Plans to build a new transit system linking the city centre of Hiroshima with the suburban area to the northwest were first proposed in July 1977.

[1] Groundbreaking for the rapid transit line project began on February 28, 1989, and construction would continue over a five-year period.

[citation needed] However, on March 14, 1991, 14 people were killed when a girder collapsed on a section of the line's elevated viaduct near the Kamiyasu station's construction site.

On March 14, 2015, Shin-Hakushima opened as an infill station between Hakushima and Jōhoku in order to provide a transfer point with the Sanyo Main Line.

[6] The first 7000 series set was delivered in October 2019[7] and entered service in March 2020.