JR Central - hybrid limited express type in 2019

[miyakoji]

Some fresh electrons from Railfan News: by the end of 2019, JR Central will have a hybrid 4-car test formation.  This will be a 4-car limited express type, which, if all goes well, will replace the KIHA85 someday.  The KIHA85 is currently used on the Hida and Nanki services.

 

JRC intends this to be the first Japanese hybrid to have an operational top speed of 120km/h.  As I understand the article, batteries will be charged by both a diesel with alternator as well as regenerative braking.  EMU-style traction motors will draw power from those batteries to propel the cars.  This will reduce both cost and maintenance time.  There will be only one engine per car, it will be silent during station stops, and this drive system lacks a gearbox, all contributing to an improvement in passenger comfort.  Also, this type is expected to use 15% less fuel.

 

If all goes well during one year of testing this prototype formation, endurance testing will begin (I'm not sure if this means revenue service or not).  Following that, production cars could be manufactured in 2022.

 

http://railf.jp/news/2017/06/08/090000.html

[ToniBabelony]

That render looks pretty decent already. I think this will be a worthy replacement for the KiHa 85.

 

Despite me once saying JR Central is my least favourite of JR companies, I think I'll slowly have to get back on that. That orange is slowly getting to me.

[JR 500系]

Nice! It looks a little like the Kiha-8500 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meitetsu_KiHa_8500_series#/media/File:Meitetsu_kiha8500_kitaalps_takayama.jpg

 

yet it has the coloring of the new Kintetsu Limited Express design ~

 

This can surely be a worthy replacement for the Kiha-85~

[Sacto1985]

The JR Central KiHa 85's have been around since the early 1990's, running the Hida service from Nagoya to Toyama on the Takayama Main Line and the Nanki service from Nagoya to Kii-Katsuura on the Kisei Main Line. Those trainsets have been fairly hard-worked, and it's about time they were finally replaced. However, because it appears this new hybrid DMU lacks the ability to "tilt" into turns, it won't replace the 383 Series EMU on the Shinano service between Nagoya and Nagano.

[miyakoji]

That orange is slowly getting to me.

I agree that the artist's rendering of this looks pretty decent, but in general the single orange stripe doesn't interest me too much. Maybe future JRC designs will be a bit more interesting.

 

Nice! It looks a little like the Kiha-8500

Yes it reminded me of the 8500 too.

 

However, because it appears this new hybrid DMU lacks the ability to "tilt" into turns, it won't replace the 383 Series EMU on the Shinano service between Nagoya and Nagano.

But with materials and manufacturing methods now available, they can more easily control weight distribution, so tilting may not be necessary to safely operate at the same speeds as previous types.  As far as I know, the 289s on the Kuroshio service are running the same schedules as the tilting 381s that they replaced.  Or, in the case of the new 353, JR East has apparently decided to run more slowly (120kmh rather than 130?) than bother with tilting mechanisms to maintain the performance that the 351s could achieve.  Also, Nagoya to Nagano is fully electrified, so they probably won't use a DMU for it :)

[Densha]

The official design of the new JR Central limited express has been unveiled.

https://railf.jp/news/2018/12/12/173000.html

[Gryphr]

It doesn't look as sleek as the original concepts, but that's still a really cool design in it's own way. I'm looking forward to the prototype unit.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Gryphr