JAPAN: Sagami Railway has put into service the first of four Series 21000 EMUs ordered to operate through services to Tokyo’s Meguro station over the Sotetsu-Tokyu Link.
Being built by Hitachi under a procurement announced on April 28, the eight-car Series 21000s are a shorter version of the private railway’s seven 10-car Series 20000 EMUs which entered service between February 2018 and December 2020. The 1 067 mm gauge units are based on the manufacturer’s successful A Train platform, and designed for operation at up to 120 km/h.
Unveiled at the railway’s Atsugi yard on September 3, the first of the Series 21000 sets entered revenue service three days later, working on the Sotetsu Main Line between Yokohama and Ebina.
Due to open in mid-2022, the 10 km Sotetsu-Tokyu Link is being built by Japan Railway Construction, Transport & Technology Agency under a public-private funding model. Running from Hazawa Yokohama-Kokudai to join Tokyu’s Toyoko line at Hiyoshi, via an interchange with the Tokaido Shinkansen at Shin-Yokohama, it will enable Sotetsu’s through services to reach central Tokyo over Tokyu’s Toyoko and Meguro lines.
Read more on the Sotetsu Link programme in the December 2019 issue of Railway Gazette International.
