The Chaotic Railway Network of Osaka, Explained

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When it comes to Asian cities and their local railways, the conversation often revolves around the largest cities like Tokyo and Shanghai. But another of Japan’s large cities, Osaka, is not to be ignored with its myriad of railways. Enjoy!

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When I’ve talked about Japan on this channel, it’s overwhelmingly been about Tokyo or bullet trains. But Osaka deserves much more attention because it has one of the world’s greatest rail networks and it’s a complex one. With a rail loop, through running subway lines, and a mix of rail gauges,

It might sound familiar, but it’s actually very different from Tokyo’s network. So without further ado, let’s dive in to one of my favorite transit systems in the world. Hi, I’m Reece and this is RMTransit, a channel about public transit around the world and in Japan.

Osaka is located on the east side of Osaka Bay in the Kansai region of western Japan, and it abuts both Kobe to its west, sitting on the north side of Osaka Bay, and Kyoto nestled within the mountains to its northeast. Like in my Tokyo video, I won’t be covering the

Transport systems and lines which are focused on Kyoto and Kobe, except for when they run from Osaka. Running from near Kyoto to Osaka Bay and cutting the city in two is the Yodo river, to the south of which in central Osaka, is the Umeda CBD and the giant Umeda-Osaka Station complex.

Further to the south is the major commercial center located around Namba Station and just south of the famous Dotonbori district. Almost directly south of Namba is the Shinsekai area, which is landmarked itself by the famous Tsutenkaku Tower and is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Tennoji Station, which

Is Osaka’s third major rail hub. To the northeast of this area is the famous Osaka Castle, which features a moat and is probably the city’s most famous landmark. Interestingly, just to the northeast of the castle is the Osaka Business park, which is almost like a mini CBD of high rises, which

Contrast magnificently with the castle, showing both Japan’s ancient history and modern urban forms. To the west of the city center are various peninsulas and artificial islands in Osaka Bay, and it’s here that you can find Universal Studios Japan. Now, the city itself might not be as big as the city

Of Tokyo, at around 2.7 million residents, which is less than one fifth the population of Tokyo, but the Keihanshin metropolitan area that Osaka is at the center of has a staggering 20 million residents, which of course includes Osaka’s neighboring cities of Kyoto and Kobe, just about half that of the Tokyo metropolitan area.

If you’re flying into Osaka or Kyoto or Kobe from overseas, you’ll most likely arrive at Kansai International Airport, which is built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, almost 40 km southwest of the city center. If you happen to be taking a domestic flight, you’ll land at the much more quaint

Osaka Itami airport, which is only about 10 km north of Osaka station. Of course, most people are arriving in Osaka the proper way by Shinkansen bullet train, and these trains serve Shin-Osaka station, which sits about 3 km north of Osaka station and lets you get to Tokyo in under 3 hours.

Now let’s actually dive into Osaka’s huge railway network, which consists of over 50 different rail lines across the metro, monorails and mainlines. We’ll start by looking at the metro, then move on to the Oneoff routes and post a video out looking at the JR lines and private railways. The Osaka metro is interesting.

While it moves a ton of people every day, it’s actually kind of modest for a major transit system and city with just 123 stations across its less modest eight lines. The system consists of lines split into three groups, three older lines which extend onto other railways, three older

Lines which are entirely operated on Osaka metro tracks, and two fairly recent lines which use linear induction motor technology, just like the Vancouver Skytrain. All of the lines come together to form a messy grid which consists of five north south lines and three east west lines. Though since lines

Meander a fair bit, they connect at a number of locations outside of the core parts of the city. The first line in the system, line one or the Midosuji line, opened all the way back in 1933, only preceded in Japan by Tokyo’s Ginza line, and it now extends 25 km

North south across the city with 20 stations with many interconnections, including at Tennoji, Namba, Umeda, Osaka station, and Shin-Osaka station. There are also many destinations along the line and near its stations, including Dotonbori, Shinsekai, and both of the city’s main commercial centers, Umeda and Namba. All of these connections and destinations make this

