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Tobu Railway to introduce new limited express design

bikkuri bahn

By bikkuri bahn
in Japan Rail: News & General Discussion

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Sacto1985

Sacto1985

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By the way, YouTube member (and JNS forum member!) ayokoi posted some videos of the new Tobu 500 Series trainset:

 

Deliveries of additional trainsets out of the Kawaski Heavy Industries Hyogo assembly plant:

 

 

Shipment of three 3-car trainsets, pulled by EF 65-2139. Note this delivery train stopped almost right in front of the third-floor SkyTerrace viewing spot at the Kyoto Railway Museum:

 

 

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Sacto1985

Sacto1985

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I believe the 500 Series will be introduced on limited express routes from Tobu Asakusa Station all the way to Tobu Nikko and Kinugawa Onsen Stations. I wonder will they try to run it as far north as Aizu-Tajima Station right from the start, especially on weekends.

 

(EDIT: Oh never mind. The English Wikipedia reports the Revaty Aizu will go all the way to Aizu-Tajima Station. It'll be very interesting to see if Tobu will assign the 500 Series to the Snow Pal 23:55 service starting in late December 2017.)

Edited by Sacto1985
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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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I believe the 500 Series will be introduced on limited express routes from Tobu Asakusa Station all the way to Tobu Nikko and Kinugawa Onsen Stations. I wonder will they try to run it as far north as Aizu-Tajima Station right from the start, especially on weekends.

 

(EDIT: Oh never mind. The English Wikipedia reports the Revaty Aizu will go all the way to Aizu-Tajima Station.)

 

Yes, this is the main reason I'm interested in this train. Next to the awesome design, it's the new routes that will be opened up to regular Ltd. Express services that interest me; the Noda line (Urban Park Line) between Ōmiya and Unga, and the Kinugawa/Aizu lines beyond Shin-Fujiwara.

 

The Tōbu Utsunomiya line seems to be relieved of the 500 Series for now. No other trains, other than the 350 Series can serve the Utsunomiya line, as the stations aren't build for trains longer than four cars. This means either the 350 Series will continue to serve, or a different series will be transformed to a 4-car unit to replace the 350 Series. An eventual candidate to serve as a replacement for the 1800/300/350 Series will most probably be the 200 Series, now used on Ryōmō Ltd. Express services, but that all just speculation.

 

Next to the 500 Series, there are rumours there is a replacement in the planning for the rebuilt 6050 Series. There are two generations of 6050 Series, one is a rebuilt of a 6000 Series, which stems from 1964~1966, which means it's slowly overdue for a replacement. This will probably announced this year, so I'll be on the lookout for news!

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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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Related news for the Riverty and the consequences of this new train/service: the revised timetable of Tōbu shows there is no more through service from Asakusa to Nikkō, Kinugawa and beyond: http://www.tobu.co.jp/file/pdf/2647e3941996778a3a8afbb919eccd2f/170228_4.pdf?date=20170228123705 This means the 6050's operating area will be limited from Minami-kurihashi northward and the longest non-Ltd. Express private rail connection (Asakusa - Aizu-tajima) is hereby abolished.

 

It's a bit of a shame, but understandable, as Tōbu wants to run a profit on Ltd. Express train and the 6050 Series (Rapid, Section Rapid) were always overcrowded due to the lower price than the Ltd. Express. The Ltd. Express fee is ¥1,030, so it's quite a significant increase for (financiers of) commuters who travel from the north of Minami-kurihashi.

 

On the other hand, services from Minami-kurihashi will be extended beyond Shin-tochigi to Tōbu Nikkō and Shin-fujiwara, which means the Tōbu-nikkō line will see 4-door trains once again north of Shin-tochigi. The last of these trains ran until 2006 from Asakusa to Tōbu-nikkō as Semi-Express trains. I however expect to see 6050 Series running these new services (Express and Section-Express) in general, but not exclusively.

 

As for the 6050 Series itself, it seems they will live their last years in the mountains after heavy use on the main line, slowly being cannibalised... The only 6050 Series entering the metropolitan area will be the Tōbu Skytree Train (634 type).

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Densha

Densha

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I'm glad I still got to see some 6050s on the Isesaki Line last week. I also wouldn't have minded seeing the 500 series in service, but since these are new trains I should have plenty of opportunities in the future to see them.

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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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I'm kind of bummed out by this news, but next month will already see the last run of the Skytree Train apparently! D:

 

 

I was hoping to see this train continue between Asakusa and wherever, but this one is being hacked away as well! Such a shame and just as the model was released... :( No matter! I will still keep the model as one of my favourites in my collection!

 

Ah Riverty... You're the adversary of the 6050 Series. Not the Spacia...

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kvp

kvp

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There are only two of these sets and they were originally built in 1987, meaning they are exactly 30 years old right now. Is there a chance they will be sold to the Aizu or Yagan railways?

