Is JR East considering rolling out E129 series on Chuo Main Line (Tachikawa~Matsumoto)?

[E233-3000_U624]

Recently they've been introducing new stock left and right:

 

• E233-8000 series on the Nambu Line
• Limited Express E353 series for the "Super Azusa" train
• E129 series in the Niigata area
• E235-0 series on the Yamanote Line (until it broke down)

And I didn't even mention replacements from the last 5-7 years like E233-3000 series replacing 211 series on Tokaido and Tohoku Line trains in Tokyo, E259 series replacing 253 series on N'EX, and so on.

 

Are there any plans in place to possibly replace the 115 and 211 series on the JR East portion of the Chuo Main Line as well as the Shinonoi Line with the new E129 series trains?

 

By the way, JR East's vision of trains with the newest technology is antithetical to what JR West is doing, refurbing 103 and 201 series constantly and keeping them for 50 years. Maybe because JR West is eclipsed by private railways (like Kintetsu and Hankyu) and doesn't have the capital to replace trains; or maybe because they spent all their money on Shinkansen stock; or maybe because people in Kansai like to be different. At least the 521 series is now operating in Kanazawa and the 227 series "RedWing" is in Hiroshima; with the upcoming 323 series alongside the existing 225 series there will be more new trains in Osaka. But they should really get rid of their 207 series stock...

[katoftw]

Awesome first post.  Welcome.  Looking forward to more magic.  :icon_scratch:

Edited January 20, 2016 by katoftw

[miyakoji]

The 211s are fairly new to the Yamanashi/Nagano section of the Chuo.  I'm not sure how much refurbishment they got before that transfer, but I wouldn't expect them to be phased out very soon.

 

I'm not sure I'd say JR West is eclipsed by the private operators in Kansai.  JRW has comfortable, modern rolling stock in the area (221, 223, 225, 321) along with some older stuff (yeah the 103s on the loop are pretty tired).  Between Kyoto and Kobe, passengers have multiple choices, the competition must be strong.  I'd be interested to know how people choose; I typically wanted to ride on one ticket, and I usually wasn't stopping in Osaka but going through, so I took JR.  But if I didn't care about that, or if I had the necessary commuter passes, or if one company's station was especially convenient to start or end the journey (or both), etc...

[Sacto1985]

I do think JR East is looking at getting the E129 onto the Chūō Main Line between Shiojiri and Takao Stations on futsu (local) service, since 115's are starting to rapidly disappear from operational service in other parts of Japan. Probably even more so since many of the 115's now on the Chūō Main Line were the original models delivered in the 1960's! JR East's assembly line at Niitsu in Niigata Prefecture could build a fairly large number of 2- and 3-car E129 trainsets for this very specific service.

[bikkuri bahn]

re. JR vis a vis the private operators in Kansai.  Pretty much as miyakoji says, there always has been a healthy competition between the private railways and JR (and JNR in earlier days), though the Amagasaki crash was an unfortunate by-product of that intense competition in that part of the region.  Proof of that competition can be seen in the high standard of passenger comfort provided in the train designs-  I would say the recent JR-W commuter stock is superior in that respect to the equivalent JR-E designs, which tend to emphasize packing people in as cheaply as possible. The impression of private railway ascendance may be a result of the strong private railway culture in Kansai- the private railways tend to serve neighborhoods (given their interurban origins) and have short station to station spacing, while JR-W, being part a former national railway network, has more distant station spacing, given its role also as an intercity operator.  So you have more popular public identity with private railways, as in "Hankyu is my railway", say if you live in northern Ashiya, or Hanshin, if you hail from Amagasaki.

[200系]

Welcome to the forum.

 

 

 

Are there any plans in place to possibly replace the 115 and 211 series on the JR East portion of the Chuo Main Line as well as the Shinonoi Line with the new E129 series trains?

 

Toyota vehicle center and Nagano general rolling stock center, the two maintenance centers responsible for the eastern section of the Chūō main line, retired their 115系 formations between April of 2014 and September of 2015. Takasaki and Niigata vehicle centers are the only remaining 115系 bases JR East has left.

 

As for the 211系, like Miyakoji mentioned, they where transferred during the same period as a replacement for the ageing 115系 cars, and should be able to provide a few more years of service before retirement. Though it's true that the oldest 211系 cars in use at the moment date back to the original 1985~1986 production batches (the very first production cars are still used by JR East) which have al reached/surpassed their 30th anniversary, A large selection of the available cars are actually part of the final 1989~1991 production batches, so they still should have some life left in them.

 

Whether the 211系 will be replaced by E129系, displaced E233系 or another type altogether will remain to be seen. JR East has not disclosed anything to the public on this subject as far as I know.

