The is a dual-voltage AC/DC outer-suburban

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 by

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

(JR West) and third-sector railway operators

IR Ishikawa Railway The is a Japanese third-sector railway company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Ishikawa Prefecture. The main line was separated from the JR West network on 14 Ma ...

and

Ainokaze Toyama Railway The is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Toyama Prefecture when it was separated from the JR West network in Mar ...

on local services in the Fukui and Kanazawa areas since November 2006.

Design

The 521 series was the first dual-voltage suburban EMU type to be built for JR West. The body of the first two batches was based on the 223-5000 series suburban EMU design, with the same WMT102C 230 kW traction motors. The sets are able to be used on ''wanman''

driver-only operation One-person operation (OPO), also known as driver-only operation (DOO), one-man operation (OMO), single person train operation (SPTO), or one-person train operation (OPTO), similarly to Driver Controlled Operation, is operation of a train, bus, ...

services.

Operations

JR West

* 521-0 series **

Hokuriku Main Line The Hokuriku Main Line ( ja, 北陸本線, ) is a 176.6 kilometer railway line owned by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) connecting the Maibara Station in Maibara, Shiga, with the Naoetsu Station in Joetsu, Niigata. The section betwee ...

( - ) **

Kosei Line The is a commuter rail line in Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The line was completed in 1974 by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR) to provide faster access from the Kansai region t ...

( - ) **

Obama Line The is a railway line on the Sea of Japan coast of central Japan. It is operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The long single track railway connects Tsuruga Station on the Hokuriku Main Line in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture and Higashi ...

( - , sometimes substituted for 125 series) * 521-100 series **

Nanao Line The is a railway line in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and the Noto Railway. It runs between Tsubata Station in Tsubata and Anamizu Station in Anamizu. JR West operates the section between Tsuba ...

(from 3 October 2020)

Third-sector lines

IR Ishikawa Railway Line The is a Japanese third-sector railway company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Ishikawa Prefecture. The main line was separated from the JR West network on 14 ...

Ainokaze Toyama Railway Line The is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 2012 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Toyama Prefecture when it was separated from the JR West network in Mar ...

Echigo Tokimeki Railway Nihonkai Hisui Line The (ETR) is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 2010 to operate passenger railway services on the sections of the JR East Shinetsu Main Line and JR West Hokuriku Main Line within Niigata Prefecture when they were ...

Fleet

, JR West operates 50 two-car sets (E01-E05, G14-G15, G17, G20-G24, G28-G30, J01-J19, U01-U15), allocated to Kanazawa depot, Tsuruga depot, the

operates 16 two-car sets (AK01-AK16), and the

operates five two-car sets (IR01-IR05). 19 third-batch two-car sets (J01 to J19) were delivered to Tsuruga Depot in fiscal 2013. The third-batch sets have cab ends based on the JR West

225 series The is a Direct current, DC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) on suburban services in the "Keihanshin" Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area since December 2010. Design 226 vehicles were ordered, at a cos ...

EMUs, with improved crash resistance, and use

LED lighting An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mos ...

for interior lighting. These sets entered revenue service in spring 2014.

Formations

Sets consist of one motored and one non-powered trailer car, and are formed as follows. The KuHa 520 cars are each fitted with one WPD28D single-arm pantograph.

Interior

Seating is arranged as 2+2 abreast transverse flip-over seats. The KuHa 520 cars include a toilet. File:Series521 Kuha520-13 Inside.jpg, Interior of a 2nd-batch set in April 2022 File:JRW Kumoha521-36 Inside.jpg, Interior of a 3rd-batch set in July 2022 File:JRW Kumoha521-36 Priority-seat.jpg, Priority seating in July 2022 File:JRW Kuha520-53 Toilet.jpg, Toilet in July 2022 File:JRW Kuha520-53 Inside LED.jpg, LED passenger information display in July 2022 File:Jrw521 unchinhyo.jpg, Fare indicator board for driver-only operated services File:JRW Kuha520-43 Cab.jpg, Driver's cab in April 2022

History

The first five sets, E01 to E05, were built by

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headq ...

and

Kinki Sharyo is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 (as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works) and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945. They have produced light ...

, and were delivered to Fukui depot between September and October 2006. These entered revenue service from 30 November 2006. The fleet was reallocated to Tsuruga Depot from 1 June 2010. Ten more sets, G01 to G10, built by Kinki Sharyo, were delivered to Kanazawa depot between October 2009 and March 2010, entering revenue service from 13 March 2010. A further five sets, G11 to G15, were delivered from Kawasaki Heavy Industries in December 2010 and January 2011. 15 more sets, M01 to M15, were delivered from Kawasaki Heavy Industries to Tsuruga Depot between January and March 2011.

Other operators

16 two-car 521 series sets were transferred to the third-sector railway operating company

for use from 14 March 2015 when JR West handed over ownership of the sections of the

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

running parallel to the new

Hokuriku Shinkansen The is a high-speed Shinkansen railway line jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), connecting Tokyo with in the Hokuriku region of Japan. The first section, between and in Nagano Pr ...

. Likewise, three two-car sets were transferred to the

, which took over control of the section of the Hokuriku Main Line in

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...

from 14 March 2015. Two more sets were newly built for the IR Ishikawa Railway.

Ainokaze Toyama Railway

, the Ainokaze Toyama Railway 521 series fleet is as follows. Five new two-car 521-1000 series sets are scheduled to be introduced over a period of six years, with the first set delivered in December 2017. These sets are based on the JR West 3rd-batch design, and are intended to replace the operator's ageing 413 series EMUs. File:Ainokaze-Toyama Series521-AK02.jpg, Ainokaze Toyama Railway 521 series EMU set AK02 in January 2018

IR Ishikawa Railway

, the IR Ishikawa Railway 521 series fleet is as follows. File:IR Ishikawa Railway 521 tsubata station.JPG, IR Ishikawa 521 series EMU set IR03 in June 2015

References

External links

JR West 521 series
(Japan Railfan Magazine) {{JR-West rolling stock Electric multiple units of Japan West Japan Railway Company Train-related introductions in 2006 20 kV AC multiple units Kawasaki multiple units Kinki Sharyo multiple units 1500 V DC multiple units of Japan