It's a bit old news, but on May 26th, 2022, Japan Railfan Club announced that the EMU Keikyu 1000-1890 series, nickname "Le Ciel", was elected as the Blue Ribbon Prize. What's the Blue Ribbon Prize? It's an annual award presented by Japan Railfan Club since 1958, awarded to the best train that debuted in the previous year. Actually, almost all awarded trains to date are representative carriages in each railway company. Because of the COVID-19 calamity, there were fewer new models, which debuted in 2021, than usual, but I applaud Keikyu Corporation that won the tough election.
Le Ciel is a multi-purpose train. It's used not only for commuters but also for holiday makers. For that purpose, Le Ciel has multi-purpose seats, which the conductor can change from long seats to cross seats using a remote control system. The cross seat mode is applied when it's operated as a reserved seat train or a chartered train. One of my surprises is that Le Ciel is equipped with toilets. Keikyu has only short routes, so the company has been hesitating to equip toilets on their trains for many years. Of course, it will cost a lot for wastewater treatment from now, but the company made the great decision to invest for trains with toilets. Well done!
Incidentally, the nickname, "Le Ciel", was sought from the general public. I don't know why French, but I also like it. I'm very much fond of "the blue sky" on the Keikyu lines.
