus | Express (only running for Umeda on the days of horse racing) | Tsukaguchi (Kōbe Line) | ||
During the times of World War II (12/15/1943 - 9/21/1945), there was a station between Nigawa and Obayashi named Kashio (鹿塩). The station was in front of the factory of Kawanishi Aircraft Company, a predecessor of ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd. The factory was closed after GHQ ordered the company to stop manufacturing aircraft. In 1949, JRA Hanshin Racecourse was built on the vacant lot.