長く神戸電鉄の顔を勤めたのは3000系ですが、1000系列は3000系の登場後も増備されて、神鉄を支えてきました。四両固定編成の編成美を持つ3000・5000系に対し、1000系列は1両単位の増結により柔軟な編成を組みます。1070形までは2扉車として製造され、2連が1000形, 1300形・3連が1100系・片運転台の単車増結車が1050形と区分されます。1990年代-2000年代前半は有馬・三田線が4連・粟生線が3または5連だったので、粟生線は1000系列の独擅場でした。しかし、その後粟生まで4連が直通するようになったのに合わせ、1000系列も四連への編成替えが行われました。その結果、車番と編成両数の関係は崩れています。
Series 3000 long served as the face of Shintetsu, but the Series 1000 family continued to be expanded after its introduction and sustained the railway. In contrast to the neat fixed four-car formations of Series 3000 and 5000, the Series 1000 family forms flexible trains by adding individual cars. The cars up to Type 1070 were built with two doors: the two-car formations are Types 1000 and 1300, the three-car formations are Series 1100, and the single-cab cars for adding individually are Type 1050. From the 1990s to the early 2000s, the Arima and Sanda Lines used four-car trains while the Ao Line used three or five cars, leaving the Ao Line the preserve of the Series 1000 family. Later, when four-car trains became able to run through to Ao, Series 1000 formations were also rearranged into four-car trains. As a result, the relationship between car numbers and formation lengths broke down.