The 110th Anniversary of Keio Electric Railway

The 110th anniversary plate, Keio Electric Railway

On April 13th this year, Keio Electric Railway Company celebrated the 110th anniversary of their rail and bus businesses. The Keio line was initially opened between Sasazuka and Chofu stations (12.2 kilometers) on April 13th, 1913. At the same time, the bus routes between Shinjuku and Sasazuka and the others were also inaugurated. To commemorate the 110th anniversary, Keio is displaying a special plate on the front of train set 9702 of the EMU 9000 series. This low-key design is so Keio!

Keio is one of the major private railways in the metropolitan area. The railway route consists of the Keio and the Inokashira lines, extending to the western part of Tokyo and the northern Kanagawa Prefecture. Its total operating length is 84.7 kilometers. Keio carries an average of 1.5 million passengers per day. The transportation density is about 36,000 passengers per day per kilometer. It' so high because the routes are concentrated in high-density residential areas.

My grandfather, who passed away twenty years ago, was an engineer of Keio Electric Railway. He introduced many trains during his assignment. The classic electric car, type 500, which debuted in 1931, is still seen in his photo album as his first job. My father, who passed away several years ago, also worked for Keio as an architect. I've chosen the other industry, but became an enthusiastic railfan instead. It may come from my family. I hope that my grandfather and father are also celebrating the 110th anniversary from heaven.

Train set 9702 of the EMU Keio 9000 series arrives at Bubaigawara station

Official website, the 110th anniversary of Keio Electric Railway (in Japanese):

https://www.keio.co.jp/110th/

Le Ciel: The 2022 Blue Ribbon Winner

EMU Keikyu 1000-1890 series, "Le Ciel", passes through Byobugaura station

It's a bit old news, but on May 26th, 2022, Japan Railfan Club announced that the EMU Keikyu 1000-1890 series, nickname "Le Ciel", was elected as the Blue Ribbon Prize. What's the Blue Ribbon Prize? It's an annual award presented by Japan Railfan Club since 1958, awarded to the best train that debuted in the previous year. Actually, almost all awarded trains to date are representative carriages in each railway company. Because of the COVID-19 calamity, there were fewer new models, which debuted in 2021, than usual, but I applaud Keikyu Corporation that won the tough election.

Le Ciel is a multi-purpose train. It's used not only for commuters but also for holiday makers. For that purpose, Le Ciel has multi-purpose seats, which the conductor can change from long seats to cross seats using a remote control system. The cross seat mode is applied when it's operated as a reserved seat train or a chartered train. One of my surprises is that Le Ciel is equipped with toilets. Keikyu has only short routes, so the company has been hesitating to equip toilets on their trains for many years. Of course, it will cost a lot for wastewater treatment from now, but the company made the great decision to invest for trains with toilets. Well done!

Incidentally, the nickname, "Le Ciel", was sought from the general public. I don't know why French, but I also like it. I'm very much fond of "the blue sky" on the Keikyu lines.

Interior of the EMU Keikyu 1000-1890 series (the long seat mode) with a toilet

Official information about the 2022 Blue Ribbon Prize by Japan Railfan Club:

http://www.jrc.gr.jp/e/award/bl/bl2022

Official information about "Le Ciel" by Keikyu Corporation (in Japanese):

https://www.keikyu.co.jp/company/news/2022/20220526HP_22034TE.html

Official information about the Keikyu trains by Keikyu Corporation (in Japanese):

https://www.keikyu.co.jp/ride/train/

The Shortest Railway in Japan

Set 3540 of the EMU Shibayama 3500 series arrives at Keisei-Narita station

In Japan, there are nearly 200 railway companies, large and small. Here is a quiz for you. Which company has the largest railway network? The answer is East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It has a total of 7,350 kilometers of railway lines. Was it too easy? Now then, do you know which company operates the shortest railway line? It's probably a difficult question. The answer is Shibayama Railway in Chiba Prefecture. This company operates only a 2.2 kilometers-long railway line.

