Sagami Railway (hereafter "Sotetsu") launched a new train model, the EMU 21000 series, for the direct operation between the Sotetsu and Tokyu-Meguro lines.
Let's quickly review the direct operation project. Sotetsu is a major private railway company, but the weakness is its inconvenient line network. Sotetsu trains couldn't run into downtown Tokyo two years ago. Sotetsu's weakness was mitigated in 2019, when the Sotetsu-JR East connecting line was completed. Sotetsu trains are now directly operated onto the JR East line to Shinjuku terminal in Tokyo, but the story didn't end there. Sotetsu then started constructing the second route to downtown Tokyo... the Sotetsu-Tokyu connecting line. Once the new line is completed, Sotetsu trains will be directly operated onto the Tokyu-Toyoko and Tokyu-Meguro lines, and bound for several subcenters in Tokyo starting from the fiscal year 2022.
For the second project, Sotetsu prepared two types of new trains... the EMU 20000 and 21000 series. The 20000 series was commissioned in 2018. The 21000 series then debuted in 2021. The former is composed of 10 cars, and will be operated onto the Tokyu-Toyoko line; while the latter consists of 8 cars, and will be operated onto the Tokyu-Meguro line. Technical specifications of the 20000 and 21000 series are mostly the same. They have ultramarine-colored aluminum-alloy bodies, mono-link type bolsterless bogies and a hybrid-SIC VVVF (variable-frequency drive) inverter electric control system with 190 kW traction motors.
Sotetsu is preparing for the direct operation onto the Tokyu-Toyoko and Tokyu-Meguro lines sufficiently enough in advance.
