more JR East E531s

[Sacto1985]

I think JR East bought those new electric locomotives to pull the Cassiopeia and Hokutosei overnight trains for a number of years, since the earlier passenger train-certified locomotives were getting up there in terms of operational life. They were probably bought so once the Hokkaido Shinkansen opens, the locomotives could be sold to JR Freight.

 

But getting back on topic, the goal of these new five-car E531's is to finally get the rapidly-aging 415's retired--and the E501 probably following into retirement by 2020.

[katoftw]

They are trying to modernized their fleet before 2020.  If the events of 2020 weren't happening.  Then they would be in such a huge rush.

Edited January 4, 2016 by katoftw

[Sacto1985]

They are trying to modernized their fleet before 2020.  If the events of 2020 weren't happening.  Then they would be in such a huge rush.

 

As such, J-TREC's assembly line at Yokohama and the JR East Niitsu plant will be very busy indeed. Not only to fulfill the E233's still on order, but eventually the E235's for the Yamanote Line and possibly future E235 variants for the Chūō-Sōbu Line and Musashino LIne--and that's on top of the new five-car E531's now being introduced.

[SuRoNeFu 25-501]

The first 415系1500番台 was delivered in February 1986, while the final formation was delivered in February of 1991.  

Indeed that the 415-1500 cars were already reaching their 30s, though their bead-pressed lightweight stainless steel body shows only a few amount of aging signs 

 

 

But getting back on topic, the goal of these new five-car E531's is to finally get the rapidly-aging 415's retired--and the E501 probably following into retirement by 2020.

Hopefully the E531 cars could fill the schedule that left by the E501 when they were entering Koriyama workshops for the replacement of their VVVF modules with the new ones before the 2020...