Looks Like Hankyu and Hanshin Are Running Trains with the Same Design

It looks like Hankyu Railway and Hanshin Railway have been running trains with the same design since May 27.

Here it is↓

The first time since the 2006 merger

It seems this is the first time trains with the same design have been operated since Hankyu Hanshin merged in 2006.

For the service area, one train is running on the Hankyu Kobe Line, and one train is also running on Hanshin Railway.

The Hankyu train will also run to Takarazuka via the Imazu Line.

The service period is scheduled for Monday, May 27, 2019 through the end of May 2020.

About the trains

The trains are called the “SDGs Train Mirai no Yume Machi-go.”

Apparently, they are very energy-efficient trains.

Hankyu Railway

For Hankyu Railway, the Kobe Line and Takarazuka Line use 1000 series trains, while the Kyoto Line uses a 1300 series train, with one set on each line. All are 8-car trains.

It seems all lighting fixtures have been changed to LED lighting, reducing power consumption by about 50% compared with the older 5000 and 6000 series, and by about 20% compared with the 9000 series.

Changing incandescent light bulbs at home to LEDs makes a difference in electricity bills too, after all.

Hanshin Railway

This appears to be a 6-car 1000 series train.

Here too, all lighting equipment has been converted to LEDs, and the body is made of stainless steel to reduce weight.

Nishinomiya Depot appeared on the news

Yesterday (5/27), Nishinomiya Depot was shown in a news segment about this on MBS’s program Mint.

During the train wrapping work, the shapes and positions of the headlights differ between Hanshin and Hankyu trains, so the character placement is apparently slightly different.

In the program, they said that what matters in this kind of design is planning the illustration colors and composition so they do not get lost against the color of the train body in the background.

The colors of Hankyu and Hanshin trains are completely different, so creating a design that looks good on both really feels like a superhuman feat.

Service areas

Here are the service areas in a little more detail.

＜Hankyu Railway＞
Operating on the Kobe Main Line (Umeda–Kobe-sannomiya and Takarazuka via the Imazu Line), Kobe Kosoku Line (Kobe-sannomiya–Shinkaichi), Takarazuka Main Line (Umeda–Takarazuka), Minoo Line (Ishibashi–Minoo), Nose Electric Railway Line (Kawanishi-noseguchi–Nissei-chuo), Kyoto Main Line (Kawaramachi–Umeda), Senri Line (Kita-senri–Tenjimbashisuji 6-chome), and Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line (Tenjimbashisuji 6-chome–Tengachaya)

＜Hanshin Railway＞
Operating mainly on the Main Line, Hanshin Namba Line, and Kobe Kosoku Line, as well as on through-service routes including the Sanyo Electric Railway Line (Nishidai–Sanyo-himeji) and Kintetsu Line (Osaka-namba–Kintetsu-nara)

※Quoted from PR TIMES (2019/5/28)

Finally

Since there is only one train, it’s rare if you happen to come across it. I wonder how many lucky people will get to see both the Hankyu and Hanshin versions.