Monday 17 February 2014

Tokyo Snow Scene: Keio-Inokashira Line

1734F of the EMU Keio 1000 series passes through Shin-Daita Station on the Inokashira Line
 
Following the Romance Cars on the Odakyu Line, I am going to show you some more train pictures in the snowfall last week.

Keio-Inokashira Line is a short commuter route in the western suburbs of Tokyo. Connecting Shibuya and Kichijoji, the route length is 12.7km. The track gauge is 1,067mm and the electric system is 1,500V DC overhead.

The EMU 1000 series is the only group of trains operated on the Inokashira Line. It was launched in 1996 as the first long (20m) body train on the line. One of the features of this stainless-steel body EMU is that each train set has different colors for the front mask and the side lines.

I have heard that the EMU 1000 series was prone to race in the snow, especially, the first 10 sets, namely from 1701F to 1710F, as only two of their 5 cars are motor cars (2M3T). In light of this trouble, the specification of the second 19 sets (1711F and over) has been changed from 2M3T to 3M2T, which means that 5-car trains now have 3 motor cars.

Furthermore, Keio has installed sandboxes on the first 10 sets of the 1000 series as a special modification. These sandboxes drop ceramic powders on the rail in front of the driving wheels in wet and slippery conditions to improve rail adhesion.

There, now we don't have to worry about the snowfall on the Inokashira Line.

 
1708F of the EMU Keio 1000 series arrives at Shin-Daita Station on the Inokashira Line