Monday 27 August 2018

Seibu Akaden on the Tamagawa Line

247F of the EMU Seibu New 101 series (Akaden) arrives at Shin-Koganei station

Revival color is the key trend on the Japanese Railways. Many companies are operating revival colored trains with previously used body colors to attract passengers. The main targets are sightseers and veteran rail-fans. For instance, the Keio 8013F, the Keikyu 823F, the Tobu 8111F, 8568F, 8575F, 8577Fthe Tokyu 1017F and the Izu-Hakone 5501F belong to this category. We can enjoy extraordinary experiences, as the familiar trains change to nostalgic ones.

Seibu Railway is no exception. On December 17th 2017, they launched a revival colored train, 247F of the EMU New 101 series, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of their Tamagawa line. The 247F is a 4-car train built by Tokyu Sharyo in 1980. Its technical specification is rather old, but the 247F is still active in the front lines. The previous color was all white, but it has been changed to a dark rose color with a beige stripe called Akaden (red electric car). This color design was used from 1960 to 1990 on the Seibu lines. It is quite unique, since the current color design of the Tamagawa line trains is all white.

Incidentally, the Seibu Tamagawa line was opened in 1917 to transport gravel from the Tama riverbed to large cities for construction. The route was, then, changed to a commuter line in 1967. Connecting Musashi-Sakai on the JR East Chuo Line and Koremasa near Tama River, its operating length is 8 kilometers. The track is 1,067mm-wide single and electrified. The electric system is 1,500 V DC overhead catenary. The trains are operated every 12 minutes.

247F of the EMU Seibu New 101 series (Akaden) kept in Shiraitodai railyard