By far the busiest line on the system. While the southern part of line one is all underground, just south of the Yodo river the line pops above ground across it in the middle of an elevated expressway which it runs in the middle of under Shin-Osaka station, and all the way to Esaka station,

Where their line becomes the Kitakyu Namboku line, continuing 6 stops further north, mostly in the middle of the expressway, before ducking below ground at its northern terminus. The line’s trains are ten cars long, run on standard gauge tracks, and, as with most on the Osaka metro, are powered by

750 V DC third rail. Line 4 of the Osaka metro the Chuo line runs a total of 18 km east west through Osaka, with 14 stations, starting at an underground station on an island in the port area of Osaka at Cosmosquare station, before crossing the water and running above ground,

Elevated and eventually under and in the middle of another elevated expressway just like line one in Shanghai. The line eventually heads back below ground and interchanges with line 1, appropriately under an elevated expressway interchange. The line continues underground, passing just south of Osaka Castle. On the east side of

The city, much like line 1, ownership changes and the line becomes the Keihanna Line. It’s here that a line pops back above ground, but still below an elevated expressway before heading back below ground as the line approaches the hills east of Osaka, which the line runs through on a mix

Of sections of tunnel and above ground track. Line 4 operates six car train sets, including the new and very out there 400 series trains. Now, while this extension of a line as its own railway might seem unusual, this arrangement isn’t all that uncommon across Japan, as we saw with

Several railways in the previous video on Tokyo. In any case, these extensions are pretty seamless for passengers, although the private company does set fares on the extension, the company also operates its own fleet of trains across the whole line, with through running onto their trackage at the end of the core portion.

Line 6 of the Osaka Metro is called the Sakaisuji Line, and it runs 8 km with ten stations. Line 6 starts just west of Line one at its south end, crossing its east and running parallel to it for about a kilometer through central Osaka.

As the line gets close to the river, it diverts east and ownership changes to Hankyu Railway, one of Osaka’s major private systems. As it turns out, as opposed to Hamkyu being an extension of the Sakaisuji Line like, say, with lines one and four, the Sakaisuji line really functions as an

Urban extension of Hankyu’s lines, with most Hankyu trains heading into Umeda station. In fact, the main train depot for the subway line is on Honkyu’s network. In particular, most line six trains head onto the Hankyu Senri line, which continues north parallel to the Kitakyu Namboku railway, and

Originally terminated at the edge of Osaka’s urban core. Many of Hankyu’s trains from Umeda serve Kyoto and destinations along the way, and some line 6 trains do also continue onto the Hankyu Kyoto line, with some services going all the way to Kyoto. Being a private railway developed out of

Interurbans, Honkyu is basically all above ground, and many sections of the network have a large number of grade crossings. One such area is around Awaji station, where the Senri and Kyoto lines have historically interwoven and crossed at grade with a bunch of level crossings. To fix this, the whole

Railway through the area is being elevated, with Awaji station getting two separate levels for inbound and outbound trains similar to Keikyu Kamada in Tokyo. The scale of the works is incredible and happening directly above and adjacent to the active railway. When all is said and done, this

Project will remove a ton of level crossings and enable more services to operate with less conflicts. Unlike most Osaka metro lines, line 6 uses 1500V DC overhead wires for power for compatibility with Hankyu’s network, and rather long eight car trains as well. The system does of course

Also have some lines that are not through running as in most metro systems. The first of these is line two, or the Tanimachi line, which has 26 stations over 28 track running as a north south line arcing to the west through Osaka. Only a short section of the line at the southernmost station,

Yaominami, is above ground, with the rest of the line running below the surface. From that southern terminus, line 2 snakes its way northwest until just after it crosses line one with a missed connection. From this point, it turns north to serve Tennoji station, where it properly connects to line one.

Continuing north, Line 2 parallels Line 1 and 6 and connects to line 4 southwest of Osaka Castle. Just to the north of the castle, the line swings west in a big diversion to Umeda Osaka station, connecting to Line 6 twice and as well Line 1, albeit requiring a long walk through the complex.

After the diversion, line 2 swings back northeast, paralleling the river until it reaches its terminus. Line 3 is the Yotsubashi Line, which is the shortest standalone line on the Osaka metro system and runs 11 km with eleven stations south from Osaka Umeda station, less than half a kilometer west of Line 1,

Before coming to overlap with it just north of Daikokucho station. This means that Osaka has 4 north south parallel metro lines through its core area within just 2km of each other. South of this area, while line 1 splits off to the east, Line 3 keeps heading south, terminating after a jog

Southwest to a very interesting boat racing venue. Line 3 is entirely underground, and its southern leg was actually originally a branch of line 1, which is the reason for the overlapping section and a very nice cross platform transfer at Daikokucho. The northern section of line 3 both acts as

A relief line for the northern section of Line 1, while also allowing more trains to run to both of its former southern branches. The last of the trio of conventional lines is line 5, the Sennichimae line. Line 5 runs 13 km, with 14 stations, again fully underground. The central core of line 5

Runs east west, about a kilometer and a half south of line 4, connecting to all of the north south metro lines, including lines 1 and 3 at Namba station. The eastern end of line 5 turns south, while the western end turns north to connect to line 4 and

Terminate just south of the river. Lines 2, 3 and 5 all use third rail electrification, while lines 2 and 3 use six car trains and line 5 uses four car trains, though all platforms are built to support eight car trains, leaving lots of room for future ridership growth, which may

Or may not materialize. The final two lines on the Osaka metro system use linear induction motor technology that combines linear motors on the train with a reaction rail mounted between the two running rails that lets trains pull themselves along and be smaller than conventional subway trains.

Both of these lines use four car trains and are powered by 1500V DC overhead lines with platforms designed for six car trains. Line 7, or the Nagahori Tsurumi Ryokuchi line, is the first linear motor powered subway line in the world after Vancouver, which runs 15 km with 17 stations.

The line is entirely underground and opened in 1990, several decades after the last metro line opening in Osaka. Line 7 runs from west of central Osaka across the core, halfway between lines 4 and 5, and connects with all four north south subway lines, as

Well as the western north south leg of Line 5. On the east end of Osaka, line 7 turns north to run east of Osaka Castle with a stop in Osaka Business park, and then heads northeast to the Tsurumi Ryokuchi park and Garden, for which it’s named.

The final proper metro line in Osaka is line 8, the Imazatosuji line, which opened in 2006 and runs 12 km with eleven stations. The line runs as a north south corridor in eastern Osaka, which is entirely underground as with line 7. Line 8 runs from a connection with line 5 up

Past lines 4 and 7 before winding northeast to connect to line 2 and heading across the river underground to terminate. Both lines 7 and 8 run four car linear motor powered trains, which were chosen for their smaller size that allows for smaller tunnels and stations, as well as

Their ability to climb and descend steep gradients, useful for lines that are entirely underground and in this case that includes the yards. In addition to Osaka Metro’s conventional lines, there’s also an extra *9th line, which has been operated by Osaka Metro since 2018: the Nanko Port Town

Line, or the new tram. This eight kilometer, ten stop line runs almost entirely elevated, including under an expressway through port areas to the southwest of central Osaka, which includes an interesting mix of housing, industry and other uses. The line links the termini of lines 3 and 4,

With the interchange to line 4 being the only underground section of the line. The rolling stock, which is based on regular old rubber tired people mover tech, is interesting because each train consists of four tiny cars, each with one door each. Personally, even though the lines are separate, I closely associate Osaka’s port

Town line with the port liner in Kobe just to the west, which opened only a month earlier in February 1981, and was the world’s first automated mass transit system, depending on your definition of that, of course. Now, before we move beyond the Osaka Metro, it’s probably worth actually

Highlighting its logo, which is super cool because when viewed from the traditional angle, it forms a letter M, but viewed at 90 degrees to its side, it forms an O for Osaka; it’s the little things. It probably won’t surprise you, but as with many Japanese cities, Osaka has a large

