Hankyu introduces Class 2300 EMUs
posted on 12th Jul 2024 17:34
Hankyu Corporation (Hankyū Dentetsu in Japanese), one of Kansai region's private railway operators, has unveiled new Class 2300 EMUs that will enter commercial service on the Kyoto Line (between Osaka Umeda and Kyoto) on 21 July 2024.
The 1,435 mm gauge eight-car EMU consists of four intermediate powered cars, two intermediate trailers and two non-powered end-cars. Each car is 18,380 mm long, 2,780 mm wide and 4,095 mm high above the top of the rail. The train has 319 seats and space for 844 standing passengers. The train has one car with reserved seats only (40 seats), the reservation fee is 500 JPY. The service is called "PRiVACE", a combination of the words "private" and "place".
Each powered car has four 190 kW traction motors fed by a hybrid SiC inverter, giving the train an acceleration of 2.6 m/s2. The service deceleration is 3.7 m/s2 and the emergency braking 4.2 m/s2. The maximum speed of the Hankyu Class 2300 is 130 km/h. The train is supplied from a 1,500 V DC overhead line. The train livery is the typical Hankyu maroon (chestnut colour).
Hankyu Corporation operates a 143 km network connecting three major cities: Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. All lines are 1,435 mm gauge and operate at 1,500 V DC, and the network is connected to the Kyoto and Osaka metro lines. Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc. also owns Hanshin Railway between Osaka and Kobe, following a merger in October 2006.
The history of the railway is as follows: The Minoh-Arima Electric Tramway, established in 1907, opened the present Takarazuka Main Line and the Minoh Line between Umeda Station (now Osaka Umeda Station) and Takarazuka Station, and between Ishibashi Station (now Ishibashi-Handaimae Station) and Minoh-Koen Station (now Minoh Station) on 10 March 1910.
In 1943, under the Land Transportation Business Adjustment Act, it merged with the Keihan Electric Railway to become the Keihanshin Express Railway. It was divided into Keihan and Hankyu. The central hub of Hankyu's network is Osaka Umeda Station, which is in front of JR's Osaka Station.