Japanese-style Garden on the Keihin-Tohoku-Negishi Line

JR East E233-1000 series travels on the Keihin-Tohoku-Negishi line.

The New year's holiday flew by so quickly. This year might fly by as well. Before January is over, I'm going to show you the topic for my New year's break.

Hamarikyu is a representative Japanese-style garden in the city center of Tokyo. This garden is located next to Tokyo Bay and its tidal ponds are filled with seawater. Hamarikyu was constructed in the 17th century, and registered as a Special Scenic Beauty and Historic Site of Japan in 1952. I visited this historical garden with my family. After a stroll, we took a break, and enjoyed Maccha green tea and Japanese confectionery at the teahouse by the pond. I felt completely comfortable.

To visit Hamarikyu, we got off at Shimbashi station on the JR East Keihin-Tohoku-Negishi line. Taking this opportunity, let me briefly introduce this urban commuter route. Connecting Ofuna and Omiya, the Keihin-Tohoku-Negishi line penetrates the metropolitan area from south to north. There are 47 stations over a total operating length of 81.2 kilometers. It connects three prefectural capitals in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. They are Yokohama City of Kanagawa Prefecture, Tokyo, and Saitama City of Saitama Prefecture. A 10-car train with blue colored stripes named the EMU E233-1000 series is operated every 2-3 minutes during rush hours and every 5 minutes during the daytime. To speed up, all trains are operated as rapid services during daytime on the section between Hamamatsucho and Tabata stations. On the other hand, The Yamanote line train, which runs in parallel, stops at all stations on the above section. The railway system in Tokyo is too complex.

Maccha green tea and Japanese confectionery, Hamarikyu Garden

Tobu Urban Park Line... Wait, What?

EMU Tobu 60000 series: the brand-new commuter train on the Urban Park line

Japan's population has entered into a decreasing phase. Railway companies can't keep their arms crossed in this situation. They are in competition to attract passengers, and have to improve the value along their lines. Otherwise, the residents will move to other places on other companies' lines. Tobu Railway is no exception. In March, 2014, Tobu gave a nickname of their "Noda line" to "Urban Park line" for the above purpose.

Wait, what? I didn't get the joke. The Urban Park line is NOT located in an "urban" area. The local city name, "Noda", was deleted from the line name. I wonder why some Japanese are eager to use English words for their shops, restaurants, companies... even for railway stations and railway lines' names. According to a survey conducted by Nikkei in 2020, 75 percent of local people still use the old name, Noda line.

Aside from whether it's a good name or bad name, one thing I can say for sure is that Tobu has been enhancing the passenger service of the Urban Park line for the last several years. For instance, they launched a brand-new train, the EMU 60000 series. In the previous Noda line era, only second-hand trains such as the 8000 series were introduced onto this local line, but now, the 60000 series grew into the largest fleet on the line. 18 sets, 108 cars in total, are currently operated on the Urban Park line.

Tobu Railway continues trials and errors for improving the value of their lines.

EMU Tobu 8000 series: the oldest model operated on the Urban Park line

Official information about the rollingstock of Tobu Railway (in Japanese):

https://www.tobu.co.jp/corporation/rail/vehicles/

Green-colored Train on the Tokyu-Ikegami Line

1013F (Green-colored Train) of the EMU Tokyu 1000 series travels on the Ikegami line

Tokyu Railways' Ikegami line is a short commuter route in the southwestern part of Tokyo. Connecting Gotanda and Kamata, its route length is 10.9 kilometers. It carries an average of 180,000 passengers per day. The Ikegami line plays an important role as a commuter route in Tokyo, but if there is a problem, it might be the low name value. Tokyu has to be engaged in the improving value along the Ikegami line. Otherwise, the residents will move to the other places on the other companies' lines. In this situation, Tokyu held a gratis railway service day in 2017 on the Ikegami line. On that day, passengers could take the Ikegami line any number of times for free, so, passengers could easily understand the attractiveness on the line.

Tokyu then launched the "Green-colored Train" in 2019 to promote tourism to the shopping areas on the line. As the name suggests, the Green-colored Train has green-colored bodies, which are similar to the old trains operated on the Ikegami line until the 1980's. Its formal name is set 1013 (1013F) of the EMU 1000 series. The 1000 series usually have silver-colored stainless-steel bodies with red-colored stripes, but only 1013F has conspicuous green-colored bodies. It's nostalgic for old rail-fans; meanwhile it's fresh for young rail-fans.