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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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I have no idea what will become of the two 634s, but there could be a chance they could be reused for special services and/or relay trains in weekends for the upcoming steam train to Shimo-imaichi. As far as I can tell, the operating area of all 6050s will be limited from Minami-kurihashi northward. The 350 Series also seems to get a part in the new operations in the mountains, as it's undertaking new trial runs regularly nowadays: http://www.krfj.net/kasukabe/topic1/20170314/kinu.html

 

P.s. Yagan and Aizu Railway do own 6050s (4 in total), but they are all maintained at the Tōbu depot in Shin-tochigi. I'm not sure however how the 634s would benefit these companies though as stand-alones.

Edited by Kabutoni
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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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A little update on the Revaty Ltd. Express and all that came with it.

 

Yesterday the new schedule was initiated for the Tōbu Isesaki lines, including the demise of the 634 Series in regular service, the scrapping of the 6-car 300 Series, the end of the 6050 Series in Rapid service and anything beyond Minami-Kurihashi. Some 6050 Series have already been announced and prepared for scrapping as well (6158F, 6166F and 6171F according to an observer on Facebook). The 634 Series (Skytree Train) will be continued to be used as a charter, which could mean a few runs per month at the very least.

 

In terms of operations, the Revaty has varying patterns with the main ones to Nikko and Aizu-tajima, but also on the Noda line (Ōmiya and Noda), as well as to Tatebayashi (Isesaki-line). The timetable has become quite complicated, but more fun to analyse! http://railway.tobu.co.jp/special_express/timetable/

 

A little bonus video of a Revaty making a quick stop at Aizukōgen-ozeguchi. A little station that is quite encouraging to model as well! It's the only station after Shin-Fujiwara that is able to hold a full 6-car train as well!

 

Edited by Kabutoni
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bill937ca

bill937ca

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Posted (edited)

 

Yesterday the new schedule was initiated for the Tōbu Isesaki lines, including the demise of the 634 Series in regular service, the scrapping of the 6-car 300 Series, the end of the 6050 Series in Rapid service and anything beyond Minami-Kurihashi. Some 6050 Series have already been announced and prepared for scrapping as well (6158F, 6166F and 6171F according to an observer on Facebook). The 634 Series (Skytree Train) will be continued to be used as a charter, which could mean a few runs per month at the very least.

 

 

 

They don't take long.  Video by Azumatakeshi.

 

 

Edited by bill937ca
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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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They don't take long. Video by Azumatakeshi.

The list under the first video is interesting. Until 2021 we can still see the 6050 Series around in general! It's not a veryong time, but still enough to see them in operation.

 

For me that begs the question: what will replace them? Tōbu has done runs with 10030 Series up to Kinugawa-onsen, so once these get replaced elsewhere, they might migrate to the mountains of Tochigi.

 

 

Related series would ​then also be open for candidacy: https://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ponsuzuki777/66992143.html

Edited by Kabutoni
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Sacto1985

Sacto1985

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The last I heard was that because the 634 Series EMU's were rebuilt by J-TREC in 2012, they will be hanging around in Tobu service, but no longer in any type of regularly scheduled operations. They'll likely be deployed on special excursion service up to Nikko or Kinugawa Onsen during certain times of the year.

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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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Won't the 10000 series be getting rather old as well by 2021?

 

Yes, that's very true, so it could be a temporary solution. Most old commuter stock end up on non-hilly lines, like those in the Ryōmō region, so eventually a new series needs to be made for these mountainous lines.

 

The last I heard was that because the 634 Series EMU's were rebuilt by J-TREC in 2012, they will be hanging around in Tobu service, but no longer in any type of regularly scheduled operations. They'll likely be deployed on special excursion service up to Nikko or Kinugawa Onsen during certain times of the year.

 

The 634 Series is allowed to operate on all Tōbu lines IIRC, so it can even run in the Ryōmō region. A few weeks ago it even ran on the Tōbu Utsunomiya line for a sakura viewing special between Tōbu-utsunomiya and Shinōhirashita. I won't be surprised if there would even be a run on the Chichibu Railway network at some point.

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Sacto1985

Sacto1985

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Because if the relatively new refurbishment and the extra-large windows on the 634 Series trainsets, I can see them turned into occasional use excursion specials like the Joyful Train operations on JR lines. Watch them be busy this fall on koyo Fall foliage viewing specials as far north as Aizu-Tajima Station, the north end of electrified operations on the Aizu Railway Aizu Line.

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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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Apparently, Tōbu is planning to run its new flagship 500 Series on the Hibiya line: https://www.release.tdnet.info/inbs/140120170427452718.pdf So far no testruns have been announced/had, but it'd be interesting to see another Ltd. Express service appear on the Tokyo Metro network. So far only the Odakyū Romance Car (MSE) is the sole dedicated Ltd. Express service underground (Chiyoda line), with the Seibu S-Train as a second semi-Ltd. Express service (Yūrakuchō and Fukutoshin lines).

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ToniBabelony

ToniBabelony

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I think somewhere in this topic I mentioned that there would be a possibility for 4-door trains to reappear on the Tōbu Nikkō line beyond Shin-tochigi sta. northbound. Well guess what happened as a very recent test run to Tōbu-nikkō and even as far as Shin-fujiwara!

 

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