I recently had a chance to visit the Toei Arakawa Line for the first time in a year. Like the Keio Inokashira Line, which I introduced in my previous post, I found that one of the trams on the Arakawa Line was also decorated for Christmas. Please take a look at the top photo. Isn’t it charming?
This year, the well-known florist Hibiya-Kadan designed the Christmas decorations for the tram. You can see wreath-like stickers on the tram windows. The smiling character you see is Toaran, the mascot of the Arakawa Line, chosen in a public contest. Toaran usually wears a single-arm pantograph on its head, but for this Christmas season it has been playfully topped with a red and white Santa hat. I’m very observant, aren’t I? Though I know I shouldn’t toot my own horn.
Incidentally, the tram with the Christmas decorations is Tramcar 9002 of the Toei 9000 series (see the photo below). The 9000 series is a retro-inspired model commissioned in 2007. Only two cars were built by Alna Sharyo. Each unit has a different color scheme: brownish red (Tramcar 9001) and indigo blue (Tramcar 9002). The 9000 series is mid-sized (13 meters long) and mounted on two bogies with double axles. The trams are equipped with an IGBT variable-frequency control system and two 60 kW induction motors. Although the technical specifications of the 9000 series are modernized, the exterior design and interior atmosphere remain nostalgic.
I will continue sharing my encounters with railway vehicles.