I don't know for certain whether the number of shoppers grew on the Ikegami line or not, but, at least, the number of rail-fans grew on the line to ride and shoot the Green-colored Train, and I'm one of them.

"Green-colored Train" arrives at Gotanda station on the Ikegami line

Official information about "Green-Colored Train" on the Ikegami line (in Japanese):

https://www.tokyu.co.jp/information/list/Pid=post_247.html

"Mairyu" Railcar on the Ryugasaki Line

Diesel railcar Kantetsu KiHa 2002, "Mairyu", leaves Ryugasaki station.

After enjoying the Joso line, I visited Kantetsu's other route, the Ryugasaki line. It's been eight years since I took this short local line in Ibaraki Prefecture. What did I find?

To start, let me quickly review the Ryugasaki line. It's a 4.5 kilometer-long route connecting Sanuki and Ryugasaki stations. Sanuki is a transfer station to JR East's Joban line. JR East recently changed its station name from Sanuki to Ryugasaki-shi (Ryugasaki City) corresponding to the request by Ryugasaki City, so, there are both Ryugasaki and Ryugasaki-shi stations in the city. They are so alike that I sometimes can't tell which is which. There's no use complaining about it. The Ryugasaki line is a 1,067 millimeter-gauge un-electrified single track. Diesel railcars are operated every half an hour.

Returning to the main topic, I found that the coloring design of KiHa 2002 of the KiHa 2000 series had been changed from Kantetsu's standard design to a "Mairyu" design to promote tourism to the city. Mairyu is a mascot character of Ryugasaki City. Mairyu means "dancing dragon", who likes local traditional dancing named "Tsukumai". We can see Mairyu and local specialties on the body of KiHa 2002. These illustrations were drawn by Art Club members of Nakanedai Junior High School in the city. Incidentally, KiHa 2002 was built as the second diesel railcar of the KiHa 2000 series by Niigata Tekko in 1997. It's similar to the KiHa 2100 series on the Joso line, but the KiHa 2000 series has doorsteps for lower platforms.

"Mairyu" travels on the Kantetsu-Ryugasaki line.

Official information about "Mairyu" railcar, Ryugasaki City (in Japanese):

https://www.city.ryugasaki.ibaraki.jp/kurashi/seikatsu/kokyokotsu/oshirase/2017090500325.html

Revival Colored Train on the Joso Line

KiHa 2401 (revival color) of the diesel railcar Kantetsu 2400 series

I visited the Joso line of Kanto Railway (hereafter "Kantetsu") for the first time in three years. What's new with this local route in Ibaraki Prefecture?

Before getting down to the main topic, let me quickly review the Joso line. It's Kantetsu's main line connecting Toride and Shimodate cities. The route length is 51.1 kilometers. The whole route is unelectrified. The scenery along the Joso line has two faces. The southern part of the line is a double track. It stretches through expanding suburban residential quarters. On the other hand, the northern part is a single track. We can see beautiful idyllic views such as rice paddies and vegetable fields there.

Now, let's head to the main topic. I found a nostalgic revival colored railcar on the line. It's KiHa 2401 of the railcar KiHa 2400 series. Its body color was recently changed from Kantetsu's standard color to the revival color, which is two-toned beige and vermilion. The revival color reminds us of the 1960s... very nostalgic. Kantetsu kindly discloses the working schedule of the revival colored railcar on the company website for rail fans.

Finally, the Kantetsu KiHa 2400 series is a commuter diesel railcar model on the Joso line. Six cars (KiHa 2401 to 2406) were built by Niigata Transys from 2004 to 2007. It has a 20 meter-long body with driver cabs on both sides. A 242.7 kW diesel engine, a fluid transmission and an electric commanding brake system are mounted. I fully enjoyed Kantetsu's nostalgic railcar.

KiHa 2401 stands at Toride station on the Joso line

Official information about the rollingstock of Kanto Railway (in Japanese):

https://www.kantetsu.co.jp/train/vehicle.html