I recently visited the Shin-Keisei line for the first time in two years. What's new with this local railway?
Let me quickly review the Shin-Keisei line to start. Shin-Keisei (New Keisei) is a private railway company in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo. It's an affiliate firm of Keisei Electric Railway Company. Connecting Matsudo on the JR East Joban line and Tsudanuma on the Keisei main line, there are 24 stations over a total operating length of 26.5 kilometers. The track gauge is 1,435 millimeters and the electric system is 1,500V DC overhead. The Shin-Keisei line had a unique history in early times. It was constructed as a training line by the Railway Regiment of the ex-Japanese Army in 1929. After WWII, the track was sold to Keisei Electric Railway Company, and reopened as the Shin-Keisei line in 1947.
Let's head to the main topic. I realized that the old model-cars, EMU 8000 series, had disappeared from the track. I liked the 8000 series as it had unique "owl faces". It was Japan's first train, which had a variable-frequency drive electric control system. The 8000 series debuted in 1978, and was retired from the track in 2021. I also found that all the trains had new colored bodies... pink and pure white stripes. It was my first time to see the EMU N800 series with the new colored bodies. I like the new design, but the staff of train maintenance may need to wash the trains frequently, as pure white stains easily.