The major shareholder of Shibayama Railway is Narita International Airport Corporation. The route was opened in 2002 to improve the convenience of people who live on the eastern side of the New Tokyo International Airport (Narita). Connecting Higashi-Narita and Shibayama-Chiyoda stations, the track is single. Most of the route was constructed under the airport. The train operating interval is about 40 minutes during the daytime. Every train is directly operated onto the Keisei lines.

Train set 3540 of the EMU 3500 series is Shibayama Railway's only train. It was built by Nippon Sharyo in 1973 as Keisei Electric Railway's commuter train. After operating for 40 years, train set 3540 was leased to Shibayama Railway in 2013, and has been operating on the Shibayama Railway line up to now. Its technical specification is of course the same as the Keisei 3500 series, but the colors of body stripes were changed from "blue and red" to "green and red" last year. It became easier to distinguish between the Shibayama and the Keisei trains.

Shibayama-Chiyoda terminal on the Shibayama Railway line

Official website, Shibayama Railway (in Japanese): https://www.sibatetu.co.jp/

Early Summer Trip to Sendai City: Part 2

EMU Sendai Municipal Subway 2000 series leaves International Center station

Let me resume the topic of my early summer trip to Sendai City. Sorry for jumping from one topic to another so often.

After visiting a whisky distiller near Sakunami station on the Senzan line, I moved back to the downtown area. My next destination was the International Center station on the subway Tozai line. There's a superb observatory just above the station. It's a unique spot, where visitors can see subway trains traveling on the surface track. There's a comfortable open cafe as well. While enjoying coffee, I shot a train, EMU Sendai Municipal Subway 2000 series, which is the sole model operated on the line. One train is 66.5 meters long, and consists of four cars. One of the features of the Tozai line is that linear motor technology is adopted for the train driving system. A linear motor is an electric motor that doesn't have a shaft. It moves in a straight line, while a conventional motor has a rotary movement. We can see a special box, named a reaction plate, between the rails. This technology allowed downsizing of the tunnel cross section.

Finally, I'm going to show you a beautiful avenue just above the underground section of the Tozai line. Sendai is called the "City of Trees" owing to its verdant cityscape represented by the zelkova tree-lined Aoba-dori Avenue. The trees lining here are tall, and it's dazzlingly beautiful as green shoots burst out all together in this season.

I fully enjoyed my early summer trip to Sendai City.

Zelkova tree-lined Aoba-dori Avenue just above the subway Tozai line

New Poster Trains on the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line

Do you know who are in the photo?

This is quite sudden, but do you know who are in the top photo? They look like a girl and two boys. It will be a piece of cake for you. The answer is Harry, Hermione and Ron from right to left. They are printed on the train bodies. What for? The gimmick is as follows. On June 16th, 2023, a brand-new attraction, named Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo - The Making of Harry Potter, was opened on the site of the former Toshimaen Amusement Park near Toshimaen station of Seibu Railway. This new attraction offers visitors the chance to step behind the scenes of the films and discover the secrets of the Wizarding World.

To promote tourism to The Making of Harry Potter, Seibu Railway launched three sets of special poster trains, named "Studio Tour Tokyo Express", on the Ikebukuro line. They are train set 20152, 20153 and 20158 of the EMU 20000 series. Each poster train is composed of 8 cars. The design is just simple and bold. The three main cast members are portrayed on the side bodies of each train. They stand out against the Forbidden Forest. "Studio Tour Tokyo Express" is the train that you can't forget after seeing it once.

Incidentally, the EMU Seibu 20000 series debuted in 2000 as a new-generation commuter train following the 6000 series. The standard cars have light blue colored stripes on the aluminum bodies. 135kW induction motors with a variable frequency drive electric control system are equipped. 144 cars in total were built by Hitachi.

"Studio Tour Tokyo Express" travels on the Seibu-Ikebukuro line

Official information about Seibu "Studio Tour Tokyo Express" (in Japanese):

https://www.seiburailway.jp/railways/magicrailway/