I visited the Seibu-Yamaguchi line for the first time in nine years. What's new with this lovely transit?
Let me review the Seibu Yamaguchi line. It's a rubber-tyred automated guideway transit (AGT) system in the northern part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The route was originally opened in 1950 as an attraction railway in an amusement park. It was then changed to the AGT line in 1985 under the Railway Business ACT. The route runs through Seibu Group's amusement facilities such as Seibu Dome (Seibu indoor baseball field) and Seibu-en Amusement Park. The total route length is 2.8 kilometers. The EMU 8500 series is the only model of trains operated on the line. It was commissioned in 1985, when the AGT line was opened. 3 sets (set V1, V2 and V3) in total were built by Niigata Tekko. The maximum operating speed is 50 kilometers per hour.
Let's head to the main topic. I found that the names of the stations had been changed. For example, Seibu-yuenchi (Seibu Amusement Park) station was renamed as Tama-ko (Lake Tama) to prevent confusion with the actual entrance location of the amusement park. I also found that the body colors of two trains had been changed. Set V2 had been changed from white to dark green; while set V3 had been modified to three tones of gray, beige and dark brown.
I couldn't find big news, but it's OK. The Yamaguchi line is working well, so I don't want it to change.