Number of Oneoff transit systems and lines that connect to the Osaka metro and other railways, and the most obvious of these in Osaka’s case is the Osaka monorail system, which comprises of two lines running 28 km with 18 stations. The first line, like the new tram, forms an orbital route connecting

Outer metro stations, albeit in this case to the northeast of central Osaka, connecting to the northern termine of Metro lines 1 and 2, as well as Itami Airport. Meanwhile, the second line runs from a terminal in the middle of the first line near the Osaka Expo 1970 site, into the

Hills to the north of the city by way of a very cool flying monorail junction, which you’ve probably seen a video of floating around online. While the Osaka monorail does provide a ton of useful connections, its route is much less interesting than that of the Tokyo Monorail, mostly running along an

Expressway, and railways for its length and meandering back and forth across them to serve stations. I will, however, say that the monorail bridge over the Odo river is a pretty cool structure. As you’d expect, as with most monorails in Japan, the Osaka monorail utilizes Hitachi Monorail tech, with four car trains system wide.

Beyond the metro and monorail, a number of surface railways interconnect the entire Osaka region, which virtually all provide a wide range of service levels, from all stop locals to fast limited express trains making very few stops and everything in between. In the next section, I’ll highlight the various mainline railways in the Osaka

Region, but I won’t go into depth on the service patterns operated Naturally, no railway in Osaka is quite as extensive as the one run by West Japan Railway Company or JR west, whose urban lines connect nearly every corner of this metropolis and act as a hybrid metro and regional rail system.

Like most mainline railways across Japan, JR west lines run on 1067mm narrow gauge tracks and are powered by 1500 v DC overhead lines. Most trains run from six to eight cars long, as opposed to the often ten or twelve car trains you’ll see on the urban lines around Tokyo.

The first question many a rail fan has about Osaka is whether it also has a central circle line and much like its bigger brother to the east, it does, creatively known as the Osaka Loop Line. Completed in the 1960s, the Osaka Loop line moves about a million passengers per day and

With a top speed of 100km/h, operations are actually faster than the Yamanote line, but at 22 km with 19 stations, it is a smaller loop with shorter trains that have fewer doors. It really does feel like a proper little sibling. While the Yamanote line is largely comprised of separate dedicated

Tracks that travel along two major north south rail corridors in Tokyo, the Osaka Loop line is actually mostly on its own for much of its route, served by multiple services as an above ground double track rail route that connects Umeta Osaka station just east of Osaka Castle down to Tenoji in the south,

Passing Shinsekai and back around through the west. On its way, the loop line manages to connect every single Osaka metro line, and to many of them twice. It’s worth noting, however, that only a small part of the west of the loop didn’t already exist before the loop was brought into service,

And the importance of the Osaka loop line to other railroutes can be seen in how many JR west rail services it plays a role in, though it should be noted that there are local loop only services that just run the loop, and sometimes even the eastern section from Umeda Osaka to Tennoji station.

However, a number of non Osaka loop services feed into the loop. For example, trains on the JR Hanwa Line that connects to Wakayama and Kansai Airport and runs inland along the eastern coast of Osaka Bay run counterclockwise around the loop from Tennoji back around before continuing south.

Trains on the JR Sakurajima Line operate from Tennoji and Kyobashi over the top of the loop to the west where the trains enter the JR Yumesaki Line, which goes out towards the ports, various freight yards, and Universal Studios Japan. There’s also the Yamatoji Line, which follows a similar

Running pattern around the loop before heading east along the Kansai Main Line to Nara And beyond the more rapid transit style services, there are also longer distance limited express trains which do trips like Wakayama and Kansai Airport to Kyoto via Shin-Osaka Station. There are of course also other JR West urban services

That don’t really interact a ton with the Osaka Loop line, including the Higashi Line, which loops from Osaka Station up to Shin-Osaka, then back south to Awaji near that crazy Hankyu grade separation, and then back south to the Yamatoji Line. The Higashi Line forms the eastern and northeastern parts

