Friday 18 April 2014

EMU 1000 Series: 2013 Blue Ribbon Winner

EMU Tokyo Metro 1000 series stands at Shibuya Station on the Ginza Line
 
Currently, we can see special stickers on the body of the EMU 1000 series on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. They are memorial stickers of the 2013 Blue Ribbon Prize.

What is the Blue Ribbon Prize? It is an annual award presented by Japan Railfan Club since 1958, awarded to the best train that was launched in the previous year. Actually, almost all awarded trains to date are representative carriages in each railway company.

For example, Odakyu 3100 series (the second generation Romance Car) in 1964, JNR 0 series (the first generation Shinkansen train) in 1965, Tobu 100 series (Spacia) in 1995, Keisei AE series (Skyliner) in 2011 and JR East E5 series (present fastest Shinkansen train) in 2012 are well known as previous Blue Ribbon Prize winners.

Last year, Japan Railfan Club elected EMU Tokyo Metro 1000 series as the 2013 Blue Ribbon Prize train. The 1000 series won for its high-tech system such as the steering truck to reduce noise and vibration on sharp curve tracks. It also has high-tech equipment such as permanent magnet synchronous motors and LED lights to reduce energy consumption.

To be honest, the 1000 series does not have an aura as the best annual train if it is compared with the past awarded trains; however, it is probably a train of choice for savvy railfans, since it has state-of-the-art equipment, so I think this choice was quite reasonable.

Now, which one will win the Blue Ribbon Prize this year?

 
The EMU Tokyo Metro 1000 series has a memorial sticker on the body
 
More information about the old and new EMU 1000 series (in Japanese):