Friday 22 March 2019

Standard Commuter Trains on the Kintetsu Line

Set VC56 of the EMU Kintetsu 1230 Series

Following the EMU 1810 and 1010 series, I am going to show you the Kintetsu trains today. 

Sitting on the stool bar in the observation room of the Ise-Shima Liner, I continued taking photographs of Kintetsu trains coming from the traveling direction. I frequently met the EMU 1230 series. It is a standard commuter train operated on the 1,435 mm-gauge tracks of the Kintetsu lines. The 1230 series has 20 meter-long aluminum alloy bodies with 8 doors per car. One set is composed of two cars (1M1T). All units were built by Kinki Sharyo from 1989 to 1998. A total of 40 sets, 80 units, are currently operated on the Kintetsu lines. The electric system is 1,500 V DC overhead and its control system is GTO-VVVF (variable frequency drive) manufactured by Hitachi.

The 1230 series are the most flexible trains in their operation among the Kintetsu trains. It is operated not only on trunk routes such as the Osaka and Nagoya lines, but also on local routes such as the Shima, Nara and Kyoto lines. Furthermore, it is able to be directly operated onto the Hanshin Electric Railway.

There are subtle differences in the technical specifications among the 1230 series. For example, some sets have Schlieren-type trucks; meanwhile, the other sets have bolsterless trucks. The Schlieren-type truck was developed by Kinki Sharyo in 1954 under a technical tie-up with Schlieren Company in Switzerland. It is fun for me to perceive the fine difference among the Kintetsu trains as a trainspotter.

Set VC32 of the EMU Kintetsu 1230 Series

Official information about tge EMU Kintetsu 1230 series (in Japanese):