Wednesday 4 October 2017

Sayonara to the Northern Kanto Commuter Train

Set R15 + R16 of the EMU JR East 107 series arrives at Kanashima Station

One by one, the old trains have disappeared from the Tokyo metropolitan area. On July 27th this year, JR East Takasaki Branch Office gave a press release announcing that the EMU 107 series would be retired from the track by the end of September.

The EMU JR East 107 series is a direct current standard commuter train in the northern Kanto district. It was launched in 1988 to replace the old model, EMU Japanese National Railways (hereafter JNR) 165 series. A total of 27 sets, 54 units, were built from 1988 to 1991 by JR East Oomiya Factory, Ooi Factory and so on. The structure of the train body was applied from that of the EMU JNR 105 series, so that the 107 series is very similar to the 105 series in appearance.

In recent years, the 107 series has been retired from the track one after another. For instance, it was retired from the Nikko Line in March, 2013, being replaced by the 205-600 series. Eventually, the 107 series finished their regular commercial operation on 30th September.

On October 1st, JR East operated a special train using the 107 series. It was for rail-fans to say sayonara (good-bye) and arigatou (than you) to the 107 series. Although I lost in the draw to join the train tour, I could take pictures of it at Kanashima Station on the Agatsuma Line under the autumn sky of fine weather.

Sayonara and arigatou, the EMU 107 series.

Set R15 + R16 of the EMU JR East 107 series stands at Kanashima Station