New Seibu 40000系

[trainsforever8]

I just saw on my Facebook that Seibu has announced a new type of rolling stock, there are some illustrations. 

 

Here's the link to the document http://www.seibu-group.co.jp/railways/news/news-release/2015/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2015/08/24/20150824_40000kei.pdf

 

This train is actually very very good looking in my opinion! 

 

My reading of japanese isn't sufficiently good to translate what's in the document, so it would be nice if anyone could translate essential information! Thank you!

[korat]

Sr.Horn of SkyscraperCity says:

 

 

Seibu has announced today the 24th of August the introduction of the new 40000 Series from spring 2017.

The new train is based on current 30000 Series. The first order includes 80 cars (8 10-car set) manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

The body car will be made by aluminium alloy. Includes IGBT-VVVF inverter, PMSM motor and full-LED in order to save the 40% of energy. The color will include the green mountain and blue sky (plus grey and yellow).

 

The seat distribution will be similar to the existing in Tobu Tojo Liner and some Keihan train with different distribution according the moment of the day or the type of service. Also, a new distribution on the ends:

 

(pictures from the 2nd page of the PDF)

 

Source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=126545491&postcount=7312

 

In addition, what limited info I can gather:

 

- Body will be double-skin, friction-stir welded (presumably this means it'll be a Hitachi A-train design - Seibu's 20000 and 30000 already are)

- Cars will be 20,000mm long (end cars: 20,270mm) and 2,808mm wide

- Design maximum speed will be 120km/h

- Design uses 気ばね式ボルスタレス台車 (air suspension? not sure - bolsterless bogies)

 

I'd guess they're meant to through-service the Yurakucho and/or Fukutoshin lines as well, since they have a door on the cab front.

 

Edit: New Wikipedia article is up as of earlier today.

Edited August 25, 2015 by korat

[Densha]

The Seibu 40000 series will consist of 80 cars forming eight 10-car formations, to be delivered from Spring 2017. The maximum speed will be 120 km/h and the train will have regenerative breaking.

 

Some cars will have seats that can be converted between cross seating and longitude seating. Seibu is the first railway company in Japan to offer such convertible seats. The train will also have an multifunctional area (a so-called "Partner Zone") for wheelchair access, baby strollers, etc., which can be recognized by the large windows near the drivers cab.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Densha

[trainsforever8]

Thank you for the translation! I really like the front of the interior, especially how bigger the window will be, it will be nice to look outside through it. As for the convertible seatings, I believe they will be doing the same thing that Tobu is doing on the Tojo liner? 

[bikkuri bahn]

A good-looking design, a definite improvement from the horrid smile train, the appearance of which automatically makes me lower my camera and swear under my breath.  It will be built by Kawasaki Heavy, and shows the Kansai vibes in the body lines, much like the recent Sapporo Subway trains and some Osaka subway types.  Basically anything coming from Kansai builders is going to be better looking than Kanto stuff.  The convertible seating is a first for Seibu, of course it has already been done by other railways, as mentioned with the Tj Liner, and Kansai area operators have been doing for years (their traffic tend to be more peaky than Kanto, and they run more complicated service patterns)

[kvp]

This train really looks good and i like the paint scheme too. The design of the multifunctional area with the seats in the middle is interesting as the usual european way is just to add fold down seats to the walls. The low windows are great for small kids and people sitting in wheelchairs (this is actually done similarly in europe too) The ratio of multifunctional to normal space is around 1/10 as two half cars for a 10 car train (european values are between 1/8 to 1/4, but include bike space too). The convertible seating it interesting, especially that the conversion looks to be motor assisted instead of fully manual.

 

ps: i see they included the little kids/railfans windows too on the back of the driver's cab

[Sascha]

In one picture the seats are pointing towards the driving direction, and in the next they are facing each other.I think Rotating chairs are pretty common (Narita Express,Skyliner, Shinkansen ect) , but a mechanism to let them face each other is new to me. Do you guys have more info about that?
 

[keitaro]

yeah i have to agree quite like the front.

[ToniBabelony]

The first nice looking Seibu train in a long while. Though there is a front door in the cab, I'm not sure if there will be through-running on other lines, as there is nothing written on that in the file. (previously linked newspaper file confirmed this though.)

 

I also really like the front ends with the dedicated space for wheeled people transport and kids. Certainly something new in commuter transport that could see some practical use everywhere. Useful in peak-hours and off-peak hours.

Edited August 26, 2015 by Toni Babelony

[kvp]

 

but a mechanism to let them face each other is new to me. Do you guys have more info about that?

The seat pairs can be rotated on a vertical axle at their middle point and when the seats are rotated only 90 degrees this axle assembly can be slided towards the wall. For automatic operation, this nees two motors, one for rotating the seats and one to move a linear actuator. This allows 3 positions, facing either direction of travel or pulled to the windows.

[Ochanomizu]

The seat pairs can be rotated on a vertical axle at their middle point and when the seats are rotated only 90 degrees this axle assembly can be slided towards the wall. For automatic operation, this nees two motors, one for rotating the seats and one to move a linear actuator. This allows 3 positions, facing either direction of travel or pulled to the windows.

 

Hello Mr kvp,

 

I have been unable to find information about the mechanism.  Would you be so kind as to provide a link to your source?

[Ochanomizu]

In one picture the seats are pointing towards the driving direction, and in the next they are facing each other.I think Rotating chairs are pretty common (Narita Express,Skyliner, Shinkansen ect) , but a mechanism to let them face each other is new to me. Do you guys have more info about that?

 

 

Hello Mr Sascha,

 

The only additional information that I am aware of at this time is the feature will only be offered on some cars.  Not all cars will be convertible.  Not all formations will have convertible cars.

[kvp]

 

Would you be so kind as to provide a link to your source?

It's just reverse engineering from the seat change animation i found on youtube, so i'm not sure if it's fully automatic or manual, but seems to be motorised. The rotational mechanism is common in Japan, while a similar linear slider mechanism is used to set distance between seat pairs on many european trains and buses, but those are usually hand operated. The animation shows a combined solution with the rotational points sliding within the boxes under the seats.

[bikkuri bahn]

The animation shows a combined solution with the rotational points sliding within the boxes under the seats.

 

Yes, looking at pictures of the seats on Kintetsu L/R trainsets, the housing underneath the seats operates like one of those box puzzles, with a subhousing which carries the seat mounting sliding into the main housing when the seats are positioned against the walls. Unfortunately all the youtube videos are taken outside of the train, as the seat rotation occurs at terminals after passengers are detrained, so we can't see the workings down below.

[Ochanomizu]

Hello Mr kvp,

 

Oh, so you're only guessing ...