New Kintetsu Class 8A EMUs

On the night of 31 May 2024, the first Class 8A EMUs produced by Kinki Sharyo were transferred to Kintetsu's Takayasu depot. Kintetsu (Kinki-nippon Tetsudō) is a private railway company with a large 501 km network in the Kansai region, fed by 1,500 V DC, mostly on 1,435 mm gauge lines but also with some 1,067 mm gauge lines, serving Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Mie and Aichi prefectures with connections to other networks such as Hanshin Electric Railway, Osaka and Kyoto Metro. On the Osaka metro lines, the trains are fed by 750 V DC third rail.

The Class 8A EMUs will replace ageing stock dating from the 1960s. Their technical specifications have not been released, except that they will reduce electrical energy consumption by 45 %. Transverse seating, which can be turned in the direction of travel, will be used. There are multi-purpose areas called "Yasashiba" (a combination of the words for "kind" and "place"). CCTV is installed.

The EMUs will be commissioned at the Takayasu depot. It is planned to put this new type into commercial service in October 2024. The delivery schedule and the lines on which the trains will be used are as follows:

• 2024 - twelve four-car EMUs for the Nara, Kyoto, Kashiwabara and Tenri lines (48 cars in total),
• 2025 - nine four-car EMUs for the Nara, Kyoto, Kashiwabara and Tenri lines + two EMUs for the Osaka line, two for the Nagoya line and three for the Minami-Osaka line (68 cars in total).

This is Kintetsu's first new train purchase since 2000, when the Class 21 was put into service.