On April 1st, 2021, JR East celebrated the 60th anniversary of their Katsuta Railyard. In commemoration of the anniversary, a special-colored train has been operated on the Joban and the Mito lines since November 5th of 2021.
Let me quickly review Katsuta Railyard. It started as the Japanese National Railways' train depot in 1961. Many types of trains such as the EMU 401, 485 and 651 series have belonged to this railyard since it was opened. Currently, the EMU E531 series is one of the representative trains belonging to Katsuta Railyard.
Let's head to the main topic. The anniversry train is set K451 of the EMU JR East E531 series. Its color design was taken from the EMU 401 series of the 1960s. Its nickname was "Akaden (red-colored train)". Akaden had actually not red but rose pink-colored bodies with a cream-colored accent on the front. Passengers of the 1960's affectionately called the 401 series "Akaden"... good nickname!
Incidentally, the modern Akaden, namely set K451 of the E531 series, is an AC-DC dual electric system train built by Tokyu Sharyo in 2005. It's composed of 5 stainless-steel cars. According to JR East, it will be directly operated onto the Tokaido main line to Shinagawa, a subcenter of Tokyo Metropolis, but I seldom see this special-colored train in Tokyo. That's why I stretched my legs far from home, and visited the Mito line. The gleaming body with rose red-colored stripes of the modern Akaden was very beautiful under the winter sunlight.
