Tuesday 17 November 2020

NRA Classic: Afterimage of the Red Arrow Train

Set 10105 of the EMU Seibu 10000 series, "New Red Arrow Classic"

As I posted before, Seibu Railway launched a new limited express train, the EMU 001 series "Laview", last year. Laview is Seibu's coined word combining Luxury, Arrow and View. As a result, the pre-existing model, the EMU 10000 series "New Red Arrow", will be retired in the near future.

New Red Arrow was a flagship model of Seibu Railway before Laview debuted. It was launched in 1993, and is still operated on the Shinjuku line. It's conveniently accessed from downtown Tokyo to Sayama and Kawagoe cities. Before New Red Arrow debuted, the Red Arrow train also existed. Red Arrow was launched in 1970, and retired by the middle of the 1990s to be replaced by New Red Arrow. Red Arrow is no longer operated on the Seibu railway network, but, you can still recall the coloring of the Red Arrow train from set number 10105 of the present New Red Arrow. It's called "NRA Classic (New Red Arrow Classic)". It has two tones of red and beige colors... very beautiful.

Incidentally, I like New Red Arrow as its reclining seat is cushioned adequately enough for comfort; however, the sound insulation of the train lacks something. It was a bit noisy for a company's flagship train. The specification of the train is also rather old in this day and age. 26 years later, Seibu eventually introduced the long-awaited new flagship train, Laview. I hope that both Laview and New Red Arrow including NRA Classic will be active for a while now.

"New Red Arrow Classic" travels on the Seibu-Shinjuku line

Official information about the EMU Seibu 10000 series, "New Red Arrow" (in Japanese):