Wednesday 25 January 2017

Tokyo Monorail Update: New Color of the 1000 Series

1091F of the EMU Tokyo Monorail 1000 series (new color) arrives at Shin-seibijo Station

I visited Tokyo Monorail for the first time in two years. Time really flies! When I visited there last time, the company was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Haneda Airport Line. They had just launched the new model, the EMU 10000 series.

What was the news with Tokyo Monorail this time? The company has started the renovation of the old models, namely the EMU 1000 and the 2000 series. As a result, we can see many new colored trains on the line. Please look at the photos. They are the 1000 series after renovation. You can see the white colored bodies with light green, light blue and the dark blue colored doors. The roofs are painted the same colors as the doors. It would be beautiful, if you saw them from high-rise buildings. The interior of the 1000 series was also renovated. The seat colors have been changed to the same colors as the doors. The floor has also been changed to a greyish soft color.

In the meantime, Tokyo Monorail changed their timetable on December 17th. The main point was that the standard travel time between Hamamatsucho and Haneda Airport Terminal 1 was cut by one minute (from 17 to 16 minutes) by Haneda Express train. Only one minute... but, it is important for the company, because Tokyo Monorail faces fierce competition from Keikyu Line on the airport access route from the downtown Tokyo area. As a passenger, I welcome this kind of competition, as long as safety is assured.

1043F of the EMU Tokyo Monorail 1000 series (new color) travels on the Haneda Line

Official guide of Tokyo Monorail:
Official Gallery of Tokyo Monorail (in Japanese):