Wednesday 4 July 2018

Oita: Major City in the Prefecture

EMU JR Kyushu 883 series (right) arrives at Oita station

Following my previous post, I am going to continue to show you the trains in Oita Prefecture.

After enjoying visiting the hot springs in Beppu, we headed to Oita, which is a major city in the prefecture. Currently, Oita City has a population of 478,000, which is the fifth largest on Kyushu Island. In contrast with Beppu, Oita is well-known as an industrial city. Along with the petrochemical and the steel industries, the electric industry is recently growing. The solar power business is also active in the city.

Oita City functions as a hub of the JR Kyushu's railway network. Three lines radiate from the city. They are the Nippo main line, the Houhi main line and the Kyudai main line. The former is electrified with 20,000 V AC and 60 kHz system. On the other hand, the latter two are non-electrified. Because of this variety, we can see many kinds of trains in the city.

The blue colored EMU 883 and the white colored EMU 885 series are the star trains in the city. The 883 series was launched in 1995 to compete with the expressway bus services. It has a tilting system to pass through tight curves at a high speed. The EMU 885 has elegant streamlined bodies and is popular among tourists. Both the 883 and 885 series are JR Kyushu's representative inter-city express trains.

We can also see many other trains. I am going to introduce them when I have another chance.

EMU JR Kyushu 885 series leaves Oita station

Official information about the JR Kyushu trains: