EMU 80000 Series: New Model on the Urban Park Line

EMU Tobu 80000 series travels on the Urban Park line

You may remember when I posted about the name change of the Tobu-Noda line in before. Japan's population has entered into a decreasing phase. Railway companies are in competition to attract passengers and have to improve the value of their lines. For that purpose, Tobu Railway gave a nickname of their "Noda line" to "Urban Park line" in 2014. What do you think about the new name, “Urban Park line”? Is it sophisticated? To be honest, I wonder why Japanese people are eager to use English words for their shops', restaurants' and companies' names... even for railway stations' and railway lines' names. 

Enough with the preamble, let's get down to the main topic. I recently understood that Tobu continues improving the value of their lines very seriously. Not only just the name of the line but also the train itself on the line. In token of that, Tobu launched a new sophisticated commuter train, the EMU 80000 series, onto their Urban Park line this year. It's been 12 years since the last model, the EMU 60000 series, debuted. What’s special about the 80000 series? It has an area for families with children. There is a unique seat with a baby stroller parking area named “Tanoseat” (see the photo below). Tanoseat is a compound word of Tanoshii (fun) in Japanese and Seat in English.  A family gets together at Tanoseat, it will be so much fun. I’m running out of space on the page. With regard to the technical specifications of the 80000 series, I’m going to post near future.

"Tanoseat" of the EMU Tobu 80000 series

Official information about the EMU 80000 series by Tobu Railway (in Japanese):

https://www.tobu.co.jp/cms-pdf/releases/202404161247115gFjCdYsG3H5MfjtzUEqxQ.pdf

2025 Hydrangea Season on the Keio-Inokashira Line

Hydrangea flowers and the EMU Keio 1000 series near Hamadayama station

On June 10th, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that this year's rainy season had begun in the metropolitan area. As I posted every year, we have hot and humid days in the metropolitan area from early June to mid-July. At times like that, the only thing that saves my gloomy feelings before midsummer is viewing hydrangeas which come into flower this season. This year, I visited two beautiful spots on the Keio-Inokashira line.

First, I got off the train at Hamadayama station. Full-blown hydrangeas were seen here and there along the railway track near the station. Furthermore, I saw many photo lovers shooting the flowers and the trains. We gave each other space and shot the flowers and trains. Please look at the top photo. In addition to the classic purple flowers, the pink-colored ones are vivid, aren’t they? The passing train is Set 1771 of the EMU Keio 1000 series, which displays the special hydrangea plate on the front. That’s so picturesque.

After enjoying around Hamadayama station, I stopped by Meidaimae station and tried to shoot the full-blown hydrangeas on the embankments of the track. Please look at the photo below. Keio has been working on planting hydrangeas on the embankments of the railways to prevent slope failure and protect the environment since 1991. This is my favorite spot where I visited in 2012 and 2015 as well. My recent visit was for the first time in ten years, but the I found that the embankments were still beautifully maintained.

Hydrangea flowers and the EMU Keio 1000 series near Meidaimae Station

News from Indonesia: Revival of "JALITA"

8618F of the EMU ex-Tokyu 8500 series, "JALITA" in Indonesia

Photo: Faris Fadhli

This is a continuation from my post on June 3rd. My thanks again go to Faris Fadhli, who kindly sent me the recent picture.

On April 22nd, the 100th anniversary celebration of the Indonesian electric railways was held in Jakarta. Many special trains such as the old electric locomotive “Bonbon” were operated in the Jakarta area. Along with Bonbon, “JALITA" was also stood out on that day. What’s JALITA? It’s a special commuter trainset named by the Transport Minister of Indonesia in 2009 celebrating establishment of the new commuter railway company in the Jakarta metropolitan area. It had a unique tri-toned face (red, black and silver, see the top photo). There are differing opinions on the origin of JALITA. One of them is that JALITA stands for “Jalur Lingkar Jakarta”, in Indonesian, which means Jakarta Loop Line. Another one is that JALITA stands for “Jalan Jalan Lintas Jakarta”, in Indonesian, which means strolling on the Jakarta line. According to a Japanese rail-fan blogger residing in Jakarta, “Pakuan Kyuko (Pakuan Express)”, the latter is correct.

