The , branded , 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

Tobu Railway is a Japanese commuter railway and ''keiretsu'' holding company in the Greater Tokyo Area as well as an intercity and regional operator in the Kantō region. Excluding the Japan Railways Group companies, Tobu's rail system is the second longes ...

on limited express services in Japan since 21 April 2017. 11 three-car sets (33 vehicles in total) have been 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 ...

Design

The trains were built by

, with exterior and interior styling overseen by Japanese industrial designer

Ken Okuyama Ken Okuyama (born 1959) is a Japanese industrial designer. He is the owner of the Ken Okuyama Design company. Okuyama formerly worked for Pininfarina, designing and supervising projects such as the Enzo Ferrari and Ferrari P4/5. His given name ...

. The driving cabs at each end of the three-car trainsets includes an automatically extending gangway connection to allow trains to be coupled or split en route. File:Tobu-Series500 join.jpg, The gangway connection between two coupled units File:Tobu railway 500 kei shimoimaichi station.jpg, Two units being coupled en route in May 2017 File:Tobu 500 series driving cab-01.jpg, Interior of the driving cab File:Tobu 500 series driving cab-02.jpg, Interior of the right-hand side cab The trains have

active suspension An active suspension is a type of automotive suspension on a vehicle. It uses an onboard system to control the vertical movement of the vehicle's wheels relative to the chassis or vehicle body rather than the passive suspension provided by large sp ...

, a first for trains operated by Tobu, and use

permanent-magnet synchronous motor A synchronous electric motor is an AC electric motor in which, at steady state, the rotation of the shaft is synchronized with the frequency of the supply current; the rotation period is exactly equal to an integral number of AC cycles. Sync ...

(PMSM) traction motors.

Naming

The trains are branded , a name derived from the English words "Variety" and "Liberty".

Operations

, the trains are used on the following services.

Exterior

The exterior livery consists of "champagne beige" with "forest green" and "future blue" (Tobu's corporate colour) highlights around the windows.

Formation

The fleet of three-car sets are formed as follows, with two driving motor ("M") cars and a non-powered trailer ("T") intermediate car. The two motored cars each have one 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 ...

Interior

Each three-car set has a seating capacity of 161 passengers. Seat pitch is . Interior lighting is

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 ...

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

and at-seat AC power sockets are provided. The automated on-board passenger announcements use the voice of TV presenter . File:Tobu railway 500 kei interior.jpg, Passenger saloon interior File:Tobu 500 series interior 20170415-02.jpg, Wheelchair space File:Tobu 500 series interior 20170415-06.jpg, The connecting gangway between units

Toilet facilities

Each trainset includes 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, western-style toilet, and urinal, located in the centre car. File:Tobu railway 500 kei interior toilet.jpg, The universal-access toilet File:Tobu 500 series toilet-01.jpg, Interior of the universal-access toilet File:Tobu 500 series toilet-02.jpg, The standard western-style toilet File:Tobu 500 series toilet-03.jpg, The men's urinal

History

Tobu 500 series 505 Hanyu Station 20170130

Tobu Railway officially announced initial details of the new trains on 22 April 2015. In April 2016, Tobu announced that the trains would be used on through services between in Tokyo and in

Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...

via the

Yagan Railway The is a third-sector Japanese railway company whose major shareholders include the Tochigi and Fukushima prefectural governments. It operates a single railway line, the . The name of the line comes from the kanji characters of the ancient ...

and

Aizu Railway Aizu Line The is a long railway line from Nishi-Wakamatsu Station in Aizuwakamatsu to Aizukōgen-Ozeguchi Station in Minamiaizu, Fukushima, Japan. It is owned and operated by Aizu Railway. Services The train operation is controlled from Aizu-Tajima Stat ...

from spring 2017. The first three sets, 501 to 503, were delivered from the

factory in Kobe in December 2016. The 500 series "Revaty" trains were a recipient of the 2018

Laurel Prize The is an award presented annually in Japan since 1961 by the Japan Railfan Club. It is awarded for railway vehicles that entered service in the previous year and voted by the selection committee as having the most outstanding functional and des ...

from the Japan Railfan Club. Sets 509, 510, and 511 were delivered in September 2020. These sets' delivery was the final working on the Chichibu Railway Mikajiri Line before its closure.

References

External links

Tobu press release (22 April 2015)

Ken Okuyama Design news release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobu 500 Series Electric multiple units of Japan 500 series Train-related introductions in 2017 1500 V DC multiple units of Japan Kawasaki multiple units