The is a 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
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) in the
Kantō region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...
of Japan since 1994.
Design
Introduced in 1994 to replace the
113 series
The is a Japanese suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in 1963 by Japanese National Railways (JNR), currently operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) and Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and formerly also op ...
EMUs running on the
Sōbu Line (Rapid)
The Sōbu Line (Rapid) ( ja, 総武快速線, ) is a railway service on the Sōbu Main Line in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Tokyo Station in Chūō, Tokyo with Chiba Station in ...
and
Yokosuka Line
The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km segment between and ...
, the E217 series was the first outer-suburban train type in Japan to feature four pairs of doors per side per car. The basic design was developed from the
209 series
The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) commuter train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in the Tokyo area of Japan since 1993.
The series was introduced in 1992 for experimental operations (as the 901 series) and in 1993 fo ...
commuter EMUs. It replaced all the Yokosuka Line 113 series trains by 1999. The trains were built jointly 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 ...
,
Tokyu Car
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 ...
, and JR East (Niitsu and Ofuna factories).
For traction, they use
Mitsubishi Electric
, established on 15 January 1921, is a Japanese multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi. The products from MELCO include elevators an ...
-manufactured VVVF inverters with
IGBT
An insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily used as an electronic switch, which, as it was developed, came to combine high efficiency and fast switching. It consists of four alternating lay ...
(formerly
GTO) switching devices which control Mitsubishi MT68/73 traction motors. The gear ratio is 97:16.
Operations
*
Kashima Line
The is a railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It links Katori Station with Kashima Soccer Stadium Station by crossing and then following the Tone River, at the border between Chiba Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefectur ...
(
Sawara -
Kashima-Jingū)
*
Narita Line
The Narita Line ( ja, 成田線, ) is the name for a combination of three railway lines located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
The main line connects Sakura Station and Matsugishi Station (as ...
(
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
-
Narita Airport
Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport ...
,
Sawara)
*
Sōbu Main Line
The is a Japanese railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan. It connects Tokyo with the east coast of Chiba Prefecture, passing through the cities of Funabashi, Chiba, and Chōshi. Its name derives from the old ...
(
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
-
Narutō)
*
Sotobō Line
The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, on the eastern (i.e., outer) side of the Bōsō Peninsula. It connects Chiba Station in Chiba to Awa-Kamogawa Station in Kamog ...
(
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
-
Kazusa-Ichinomiya)
*
Uchibō Line
The is a railway line operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) adjacent to Tokyo Bay, paralleling the western (i.e., inner) shore of the Bōsō Peninsula. It connects Soga Station in the city of Chiba to Awa-Kamogawa Station in the ...
(
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
-
Kimitsu
is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 83,058 in 39,138 households and a population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Kimitsu is located in the southweste ...
)
*
Yokosuka Line
The is a railway line in Japan operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East).
The Yokosuka Line connects Tokyo Station with in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. Officially, the name Yokosuka Line is assigned to the 23.9 km segment between and ...
(
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
-
Kurihama)
Former operations
*
Shōnan–Shinjuku Line
The Shōnan–Shinjuku Line ( ja, 湘南新宿ライン, ) is a passenger railway service in Japan which commenced in December 2001. The line has no dedicated track as services run through shared sections along the Ryōmō Line, Takasaki Line, ...
(
Shinjuku
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
-
Zushi
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 58,087, and a population density of 3,350 per km². The total area is .
Geography
Zushi is located at the head of Miura Peninsula, facin ...
) (December 2001 - October 2004)
*
Tōkaidō Main Line
The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...
(
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
-
Atami
is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 36,865 in 21,593 households and a population density of 600 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Atami is located in the far ea ...
) (March 2006 - March 2015)
* ''
Airport Narita
The was a "Rapid" limited-stop suburban rail service in Greater Tokyo operated since April 1991 until March 2018 by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It ran from to via the Yokosuka, Sōbu, and Narita lines, with a total length of 152. ...
'' (name discontinued March 2018)
Formations
Current formations
11-car Yokosuka/Sōbu Line sets
, 38 11-car sets are based at Kamakura Depot and formed with four motored ("M") cars and seven non-powered trailer ("T") cars.
* Cars 3 and 9 each have one scissors pantograph.
* Cars 1 and 11 have an accessible/priority "free space".
