JAPAN: Kyoto Municipal Subway has confirmed that the first of its Series 20 trainsets will enter service on the Karasuma Line from March 26, following the completion of testing and commissioning.
The metro operator is buying nine six-car Series 20 trainsets from Kinki Sharyo under a ¥5·27bn contract awarded in July 2019. The trains are intended to be deployed on the 13·7 km north-south Karasuma Line between Kokusaikaikan and Takeda, which opened in 1982, and the 17·5 km Tozai Line completed in 1997, which links Rokujizo to Uzamasa Tenjingawa. Both routes are 1 435 mm gauge and electrified at 1·5 kV DC.
Test running with the first unit began in July 2021. Three sets are expected to enter service this year, and two more per year in 2023-25. They will replace the oldest of the metro’s Series 10 EMUs supplied by Hitachi and Kinki Sharyo between 1982 and 1997.
According to the operator, the new trains incorporate ‘materials and techniques’ developed by long-established Kyoto industrial manufacturers, both externally and internally. A modern traction control package and the use of LED lighting is expected to reduce energy consumption by about 30% compared with the older stock they will replace. The Series 20 sets have also been designed to support automatic train operation.
