Tuesday 10 December 2013

Municipal Subway and Port Area in Kobe City

EMU Kobe Municipal Subway 2000 series arrives at Sannomiya Station on the Seishin-Yamate Line
 
Going back to my visit to Kobe, I am going to show you some more spots and railways in Kobe City.

The bottom photo is a night view of the port area. Japan opened the country to foreign trade and diplomatic relations in 1854 after a 215-year-long closure. Kobe was opened as a trading port in 1868, fourteen years after the promulgation of the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the U.S. and Japan.

Currently, this area is popular among tourists as a leisure spot as well as a historical district. You can see a beautiful hourglass tower in the photo. It is Kobe Port Tower built in 1963. This tower is known as the first illuminated building in Japan.

The top photo is a train on the Kobe Municipal Subway. it was opened in 1977 as the sixth municipal subway in Japan. Currently, four routes are operated in the urban area. Its total line length is 30.6km.

The photo shows the second oldest train, the EMU 2000 series on the Seishin and Yamate lines. It was launched in 1988 when the direct operation between Kobe Municipal Subway and Hokushin Kyuko Railway started. Different from the other Japanese trains of the same generation, the electric control system of the 2000 series is a little old... the armature chopper. A total of 4 sets, 24 units, have been manufactured so far by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The muted two-toned (dark green and greenish gray) body is my favorite.

 
Night view of the port area in Kobe City
 
More information about the EMU Kobe Municipal Subway 2000 series (in Japanese):