Set K1, "Blue Lake", of the EMU JR East E657 series travels on the Joban line
The JR East Joban line has become more colorful. Two more special-colored trains have started to operate on the line. A total of five special-colored trains were eventually assigned to the line.
JR East and Ibaraki Prefecture are jointly promoting the reginal tourism campaign named Ibaraki Destination Campaign. As a part of this campaign, JR East has been changing the colors of the EMU E657 series, limited express trains. These special colors were taken from the old E653 series, which was popular among local people. The E653 series was retired from the Joban line in 2013 while it was missed by rail fans.
JR East had already launched the special-colored E657 series trains, which have green, pink and yellow-colored bodies. Subsequently, blue and orange-colored trains recently debuted. According to JR East, the official names of the new colors are "blue ocean" and "orange persimmon". The former is set K1; meanwhile, the latter is set K3. The Joban line is filled with a profusion of colors.
Incidentally, the E657 series is the AC-DC dual electric system train on the Joban line, and has been operated as limited express trains named Hitachi and the others since 2012. A total of 19 sets were built by Hitachi and the other manufacturers. You might be wondering why the names of the train and its manufacturer are the same. The gimmick is as follows. "Hitachi" was one of the ex-provinces established in 645. The names of the train and its manufacturer both come from "Hitachi" Province.
Set K3, "Orange Persimmon", of the EMU JR East E657 series