Three years have passed since Seibu Railway launched a new limited express train, the EMU 001 series "Laview". What's the situation of Seibu limited express trains after that?
Let me quickly review Seibu Railway and Seibu limited express trains. Seibu is one of the major railway companies in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Its labyrinthine network extends to the northwestern part of Tokyo Metropolis and Saitama Prefecture. Seibu operates gorgeous limited express trains on their two trunk lines namely the Ikebukuro and the Shinjuku lines. The EMU 10000 series, "New Red Arrow (NRA)", had been commissioned as the sole limited express train model for a long time, but in 2019, the company started to introduce a new model, the EMU 001 series, "Laview", to replace outdated NRA.
Let's get down to the main topic. All "NRA" trains had already been replaced by "Laview" on the Ikebukuro line. On the other hand, NRA is still working on the Shinjuku line. 5 sets (35 cars) of NRA are still operated on the line; while 7 sets (49 cars) have already been retired from the track. Unfortunately, a special-colored NRA set, namely set 10105, "NRA Classic", was also retired from the track in May, 2021. 4 out of 49 retired NRA cars were transferred to Toyama Chihou Railway in October, 2020 to spend their "second life".
I don't know how long NRA's current life will continue from now, but hope it will be cherished and operated on the Shinjuku line as long as possible.