Incidentally, the original JALITA was Trainset 8613 of the EMU ex-Tokyu 8500 series (hereafter 8613F). 8613F was transferred from Japan to Indonesia as a second-hand train in 2009. It was then changed its body color in 2013. 8613F has already been retired from the track in Indonesia as well, but instead, the last survivor of the ex-Tokyu 8500 series, namely Trainset 8618 (hereafter 8618F), became the JALITA-colored train this time. You can also see what 8618F was 16 years ago in the photo below. JALITA… welcome back.

8618F arrives at Jakarta Kota station (February 21st, 2009)

Disney Resort Line: 2025 Update

A side view of "Duffy and Friends Colorful Happiness Liner", Set 104 of Type-X

I visited the Disney Resort line for the first time in a year and a half. What's new with this monorail line in the dream and magic kingdom?

Let's take a quick look at the Disney Resort line to start. It's a straddle type monorail line opened in 2001. The route is a looped single track running through Disney amusement facilities, official hotels and JR East Maihama station. The electric system is 1,500V DC. There are four stations over the total operating length of 5.0 kilometers. 6-car trains run counterclockwise throughout the day.

Let's get down to the main topic. Which do you prefer? The good news first or the sad news first? The good news is starting operation of “Duffy and Friends Colorful Happiness Liner”. This year is the 20th anniversary of Duffy and Friends in Tokyo Disney Resort. In commemoration, a special poster train named Duffy and Friends Colorful Happiness Liner debuted on April 8th using Set 101 of the EMU 100 series (Type-C). You can see the characters of Duffy and Friends on the side bodies.

The sad news is the retirement of the EMU 10 series (Type-X). Type-X was the first model on the Disney Resort line, which debuted in 2001. 19 years later, a new model namely Type-C debuted in 2020, and had been replacing Type-X. The final survivor of the Type-X train, namely Set 4, was retired from the track in September last year, while it was missed by rail-fans. Thank you and good-bye to the Type-X trains.

"Duffy and Friends Colorful Happiness Liner" arrives at Tokyo Disneyland station

Official website, the Disney Resort line:

https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdr/resortline.html

Mini Locomotive on Kyushu Island

JR Freight's diesel locomotive Unit 51 of the Class DB500 (DB500-51)

Sorry for jumping from one topic to another, but I’m going to follow up and post about my recent visit to Miyazaki Prefecture today.

I took JR Kyushu’s limited express train “Hyuga” at Miyazaki Airport station and headed north. My destination was Nobeoka City in the northern part of Miyazaki Prefecture. When I got off the train at Nobeoka station, I found an unfamiliar locomotive in the station yard. What’s that? The answer was JR Freight’s diesel locomotive “Class DB500”. JR Freight (JRF) is one of the JR group railway companies. Unlike the other JR group companies, JRF operates their trains on a nationwide scale using the other JR group companies' tracks.

The Class DB500 was commissioned in 2016 as a switcher for freight stations.  As I posted before, JRF launched a hybrid switcher, Class HD300, in 2011. It’s a silent and eco-friendly locomotive, but too big for small freight stations. JRF then developed a small switcher Class DB500 for small freight stations. It’s only 7.65 meters long and weighs 26,900 kilograms. A total of four units were built by Hokuriku Heavy Industries. Two of them belong to freight stations on Kyushu Island. With regard to the technical specifications, Class DB500 is classifies as a hydraulic diesel locomotive with an axis arrangement A-A (JNR notation). Unit 51 (see the photos) is equipped with a diesel engine made by Volvo and can pull up to 500,000 kilograms cargo container wagons within freight station yards.

Class DB500… it’s a mini locomotive but a hard worker, isn’t it?

Diesel locomotive DB500-51 and container cars stand at Nobeoka freight station