The is an

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

(EMU) train type operated in Japan between 1982 and 2011 by

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) and later by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(JR East), and currently operated by

KAI Commuter PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (trading as KAI Commuter, abbreviated as KCI or KAIC) is a subsidiary of the Indonesian national railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) which manages commuter rail services. Initially founded as an operator of ...

and Philippine National Railways.

Formation

The sets were formed as follows. Cars 3, 6, and 9 were each fitted with one PS21

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

Interior

File:JNR203-interior.JPG, Interior view in September 2007 File:203 priority seating Yoyogi-Uehara 20101106.JPG, Priority seating in November 2010

History and operations

The 203 series sets were made to replace the 103-1000 series EMUs in 1982. The 203 series EMUs were on through services between the Joban Line and

Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line The is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. On average, the line carries 1,447,730 passengers daily (2017), the second highest of the Tokyo Metro network, behind the Tozai Line (1,642,378).E233-2000 series The is a commuter and suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type developed by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) from the earlier E231 series and the E531 series design. The first train was introduced in December 2006 for use on the Ch� ...

EMUs, and the last set ran in revenue service on 26 September 2011.

Overseas operations

Indonesia

Five former 203 series ten-car sets (Set numbers 51, 52, 66, 68, 69) were shipped to

in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2011. The trainsets were subsequently reformed to create four trainsets formed as one eight-car set (set 108), two ten-car sets (sets 106 and 109), and one twelve-car set (set 2). One ten-car set, set 109, has 5+5 formation with two middle driving trailers which are used only during regular maintenance. File:JR East 203-1F Bojonggede.jpg, A KRL Jabodetabek 203 series 8-car set on the Bogor Line in July 2012 File:Japan Railways 203; Manggarai.jpg, Former set 52 reformed as a 12-car set BUD 2 in August 2017 File:203 series BOO106 face detail.jpg, A typical Indonesian set code used on KAI Commuter 203 series set BOO 106 shows the head car's number in December 2017 File:JR 203 Livery Terbaru Merah Putih.png, Former set 66, numbered BUD 106 locally, with the latest KAI Commuter paint scheme in May 2022

Philippines

In November 2011, four former 203 series 10-car sets (set numbers 53, 54, 55, 67) were shipped to the Philippine National Railways (PNR) in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

for Metro commuter service in Metro Manila, replacing former Japanese 12 and 14 series coaches. As of October 2013, seven four-car sets had been formed, as shown below, with car "A" at the

Alabang Alabang is a barangay in Muntinlupa, Philippines. At one time the area was a farming district, and has since grown from a village to a major commercial center, which includes the Filinvest City and Madrigal Business Park, and a transportation hub ...

end. Due to the lack of electrification in the PNR line, the units are equipped with a diesel-powered generator at the head car to provide power for the doors, lighting, and air-conditioning. They were usually hauled by 900 class locomotives for commuter service. The 2500 class and the 5000 class locomotives shunts the 203 series EMU in Tutuban for refueling. In 2014, PNR started to operate the EMUs in 5-car configuration. As of December 2018, there are five sets in operation. Set 02 is the only 203 series EMU in 4 car formation until 2015. EMUs 3, 4 and 7 were divided among the other EMUs to form the 5 sets, and their remnants are stored as reserve units or source of spare parts. By April 2019, the head car of EMU 06 (KuHa 202-3) was transferred to EMU 02. By May 2019, the lead car of EMU 01 (KuHa 203-107) was replaced by EMU 04's head car (KuHa 203-4) and by July, EMU 07's lead car (KuHa 202-107) was transferred to EMU 08. Due to aging reasons, the air-conditioning units of the 203 series bogged down. PNR conducted a bidding for the procurement of ten air-conditioning units for the 203 series from August to September 2018.

PT INKA PT Industri Kereta Api (Persero), abbreviated as INKA, is a state owned rolling stock manufacturer. Profile INKA Ltd was established in 1981 to serve as the national rail locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer for the Indonesian Railway ...

passed the bidding process, but after post-qualification the lone bidder was post-disqualified, causing a failed bidding. Again, a second bidding was conducted in December 2018. PT INKA once again participated, and passed the bidding process. The company passed the post-qualification process and was subsequently awarded the contract in February 2019. Replacement of air-conditioning units was conducted in February 2020, with the new Model ACI-4202 I-Cond air-conditioning units installed in EMUs 05 and 06. On the other hand, PNR is currently in the process of procuring 15 air-conditioning units for the coaches. PNR procured polycarbonate panels from BT Industries Incorporated through public bidding in 2019 to replace the old windows of the 203 Series. The contract also covered the replacement of the windows of the Hyundai Rotem DMU, KiHa 350,

KiHa 52 The is a Japanese diesel multiple unit (DMU) type formerly operated by Japanese National Railways (JNR); JR Group companies such as JR East, JR West, JR Shikoku & JR Kyushu; and later by the private railway operator Isumi Railway based in Chi ...

