Older train sets being retired now....

[Sacto1985]

I just saw on YouTube and online web sites that we may be seeing a lot of older train sets heading for retirement from JR Group service:

 

1. JR East just introduced the E131 series on the Sagami Line, and the E131 could eventually replace all the 209 and 211 series trains on JR East territory, including (in my opinion) a possible cold-weather model for the Chūō Main Line between Takao and Shiojiri.

 

2. JR Central will introduce from March 2022 the 315 series, which will eventually replace the 211, 213 and 311 series on many JR Central electrified lines.

 

3. JR West just started testing the DEC 700 diesel-electric train set, one that will be upgraded to a hybrid version for testing some time in the middle of 2022. A DEC 700 derivative could replace all the KiHa 40/47/48 derivatives in the Chūgoku region of Japan. I'm still keeping an eye out of if JR West decides to finally make a gigantic 227 series buy, one that will essentially retire all the 113 and 115 series train sets from JR West service.

 

Certainly changing times.

[disturbman]

On 11/29/2021 at 4:23 AM, Sacto1985 said:

'm still keeping an eye out of if JR West decides to finally make a gigantic 227 series buy, one that will essentially retire all the 113 and 115 series train sets from JR West service.

JR West announced on the 18th that they will buy new trains based on the 227 series to replace all older EMUs in the Okayama and Bingo areas. Incoming yellow 227?
 

Quote

Totaling 101 cars, the vehicles are intended to replace existing trains, mostly ageing Series 115 EMUs. The design of the new fleet will be based on that of the two- and three-car Series 227 EMUs built by Kawaski Heavy Industries and Kinki Sharyo since 2014, which are currently deployed around Hiroshima and Wakayama. Deliveries are expected to start in 2023.

source: https://www.railwaygazette.com/traction-and-rolling-stock/jr-west-to-renew-okayama-emu-fleet/60400.article

Edited November 30, 2021 by disturbman

[Sacto1985]

That means the last stand of the 113 and 115 series could be from Iwakuni west to Shimonoseki. That is unless the order is even bigger and they'll just replace them all with the 227 series.

[disturbman]

For the ones I have seen, Japanese sources only mention Okayama and Bingo areas as well.

Aren't there some 113 left in service in the Kyoto area too, or replacements are already ordered?

[Dentobu93]

There are an total of 209 cars of both the 113/115 series at Okayama depot so 101 cars of the 227 series is not enough to replace them all.

There is also still the 117 and 105 series left which might be part of the replacement.

 

As for other area's for the 113/115 there still is Fukuchiyama area which has 14 cars left, Kyoto area which has 64 cars left and Shimonoseki area which has 84 cars left.

 

Considering JR West's history + financial loss from the pandemic I would not be surprised the 113 and/or 115 are still commonly seen in 2030.

[JR East]

36 minutes ago, Dentobu93 said:

There are an total of 209 cars of both the 113/115 series at Okayama depot so ...

 

Sorry for my stupid question, but where do you find all those interesting figures ? Is that your personal culture or somewhere a website ? 

 

JM

[disturbman]

The Japanese Wikipedia pages for the different depots/train wards have the counts, and there are other sources too.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/岡山電車区
 

https://sirasagi683kei.wiki.fc2.com/wiki/岡山電車区115系編成表

 

49 minutes ago, Dentobu93 said:

There are an total of 209 cars of both the 113/115 series at Okayama depot so 101 cars of the 227 series is not enough to replace them all.

I hadn't noted the discrepancy, maybe it's an order with additional tranches. What else than the 227 would they use to replace all these?

Edited December 2, 2021 by disturbman

[Dentobu93]

5 hours ago, JR East said:

 

Sorry for my stupid question, but where do you find all those interesting figures ? Is that your personal culture or somewhere a website ? 

 

JM

More or less the same links as provided by disturbman.

 

4 hours ago, disturbman said:

I hadn't noted the discrepancy, maybe it's an order with additional tranches. What else than the 227 would they use to replace all these?

 

It's noted Okayama and Bingo area but the 113/115 from Okayama depot are also used outside these area's (Hakubi Line/Sanin Line/Sanyo Line till Himeij) so maybe only an part of the older rolling stock is planned for replacement.

 

 

Similar examples from the past.

In 2008 the 223-5500 was produced which replaced only an part of the 113/115 series in Fukuchiyama area, no new 223-5500 have been produced since then and there are still 7 sets of the 113/115 in service as of today.

 

In Niigata, there still are 7 sets of the 115 series in operation while no new E129 series sets have been produced since 2018.

 

In Hiroshima, 227 series was produced in 2014 - 2016 and only replaced an part of the JNR rolling stock.

After an 2 year gap another production batch started being produced in 2018 - 2019 which ended up replacing the rest of the JNR stock in Hiroshima.

 

For Okayama it's possible an second production batch might be produced after the first finished but could still take several years.

Another option could be replacement with 221 series.

They already are making 225-100 series to replace the 221 series which are again replacing the 201 series.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Dentobu93

[disturbman]

2 hours ago, Dentobu93 said:

For Okayama it's possible an second production batch might be produced after the first finished but could still take several years.

Another option could be replacement with 221 series.

They already are making 225-100 series to replace the 221 series which are again replacing the 201 series.

Possible, the 221s are not going to the scrapper soon, they just finished a heavy refurbishment/overhaul. Maybe we will know more in 2023, when the last 201 at Nara will be gone.

[Sacto1985]

I wouldn't be surprised that the 221's start getting assigned to mostly Nara Line, Kansai Main Line, Sakurai Line and Osaka-Higashi Line services. 

 

But the big one will be the total replacement of the 113/115 train sets with  227 variant.