The is a DC

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

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) on local services in the Niigata area since 6 December 2014.

Design

Built at the

J-TREC is a manufacturer of heavy rail cars in Japan, formerly known as . The company is based in Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, and a member of East Japan Railway Company (JR East) group. J-TREC manufactures rail vehicles not only for JR East and Tokyu Corp ...

factory in

Niitsu, Niigata was a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The city itself was founded on January 1, 1951, but the area had already been opened to railway traffic as early as November 20, 1897. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 66,058 and ...

, the stainless steel body and "universal design" interior is derived from the

E233 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� ...

commuter EMU. Externally, trains are finished in a livery with and stripes. The trains have a maximum speed of .

Operations

E129 series trains operate on the following lines, completely replacing older 115 series sets by around 2017. * Joetsu Line ( – ) *

Shinetsu Main Line The Shinetsu Main Line ( ja, 信越本線, ) is a railway line, consisting of three geographically separated sections, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It was originally one continuous line connecting and via . S ...

( – ) *

Uetsu Main Line The is a railway line in the Tohoku and Chubu regions of Japan. Part of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) system, it connects Niitsu Station in the city of Niigata and Akita Station in Akita. The name "Uetsu" refers to the ancient ...

( – ) * Hakushin Line ( – ) *

Echigo Line The is a railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which connects the cities of Kashiwazaki and Niigata in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The line's name is taken from the name of the ancient Echigo Province, which correspond ...

( – ) *

Yahiko Line The is a Japanese railway line operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) which connects Yahiko Station in the village of Yahiko and Higashi-Sanjō Station in the city of Sanjo, both in Niigata Prefecture. The line shares its name wit ...

( – ) The E129 series trains can operated in multiple, to form 2+2, 2+4, and 2+2+2 formations, but do not operate in multiple with

E127 series The is a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated on local services by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan since 1995, and also by the third-sector railway operator Echigo Tokimeki Railway since March 2015 as the ET127 ser ...

trains except in emergencies.

Fleet

the E129 series fleet consists of 34 two-car sets (68 vehicles) numbered A1 to A34 and 27 four-car sets (108 vehicles) numbered B1 to B27.> All sets are based at Niigata Depot.

Formations

2-car sets A1-A32

The two-car sets, A1 to A32, consist of two motored cars, each with one powered

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

, and are formed as shown below. * The KuMoHa E129-100 car is fitted with a PS33G single-arm

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 ...

(cars KuMoHa E129-123 to KuMoHa E129-130 have two pantographs, and weigh 37.4 t). * The KuMoHa E128-100 car has a

universal access Apple Universal Access is a component of the macOS operating system that provides computing abilities to people with visual impairment, hearing impairment, or physical disability. Components Universal Access is a preference pane of the Sys ...

toilet.

4-car sets B1-B26

The four-car sets, B1 to B26, consist of four motored cars, each with one powered

, and are formed as shown below. * The KuMoHa E129 and MoHa E129 cars are each fitted with one PS33G single-arm pantograph. * The KuMoHa E128 car has a universal access toilet.

Interior

Passenger accommodation consists of a mix of transverse seating bays and longitudinal bench seating.

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 ...

is used throughout. Longitudinal seats have a width of per person, wider than for the earlier

trains, and the seating pitch for transverse seating bays is , approximately wider than

trains. Floor height is , the same as for E127 series trains, and lower than the floor height of 115 series trains. File:Series-E129-inside.jpg, Interior view File:E129-interior2.JPG, Longitudinal bench seating File:E129 interior no2.JPG, A transverse seating bay File:E129 interior no3.JPG, Driver's cab

History

Initial details of the new trains were announced by JR East in July 2013. The first two two-car sets, A1 and A2, were delivered on 8 October 2014, with test-running commencing the same day. The first trains entered revenue service on 6 December 2014.

Fleet details

, the fleet is as follows.

2-car sets

4-car sets

Derivatives

Delivery of three two-car sets from

Niitsu was a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The city itself was founded on January 1, 1951, but the area had already been opened to railway traffic as early as November 20, 1897. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 66,058 an ...

began in March 2020. They are derived from the E129 series and are scheduled to replace the 115 series currently operated by

Shinano Railway The is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 1996 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR East Shinetsu Main Line within Nagano Prefecture when it is separated from the JR East network in Octob ...

. These trains were put into service of rapid trains operated by Shinano Railway starting from 4 July 2020. File:Series-SR1-100 S101.jpg, SR1 series set S101 in February 2022 File:Series-SR1-200 S204.jpg, SR1 series set S204 in February 2022

References

External links

JR East E129 series
{{DEFAULTSORT:E129 series Electric multiple units of Japan East Japan Railway Company J-TREC multiple units Train-related introductions in 2014 1500 V DC multiple units of Japan