The , branded "EXE/EXEα" ("Excellent Express/Excellent Express Alpha"), 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 by the

private railway A private railway is a railroad run by a private business entity (usually a corporation but not need be), as opposed to a railroad run by a public sector. Japan In Japan, , commonly simply ''private railway'', refers to a public transit railway o ...

operator

Odakyu Electric Railway , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its ''Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Company fo ...

in Japan on

Odakyu Odawara Line , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its ''Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Kanagawa, Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone, Kanagawa, Hakone. T ...

and

Odakyu Enoshima Line , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its ''Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Company fo ...

Romancecar The is Odakyu Electric Railway's name for its limited express luxury tourist services south-west of Tokyo, to mountain resorts such as Hakone and Gotemba (Mount Fuji), and beaches such as Odawara and Enoshima. When the service started in 195 ...

" services since 1996.

Design

Seven 4+6-car trainsets (70 vehicles) were built between 1996 and 1999 to replace ageing

Odakyu 3100 series NSE The or NSE (New Super Express) was an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Odakyu Electric Railway on ''Romancecar'' services in the Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, ...

trains. Unlike earlier Romancecar trainsets, which used articulated carriages, the 30000 series sets have 20 m long bogie cars. The inner driving cabs of the 4+6-car formations have gangway doors. The passenger doors use wide sliding doors, with wide doors on cars 2, 5, and 8 to provide wheelchair accessibility. File:Odakyu 30000 Enoshima Yamato 20040214.jpg, A 30000 series half-set with a gangwayed driving car leading in February 2004 File:OER-30000-Coupling.jpg, The gangwayed intermediate driving cars (cars 6 and 7) File:Cockpit of Odakyu RomanceCar EXE 2.JPG, The interior of a gangwayed driver's cab

Operations

Odakyu 30000 Shinjuku Sagami Enoshima 20071219

The 30000 series trains are used on

''Hakone'' services between in Tokyo and

Hakone-Yumoto Station is a railway station on the Hakone Tozan Line in Hakone, Kanagawa, Japan. Lines Hakone-Yumoto Station is served by the Hakone Tozan Line from to , although all Hakone Tozan Line trains start from this station, and only Odakyu services operate ...

in Kanagawa Prefecture (about 88 km), as well as ''Sagami'' and ''Homeway'' services. They are also on

Enoshima is a small offshore island, about in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, and is linked to ...

'' services between Shinjuku and . Trainsets were introduced on combined ''Hakone'' and ''Enoshima'' services, with trains dividing at , and later at . 10-car ''Hakone'' services to Hakone-Yumoto also divide at with just the 6-car sets continuing onward to Hakone-Yumoto.

Formations

, the fleet consists of seven 4+6-car trainsets, formed as follows, with car 1 at the western end. All seven sets are based at Ebina Depot.

Unrefurbished sets

Cars 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9 are each fitted with a 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 ...

. Only one bogie on car 9 is motored.

Refurbished sets

Refurbished trainsets are formed as follows, with five motored cars per ten-car formation. Cars 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9 are each fitted with a PT7113-A single-arm pantograph.

Interior

Passenger accommodation consists of monoclass unidirectional 2+2 abreast seating, with wide seats and a seating pitch of . The first eight half-sets delivered had green-coloured seats in the six-cars sets (evoking the forests of Hakone) and blue-coloured seats in the four-car sets (evoking the sea of Enoshima), but from 1999 onward, the seats in all sets was standardized with grey and brown seat covers. Wheelchair spaces are located in cars 5 and 8. Refreshment counters are provided in cars 3 and 9. Toilets are provided in cars 2, 5, and 8, and the toilet in car 5 is 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 ...

type. File:OER-EXE30000-inside.jpg, The passenger saloon interior in March 2007 File:OER-EXE30000-inside-Seat.jpg, Seating in March 2007 File:OER 30100 inside service counter.jpg, A refreshment counter in November 2011

History

The first trains entered revenue service on 23 March 1996.

Build history

The fleet was built between 1996 and 1999 in three batches as follows.

Refurbishment

The fleet underwent a programme of refurbishment from fiscal 2016, with the first 4+6-car trainset treated returning to service in March 2017, rebranded "EXEα". Refurbishment was carried out by

Nippon Sharyo , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its name to "日本車両" Nippon Sharyō. Its shortest abbreviation is Nissha "日車". It was a listed company on Nikkei 225 until 2 ...

, with the design overseen by

Noriaki Okabe Architecture Network is a Japanese architect. He was born in Shizuoka, Japan. He worked with Renzo Piano for twenty years in Europe, from the designing construction supervision of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. In 1988, Okabe, then the representative of Ren ...

. It includes the following changes: * Redesigned interiors and seating * Replacement of Japanese-style squat toilets with Western-style toilets ( Toto "

Washlet is a registered trademark of the Japanese toilet company TOTO and is used for their line of cleansing toilet seats with water spray feature for genital and anal cleansing. The Washlet is an electronic bidet and commonplace on toilets in Japa ...

" type) * Additional luggage racks * LED lighting in passenger saloons * Installation of security cameras in vestibule and passenger saloons * Fully enclosed traction motors * Conversion of one former trailer car (car 3) to a motored car, and the addition of a second motored bogie to car 9, which previously only had one motored bogie. The first train set to be refurbished, four-car set 30051, was returned to Odakyu from the Nippon Sharyo factory in

Toyokawa, Aichi is a Cities of Japan, city in the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 183,930 in 72,949 households, and a population density of 1,141 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Toyokawa, famou ...

, in November 2016. File:Odakyu-Series30000R EXEa.jpg, A refurbished "EXEα" set in November 2021 File:OER-30000 EXE-Alpha-inside 20190416.jpg, The updated passenger saloon interior in April 2019 File:OER-30000 EXE-Alpha-inside Seat 20190416.jpg, Updated seating in April 2019

In popular culture

The Odakyu 30000 series EXE is featured as a non-driveable train in the ''

Microsoft Train Simulator ''Microsoft Train Simulator'' is a 2001 train simulator developed for Microsoft Windows. It was released on May 31, 2001, and developed by the UK-based company Kuju Entertainment. It sold one million units worldwide by 2005. Features Microsoft ...

'' computer game.

References

External links

"Romancecar lineup"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odakyu 30000 series EXE Electric multiple units of Japan 30000 series EXE Kawasaki multiple units Train-related introductions in 1996 1500 V DC multiple units of Japan Nippon Sharyo multiple units