Set 1002 of the Enoden 1000 series EMU, “Randen-colored train”
On October 14th, Enoden and Randen celebrated the 15th anniversary of their partnership. To commemorate the occasion, Enoden began operating a “Randen-colored train” as a symbol of friendship on September 4th.
Let me briefly review Enoden and Randen first. Enoden is a local railway serving Kamakura and Fujisawa, about 40 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. It is operated by the Enoshima Electric Railway Company, and its route length is 10 kilometers.
Randen, on the other hand, is a tramway in Kyoto City, about 500 kilometers west of Tokyo. It is operated by the Keifuku Electric Railway Company, and its route length is 11 kilometers. Both lines are convenient ways to explore their respective historic sightseeing cities. The two companies formed a partnership in 2009 and have been working together to promote tourism and attract passengers to each other.
Now, let’s move on to the main topic. The “Randen-colored train” running on the Enoden line is Set 1002 of he EMU Enoden 1000 series. This train features a special body color called Kyo-murasaki (Kyoto Purple), which is the signature color of Randen trains. The light-purple livery first appeared in 2010 to celebrate Randen’s 100th anniversary. It is subdued yet beautiful, and the train blends naturally into the historical scenery of Kamakura.
The “Randen-colored train” also carries a partnership plate on the front of the train (see the photo below).
Meanwhile, in Kyoto, Randen is operating an “Enoden-colored train” in return. I hope to introduce it someday.
Commemorative partnership plate of Enoden and RandenOfficial website for Enoden-Randen partnership (in Japanese):