Of a planned but never completed outer loop line in Osaka, which would circle through the inner suburbs. Despite this video not being about Kyoto and Kobe, I do need to mention the JR Kyoto and Kobe lines, which form a broad quadtrack northeast to west Arc across the region and connect through Umeda-Osaka

Station and Shin-Osaka at the center of the region. This line, known as the Sanyo Line, is one of the longest quad-track corridors in Japan. Local trains use the slow tracks, and the special rapid — the flagship regional service in the Kansai area — provides express service every ten minutes during rush hour

And at a 15 minutes clock face all day from Osaka to Kobe and Kyoto, using the rapid tracks, connecting both Kobe and Kyoto to Osaka in less than an hour. And as it turns out, there are two more final JR lines I have to mention, or technically three.

The Fukuchiyama line is a northwestern branch that leaves the JR Kobe line not long after that line crosses the river leaving central Osaka. And as it turns out, that line has been given its own tracks until near Kashima station along the Kobe Line, where it dives into what is known as the JR

Tozai line, an east west running tunnel that runs just south of the Kobe Line to Osaka station and then straight east to Kyobashi, where it surfaces and spits trains out onto the Katamachi line, which shares a corridor for a short while with the Higashi line before splitting to the north and wrapping

Up around the hills east of Osaka to Nara, where it meets up with the amatoji line. Of course, as you’d expect, mainline rail travel in Osaka is not limited to JR, and there are four major private railways with distinct identities that also provide service across the region, connecting to

Other cities and serving the urban core with metro like frequencies, interconnected with various rapid transit services and JR, although typically on standard gauge tracks as opposed to the narrow gauge tracks of the legacy national rail network. Like other private railways across Japan, these are diversified businesses, so on top of owning

Railways as well as other modes of transport like funiculars, ferries, and cable cars, they also have land and development holdings, travel agencies, and more. I’ll go through them in clockface order. The first and arguably biggest private railway for Osaka is Hankyu, which operates a dense network of rail lines mostly north of the

Yoda river from the Umeda Osaka station complex, with its distinct and rather classy fleet of maroon colored trains. Like many private railways in Japan, Hankyu directly descended from former interurban railways, and so was much less heavily grade separated than JR’s network. Hankyu’s network has various spurs and branches, but can

Generally be broken up into three routes, which each get a track pair and a separate bridge over the Yodo river from Umeda to Juso, where the three routes split apart. There’s also actually a very narrow set of platforms south of the river at Nakatsu station. It’s quite an experience having

Limited expresses fly by you while standing on them. The first of the three lines is the Kobe line, which runs to the west and eventually sees some services through run onto the Kobe rapid railway system. There’s also the Takarazuka line, which travels to the north and loops back to connect with one

Of the Kobe line branches, and finally the Kyoto line, which runs unsurprisingly up to Kyoto, with the Senri line being the through running northern extension to Osaka Metro line six. Hankyu actually also effectively owns the northern leg of Osaka Metro line one, the Kitakyu Namboku line, which while

Not connected to the other Hankyu lines, is certainly in their area of influence. Keihan railway primarily runs a single line, the Keihan mainline from central Osaka northeast to Kyoto, with several branches along the line. The main line has a significant quadrax section that allows separation of its local trains from limited express trains

That include the iconic 8000 series with double deck cars. There are two branches in central Osaka, with an older one skirting the south bank of the Tulsa Hori river and connecting to metro lines one, two, and six, as well as a relatively new branch built in 2008 which splits off the original central

Branch and travels under an island called Nakanoshima in the Tosahori river in central Osaka. I do have to add that few things symbolize the integrated nature of the Japanese private railways like the Keihan mall built on top and around of the Keihan railway portion of the Kyobashi station in eastern Osaka.

The biggest private railway in Japan flat out is Kintetsu, which operates a railway network that stretches east and southeast from Osaka to Kyoto and Nagoya. However, Kintetsu is more oriented towards longer distance travel than most of the other private railways in the Osaka region, with a variety of double decker

Limited express trains and the beautiful 80,000 series Hinotori. Kintetsu’s Osaka rail network is largely divided in two, with the eastern Osaka and Nara lines running into the Kintetsu portion of Namba Station and the 1067 millimeter narrow gauge Nagano and Minami Osaka lines running into Abenobashi station, which is just south of Tennoji station.

Much like Hankyu owns the northern extension of Osaka Metro line one, Kintetsu owns the eastern extension of Metro Line Four, the Keihanna Line, which runs parallel to the Kintetsu Nara line for a short while in the hills east of Osaka, and has track connections for rolling stock

Movements to the rest of the Kintetsu network, despite using third rail. To the south of Osaka is the Nankai Electric Railway, which runs south from Namba station, with another minor branch from its mainline into Shiomibashi station. South of Tengachaya station, which, you’ll note is the southern terminus of Osaka Metro Line

Six, Nankai’s railway splits in two, with the Nankai Koya line running to the southeast through the mountains and the Nankai mainline running southwest along the coast of Osaka Bay, parallel to and west of the JR Hanwa line all the way to Wakayama. If you’re wondering, premium Airport limited

Express service is handled by the very out there looking 50000 series, since rather uniquely for the private railways in the Osaka region, Nankai uses narrow gauge tracks, it’s actually able to share tracks with JR to access Kansai Airport. However, that same narrow gauge prevented it from through running to Osaka Metro Line six.

Nankai, as it turns out, has its own metrolike railway bridge in the form of the Semboku Rapid railway, which splits off the Koya line to the west and runs most of its length in the median of an expressway, filling in a rather large gap in rail

Coverage between the Koya Line and the JR Hanwa line. The last private railway to talk about is Hanshin, which runs west from central Osaka to Kobe with a branch, and this route is actually owned by Hankyu. Like Hankyu, Hanshin today was developed from one of Japan’s first interurbans.

As it turns out, services on Hanshin actually run onto the Kobe Kosoku line, Kobe’s through running regional rail tunnel alongside those from the Hankyu Kobe line. On the Osaka side, Hanshin splits in two, with one line running to Osaka Umeda and another running to Namba via an extension completed in the

2000s. This connection to Namba actually allows for through running between Hanshin and the Kintetsu Nara line, and runs parallel with Osaka Metro line five through Namba. I actually do think it’s interesting how much more limited through running is in Osaka compared to Tokyo, with only a single private railway actually running into the

Metro system. It should however, be noted that a large number of stations, including sometimes the termini on the Osaka Metro, do provide connections to mainline railways. Non metro through running like the Hanshin Kintetsu connection under Namba, Kobe Rapid Railway and the JR Tozai line seem to be

More of the way things are done in Kansai. And another big connection is coming soon with the Naniwasuji line, which is a new north south rail line under Osaka which will extend the JR Higashi line from Osaka station south to Namba in new tunnels connecting to Keihan at Nakanoshima on

The way, thus allowing for through running of services to both JR and Nankai Namba, elevating their importance and providing for a better southern stop in Osaka for the limited expresses which currently run along the western part of the loop line. To add to the fun, Hankyu also plans on building its

Own connection to the Naniwasuji line from Umeta Osaka north to its major junction at Juso, and beyond to Shin-Osaka station, which the railway currently lacks a high quality connection to. In many ways, this makes the Naniwasuji line a missing link for central Osaka, and construction on the

Main portion should be starting very soon for completion in the early 2030s. On top of this new mainline connection, there are also two metro extensions on the move, an extension of line four west to the Yumeshima artificial island which has been built in Osaka Bay for the 2025 Osaka Expo, and a

Northernly extension of line one, which should both open later this year. Suffice to say, Osaka has an incredible and incredibly complex railway network that is among the world’s best. Have you been to Osaka? If so, what’s your favorite line? Let me know in the comments. And as always, thanks for watching!