 

 

 

By the way, JR East's vision of trains with the newest technology is antithetical to what JR West is doing, refurbing 103 and 201 series constantly and keeping them for 50 years.

 

Generalizing much? JR West has only done a single refurbishment/life extension program for the 201系 (30N program), and one and a half for the 103系 (40N and the simplified 30N), and both programs only included a select number of cars (though I assume it's hyperbole on your part, neither will be capable of reaching 50 years in service, though technically the 40N cars could reach 40 if they weren't scheduled to be replaced by 323系 cars in the coming years).

 

Though it is true that other surviving 103系 cars went through a number of life extension programs, N/NA/NB and N40 (only N/NA and N40 cars survive today) of which the oldest N/NA KuHa103形 date back to March of 1969 (useless bit of trivia, a few where originally built for the Yamanote before being transferred to the Kansai region in the early 70's), not that many survive today with the majority of the group based around the Nara branch.

 

It's also important to note that the division between the Kansai area on one end, and the Kantō area on the other was there, even in the J.N.R. era.

Kantō area commuter equipment historically had a higher turnover rate then other areas, as high utilization in combination with the higher volume of passengers took it's toll on the equipment.

The aforementioned division in terms of private railways (even though the Kantō area also has it's fair share of private railway companies as well, the balance has always been more towards the national railroad and later JR East), as well as the position of the Kantō area in general also played a large role. This resulted in Kantō area equipment being replaced on a much more frequent basis then in the Kansai area, though in the new performance era (after the introduction of the 101系 in 1957) this sometimes meant that older equipment was replaced by newer equipment from the same class (as an example, many early built 103系 cars where replaced by new 103系 cars (high cab) between 1974~1981, with the older cars cascading down to replace other classes (mostly 101系, which in turn could be used to replace some of the last remaining 72系/73系 cars still on property for example).

 

In contrast, the Kansai area always had a lower turnover rate, in part due to the lower utilization and passenger numbers in comparison to the Kantō area, but also due to the private railways Miyakoji and Bikkuri Bahn mentioned (to be fair though, I'm not as well versed in the Kansai area (and beyond) as some of our other members are).

 

This trend has continued after the J.N.R. split, though I think it is fair to also look beyond the two mentioned areas. JR East operates a larger network then just the Kantō area, and as we discussed earlier some of those areas have used, or are still using older equipment as well. Even in the Kantō area some veterans can still be found from time to time, the handful remaining 189系 formations remaining near Tōkyō where built in 1975 for example (though their days are likely numbered). It simply makes a lot of sense to keep older equipment in use on lighter traveled sections of the network (lower utilization means less wear and tear, which in general means reduced maintenance costs, as well as a lower potential to offset the capital cost of new cars with their lower energy usage).

 

 

 

 But they should really get rid of their 207 series stock...

 

uhm... why?

 

 

 

I do think JR East is looking at getting the E129 onto the Chūō Main Line between Shiojiri and Takao Stations on futsu (local) service, since 115's are starting to rapidly disappear from operational service in other parts of Japan.

 

Like I mentioned above, there are no 115系 cars left on the eastern part of the Chūō main line since September 2015.

 

 

 

Probably even more so since many of the 115's now on the Chūō Main Line were the original models delivered in the 1960's!

 

I'm not sure where you got that idea from, but of the 115系 cars remaining in JR East ownership after the J.N.R. split, non of the 115系0番台 cars survived past the mid 2000's and the earliest production batches where gone even before that. The very first group of 115系 cars to be scrapped where retired in 1986, with the large majority scrapped in the early to mid 90's and the final remaining (JR East) 0番台 cars being retired and scrapped in ~2005. No, all of the JR East 115系 cars to survive into the 2010's where of the later 115系300番台 (which where built between October 1973 and December 1977)  or 115系1000/1500番台 (built between December 1977 and December 1982) variety, with the oldest cars surviving on the Chūō East line dating back to the October 1973 batch of the 300番台 (still reaching a respectable 41 years of age before they where retired), a decade younger then the original January 1963 deliveries.

Edited January 20, 2016 by 200系

[SuRoNeFu 25-501]

Honestly, since the 211-0, 211-1000 and 211-3000 series trains owned by Nagano depot (that replaced the Yokosuka or Nagano color 115 series trains on Chuo Line) are still relatively "new" (not really new, but is still good enough to be called as "fresh from refurbishment"), it means that the usage of E129 series trains on Chuo Line would be impossible, since E129 series trains are intended for use in Niigata area, replacing both the 115 series trains and E127 series trains owned by Niigata depot.

 

Note that the E127 series trains were replaced due to much of them being handed over to Echigo Tokimeki Railway, and the last 3 trainsets being modified for replacing Yahiko Line's 115 series trains.