, and the KiHa 59 (KoGaNe) trains. Replacement of windows was conducted in 2020, with EMU 05 as the first set to have new fitted windows, removing the need of grills. All four active EMU sets have polycarbonate windows. In summer of 2020, PNR removed the blue livery of EMUs 04 and 07. The management have stripped off the paint and focus on the bodywork progress of the said EMUs (with some instance of revealing their old livery dating back to their JR incarnation). This in preparation for the new livery of the PNR EMU 203 Series. As of February 2021, EMUs 04 and 07 still don't have their new livery yet, though they are painted in primer gray. Two coaches of PNR EMUs are currently stored in the third track of

Pasay Road station Pasay Road station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is one of two stations (the other is Santa Mesa) in the line to have its own access road. It is named after Pasay Road, the old name ...

since October 2022. ;Key: * KuHa: Former driving trailer car * SaHa: Former intermediate trailer car * MoHa 202: Former intermediate motor car * MoHa 203: Former intermediate motor car with pantograph File:01332jfVito Cruz railway station San Antonio Makati Cityfvf 04.jpg, PNR EMU 02 at PNR San Andres Station (July 2016) File:PNR203 snd.jpg, PNR EMU 02 and 06 At Tutuban Station (2016) File:2017-01-19 Interior of ex-JR East 203 by Philippine National Railways.jpg, Interior of PNR EMU 203 coach (2017) File:PNR EMU05 Tc203-3.jpg, PNR EMU 05 leaving

Santa Mesa station Santa Mesa station is a railway station located on the PNR South Main Line, South Main Line in the city of Manila, Philippines. It is one of two stations (the other is Pasay Road station, Pasay Road) in the line to have its own access road. The ...

(December 2018) File:PNREMU07AA.png, PNR EMU 07 at

(April 2019) File:PNREMU04FTI.jpg, PNR EMU 04 at

FTI station FTI station (also called Food Terminal Junction station) is a railway station located on the South Main Line in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is named after its major landmark, the grounds of the formerly state-owned Food Terminal, In ...

(May 2019) File:PNREMU07 at FTI.jpg, PNR EMU 07 at FTI station (June 2019) File:KuHa 203-4 EMU 04-01 stripped at Sucat 2020-12-30.jpg, PNR EMU 04 in stripped livery near Sucat station (December 2020) File:PNR EMU 203 Blue with Polycarbonate Windows and INKA aircon 2020-12-30.jpg, PNR EMU 06 in blue and orange livery near Sucat station, with polycarbonate windows and air-conditioning units from

(December 2020) File:Philippine National Railways 203 EMU 05 cab (KuHa 203-3) 2021-10-31.jpg, PNR EMU 05 head car with polycarbonate windows, PNR and

JNR The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...

logos in front cab (October 2021) File:Santa Mesa PNR 203 EMU prime gray 2022-03-19.jpg, PNR EMU 04/01 in primer gray livery at

(March 2022)

Incidents

Japan

*On 20 March 1995, the train number A725K, or the Matsudo Train Set Number 67, which later transferred to Philippine National Railways in 2011, was involved on the sarin gas attack which happened on the

Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line The is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. On average, the line carries 1,447,730 passengers daily (2017), the second highest of the Tokyo Metro network, behind the Tozai Line (1,642,378).Yoyogi-Uehara station is a railway station on the Odakyū Odawara Line and Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. The Tokyo Metro station number is C-01. Both lines share platforms at this station, as each line has through operation onto the other. Sta ...

at 7:48 AM, As the train approached Shin-Ochanomizu Station, the central business district in Chiyoda, one member of the team punctured one of his two bags of sarin, leaving the other untouched, and exited the train at Shin-Ochanomizu. And then finally, the train has been proceeded down the line with the punctured bag of sarin leaking until 4 stops later at Kasumigaseki Station. There, the bags were removed and eventually disposed of by station attendants, of whom two died. The train continued on to the next station where it was completely stopped, evacuated and cleaned.

Philippines

*On 14 January 2018, a passenger in a 203 series trainset forced a train door open while the train was moving. *On 16 February 2020, a 203 series trainset was involved in a stone-throwing incident. It damaged a door window and injured one passenger. *On 12 April 2022, a 9-to-12-year-old child died after being run over by a 900 class locomotive hauling a 203 series EMU train at the intersection of Antipolo Street and Ipil Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

References

External links

* {{PNR Rolling Stocks Electric multiple units of Japan East Japan Railway Company Jōban Line Train-related introductions in 1982 Rolling stock of the Philippines Philippine National Railways Electric multiple units of Indonesia Tokyu Car multiple units Kawasaki multiple units Kinki Sharyo multiple units 1500 V DC multiple units of Japan