Sagami Railway (hereafter Sotetsu) is one of the major private railway companies in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Starting from Yokohama, the main city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Sotetsu connects Ebina on the Main Line and Shonandai on the Izumino Line. There are 25 stations over a total operating length of 35.9km.
I seldom use Sotetsu as it doesn't run into downtown Tokyo, but I recently had an opportunity to take it for the first time in a year and a half. After finishing my meeting on the Sotetsu line, I stopped at Izumi-chuo station to take some train photos. Wherever we go, we, rail-fans, have something we like to do. Life is always enjoyable for rail-fans.
What was new with Sotetsu? The company had its centenary anniversary in December 2017. In commemoration of the anniversary, Sotetsu has been changing the train coloring with a new corporate color named Yokohama Navy Blue. On April 10th 2016, Sotetsu launched the first new colored train, set 9703F of the EMU 9000 series. Currently, 4 sets of the EMU 9000 series have been renovated and have new color bodies (the original color design is here). They are 9702F, 9703F 9704F and 9705F. The interior of these 4 sets has also been changed. The special feature is the leather-covered cross seats in car numbers 5 and 8. The leather was made in Scotland.
Furthermore, on February 11th 2018, Sotetsu launched a new model, EMU 20000 series, with Yokohama Navy Blue color bodies. I am going to report on the new model in a few days.
I seldom use Sotetsu as it doesn't run into downtown Tokyo, but I recently had an opportunity to take it for the first time in a year and a half. After finishing my meeting on the Sotetsu line, I stopped at Izumi-chuo station to take some train photos. Wherever we go, we, rail-fans, have something we like to do. Life is always enjoyable for rail-fans.
What was new with Sotetsu? The company had its centenary anniversary in December 2017. In commemoration of the anniversary, Sotetsu has been changing the train coloring with a new corporate color named Yokohama Navy Blue. On April 10th 2016, Sotetsu launched the first new colored train, set 9703F of the EMU 9000 series. Currently, 4 sets of the EMU 9000 series have been renovated and have new color bodies (the original color design is here). They are 9702F, 9703F 9704F and 9705F. The interior of these 4 sets has also been changed. The special feature is the leather-covered cross seats in car numbers 5 and 8. The leather was made in Scotland.
Furthermore, on February 11th 2018, Sotetsu launched a new model, EMU 20000 series, with Yokohama Navy Blue color bodies. I am going to report on the new model in a few days.
Official information about the trains on the Sotetsu lines (in Japanese):