The Kounotori (こうのとり, Kōnotori) is a limited express train service operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) between Shin-Ōsaka and Kinosaki Onsen in Japan since 12 March 2011.
It replaced the previous Kitakinki services.
[1] 14 down services (Kounotori 1–27) from Shin-Osaka and 13 up services (Kounotori 2–26) to Shin-Osaka run daily, with the journey time from Shin-Osaka to Kinosaki Onsen taking approximately 2 hours 45 minutes.
[2] Kounotori services stop at the following stations.
)[2] Shin-Ōsaka - Ōsaka - Amagasaki - Takarazuka - Sanda - (Shin-Sanda) - (Aino) - Sasayamaguchi - (Tanikawa) - Kaibara - (Kuroi) - Fukuchiyama - (Wadayama) - (Yōka) - (Ebara) - (Toyooka) - (Kinosaki Onsen) Kounotori, Kinosaki, Hashidate, Maizuru, and Hamakaze constitute the Kitakinki Big X Network [ja; fr] of limited express services connecting the northern Kinki/Kansai (Kitakinki [ja]) region with the Keihanshin metropolitan area.