Hankyu Sannomiya station locates in downtown of Kobe. Hankyu began to think about changing the name. It's because the railway company thought it would be difficult for tourists out of Kansai to notice that the station is in downtown of Kobe. The plan includes adding "Kobe" into the station name, and the name is going to be changed after the next autumn.
"Sannomiya" derives from Sannomiya shrine near the station, and Sannomiya was officially adopted to town name in 1878. The station in the town has been called "Sannomiya" instead of "Kobe" since 1968
Citation: http://www.asahi.com/travel/rail/news/OSK201212130078.html
If the station name becomes "Hankyu Kobe", there will be three "Kobe stations": Kobe(JR), Kosoku Kobe, Hankyu Kobe.
This must be confusing for passengers who can't identify which train they take.