* Cars 1, 5, and 11 each have a toilet (
universal design
Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors. It addresses common barriers to participation by creating things that can be used by the ma ...
in car 1,
Japanese-style in car 11).
* Car 8 is designated as a mildly air-conditioned car.
* Cars 4 and 5 are bilevel Green Cars with transverse seating.
* Cars 9, 10, and 11 have a mix of longitudinal and transverse box seating.
4-car Yokosuka/Sōbu Line sets
, 30 four-car sets are based at Kamakura Depot and formed with two motored ("M") cars and two non-powered trailer ("T") cars.
* Car +3 has a scissors pantograph.
* Cars +1 and +4 have an accessible/priority "free space".
* Car +1 has a
Japanese-style toilet.
Previous formations
10-car Tōkaidō Line sets
Three 10-car sets (F-01–F-03) were based at Kōzu Depot and formed with four motored ("M") cars and six non-powered trailer ("T") cars.
* Cars 3 and 9 each had one scissors pantograph.
* Cars 1 and 10 had an accessible/priority "free space".
* Cars 1, 5, and 10 each had a toilet (
universal design
Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors. It addresses common barriers to participation by creating things that can be used by the ma ...
in car 1,
Japanese-style in car 10).
* Car 8 was designated as a mildly air-conditioned car.
* Cars 4 and 5 were bilevel Green Cars with transverse seating.
* Cars 9 and 10 had a mix of longitudinal and transverse box seating.
5-car Tōkaidō Line sets
Three five-car sets (F-51–F-53) were based at Kōzu Depot and formed with two motored ("M") cars and three non-powered trailer ("T") cars.
* Car 13 had a scissors pantograph.
* Cars 11 and 15 had an accessible/priority "free space".
* Car 11 had a
Japanese-style toilet.
* Car 14 had a mix of longitudinal and transverse box seating.
File:Jre E217F.jpg, E217 series in ''Shōnan'' livery, April 2007
Interior
File:E217-inside-longseat.jpg, E217 series longitudinal seating
File:E217-inside-semicross-seat.jpg, E217 series transverse seating
File:Series-E217 Green-car-2F.jpg, Green car upper saloon, October 2021
File:Series-E217 Green-car-1F.jpg, Green car lower saloon, October 2021
History
![JRE E217new old](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/JRE_E217new_old.JPG)
The E217 series trains entered revenue service from 3 December 1994.
From December 2001, 11-car trains were used on the
Shōnan–Shinjuku Line
The Shōnan–Shinjuku Line ( ja, 湘南新宿ライン, ) is a passenger railway service in Japan which commenced in December 2001. The line has no dedicated track as services run through shared sections along the Ryōmō Line, Takasaki Line, ...
between
Shinjuku
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
and
Zushi
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 58,087, and a population density of 3,350 per km². The total area is .
Geography
Zushi is located at the head of Miura Peninsula, facin ...
. This continued until October 2004 when Shōnan–Shinjuku Line services were unified using
E231-1000 series
The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type used for commuter and outer-suburban services operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan since 2000.
Design
Trains were manufactured by Tokyu Car Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy In ...
trains.
In March 2006, three 15-car trains were reformed as 10+5-car sets and transferred to Kōzu depot for use from 14 March 2006 on
Tōkaidō Main Line
The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...
duties out of Tokyo alongside E231-1000 series trains. The sets were repainted into the same ''Shonan'' color scheme of orange and green bodyside stripes as applied to the E231s. These sets were all transferred back to Yokosuka/Sōbu Line services by March 2015.
A program of refurbishment on the fleet commenced in 2008 and was completed in 2012. Externally, sets received lighter blue and cream stripes.
Following the introduction of newer
E235-1000 series sets, withdrawals commenced in fiscal 2020.
The first withdrawn set was transferred to Nagano between 5 and 6 January 2021.
Incidents
On 25 December 2014, an 11+4 car train consisting of sets Y12 and Y129 broke down on the Yokosuka Line due to electrical problems; another 11+4 car train consisting of sets Y23 and Y130 was sent to tow the faulty set from Tokyo Station to Kamakura Depot, creating an immensely long thirty-car train. While this was happening, the entire train did not stop at any stations to pick up any passengers.
References
Further reading
*
External links
JR E217 series
{{JR East EMU
Electric multiple units of Japan
East Japan Railway Company
Train-related introductions in 1994
Kawasaki multiple units
1500 V DC multiple units of Japan
Tokyu Car multiple units