Friday 4 May 2018

EMU Toei 5300 Series: Update

EMU Toei 5300 series travels on the Hokuso line

Four years have already passed since I reported on the train on the subway Asakusa line for the first time. What is the news with this urban subway route operated by the Transportation Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (hereafter Toei)?

On September 27th last year, a new train, named EMU 5500 series, was started to bring into the Magome rail yard. This new model was introduced to replace the deteriorated model, namely EMU 5300 series. A total of 8 sets, 64 units, are planned to be built by J-trec by the end of March 2019. As of May 2018, the 5500 series has not been commissioned yet. It is said that inductive interference problem was found during their test runs. It will be some time before the commencement of commercial services of the 5500 series.

In the meantime, the existing 5300 series was launched in 1991 to replace the old 5000 series. A total of 27 sets, 216 units, were built by Hitachi, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Nippon Sharyo and Kinki Sharyo. Its constitution is 4M4T (4 motor cars and 4 trailers). Currently, It is directly operated onto the Keikyu, Keisei and Hokuso lines. The 5300 series has aluminum bodies with induction motors and VVVF (variable frequency drive) electric control system. I like the 5300 series, as it has urban-style bodies with a beautiful pristine white color.

According to Toei, all the existing 5300 series will be replaced by the 5500 series in the future. Please take photographs of the 5300 series before it is too late.

EMU Toei 5300 series arrives at Higashi-Matsudo station on the Hokuso line

Official information about the EMU Toei 5300 series (in Japanese):