Question about Hiroshima Hiroden 650 Series Trams / 広島電鉄650形電車についての質問

[TC60102N]

Hello everyone! / みなさん、こんにちは。😃

 

I am from Canada, and I am planning a two-week trip to Japan focused on trains and trams.
カナダから来ました。電車と路面電車を楽しむために、2週間ほど日本を旅行する予定です。

 

I am very interested in photographing the Hiroshima Hiroden 650 Series trams.
広島電鉄の650形電車の写真を撮りたいと思っています。

 

Are these trams still used in regular passenger service?
この電車は今でも通常の旅客運行で使われていますか？

 

I could not find recent information online, possibly because of the language difference.
言語の壁のためか、最新の情報をオンラインで見つけることができませんでした。

 

If anyone has information, I would be very grateful for your help.
もしご存じの方がいらっしゃいましたら、情報を教えていただけると嬉しいです。

 

Thank you very much! / どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

[bill937ca]

I believe the Hiroden 650 series are special service trams.  651-653 are active and assigned to Senda Garage. Not sure if you would see them on the street during any given day.  Usually they run on August 6th,  the anniversary.

 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/広島電鉄650形電車

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=広島電鉄650形電車

Edited May 1 by bill937ca

[TC60102N]

Hi Bill!   Hello from Hamilton! 

 

I suspected that this was the case.

 

Their website says the trams are sometimes used in weekday morning rush hour service, but I haven't been able to find many post covid era phots of them on the street.

 

https://transphoto.org/vehicle/75772/    https://transphoto.org/list.php?did=670  This website says they could be out on Spring Holidays,and even lists them as "In Operation" but I can't figure out when this was last updated.

 

I was just hoping to find some more information,  I guess the best bet is to plan my trip around August.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[bill937ca]

From what I remember, the busiest AM lines are those that go to the harbor. # 1, 3, 5.

 

An old spreadsheet shows Line 3 has 12 trips at 0800 hours versus 4 trips an hour after 11 am. The old cars probably make one round trip.

 

Peak periods that I know of in Hiroshima are:

March break (end of school year)

Golden Week (late April and early May)

 

Flower Festival during Golden Week  https://www.hiroshima-ff.com/

Flower festival June 6, 2023

 

 

Almost everything runs for the fireworks festival.

2025 fireworks dates     https://hanabi.walkerplus.com/list/ar0834/

 

Hiroshima Minato Yume Fireworks Festival, video is 2013 a lot more old trams then!!!

 

2024 Hiroshima Minato Yume Fireworks Festival  (July 27, 2024)  

 

[bill937ca]

Hiroden English route map

 

https://www.hiroden.co.jp/en/s-routemap.html

[bill937ca]

Searching in Kanji I found these photos on Flickr. You can check for dates.

 

https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=広島電鉄+650+

 

[Gunzel]

I thought I’d seen a tram like this when I was in Hiroshima recently, looking at my photos it turns out I did, but it was 654, statically preserved at the Numaji Transportation Museum. 
 

[TC60102N]

Thank you for all your help!

 

I contacted Hiroshima Electric Railway last week,  and actually just received a response this morning about the trams.

 

I am trying to learn some Japanese before my trip next year, at least enough to navigate the cities and exchange pleasantries, so I had to use a Google Translate to send my message to them, and then again Google Translate to review their response.

 

They responded by saying that the trams are "not in regular service" but that "They may operate during morning commuting hours"    So I will have to make sure I spend a few morning rush hours in Hiroshima for my best chances, or plan my trip around August 6.   

 

They also said that Staff can tell me if the train is in service, and on which route on the day of my visit.

[Madsing]

That’s what I did a few years ago. I wanted to ride a specific tram car in Toyama. I asked the visitor center at the station, they were kind enough to call the train dispatch centre and tell me from which platform and at what time that particular tram would depart. Keep a photo of the tram ready on your phone, that may be useful!

Marc

 

[ED75-775]

@TC60102N if photographing a 650-series tram is your sole goal, I'd suggest you pay a visit to the viewing deck at Hiroden's Senda depot. This looks over the depot tracks at Senda, the main depot for the Hiroden network, and has been a good spot for me when looking to photograph 650-series cars, which I believe are allocated to that depot anyway.

 

 

I've been lucky here in the past and seen 651 running around the depot twice, once in 2023 (as above) and again in 2024. Sisters 652 and 653 were a little more camera shy, I only saw them once briefly each in 2023, at Senda and Eba depots respectively. I'll be back in Hiroshima later next month and hoping to attend the Hiroshima Streetcar Festival if it's on while I'm there, so potentially I may be able to get up close and personal with one. Failing that, it might be worth doing an early-morning weekday lurk at Hiroshima Station and see what comes in during peak hour, or take yours and Madsing's suggestion and ask at Hiroshima Station whether a particular tram is running. High on my 'hit list'of trams to find is tram 582, ex-Kobe 592, which I famously turned down a ride on last year in favour of walking back to Senda to find 651.

 

Good luck with your hunt!

 

Alastair

[brill27mcb]

On 5/1/2025 at 5:52 PM, Gunzel said:

I thought I’d seen a tram like this when I was in Hiroshima recently, looking at my photos it turns out I did, but it was 654, statically preserved at the Numaji Transportation Museum. 
 

 

I didn't know their was a 4th "survivor" in this series. Thanks for this!

 

Rich K.