Tuesday 28 May 2013

Sayonara, the Tokyu 8090 Series


EMU Tokyu 8090 series arrives at Mizonokuchi Station in the rain (May, 2012)

Tokyu has been working hard to reorganize their railway network for the last few decades. For instance, the Mekama Line was broken up into two routes, namely the Meguro Line and the Tamagawa Line in 2000. The Meguro Line was, then, connected with the Subway Namboku and Mita lines at Meguro Station.

Tokyu also reorganized the Toyoko Line on March 16th of this year (see my blog on March 20th, 2013). Its Shibuya Station was moved from the surface to underground. As a result, the Toyoko Line trains have started to be operated directly into the Subway Fukutoshin Line through the new Shibuya station. These actions are based on Tokyu's strategy to create a strong urban railway network to secure passengers even in the current competitive business environment.

Operation of the rolling stock on the Tokyu lines has also been affected by the reorganizing of the network. Recently, the EMU 8090 series has been retired from the Ooimachi Line. In consequence, all the 8090 series trains have disappeared from the Tokyu lines. I liked the 8090 series as its body was round-faced, more properly, swelling toward the bottom (see the top photo).

Sayonara (good-bye), the Tokyu 8090 series; but, don't worry. The 8090 series are tough and will survive. Changing its name to the 7500 series, the 8090 series have been moved to the Chichibu Railway in Saitama Prefecture (see the following picture). Green colored stripes of the new Chichibu 7500 series are also attractive for me.

Rail fans are people who are always getting into a fuss about the moves of trains.

EMU Chichibu 7500 series (ex-Tokyu 8090 series) arrives at Oyahana Station (June, 2012)