Seibu 101 and 301 series
Izuhakone Railway 1300 series

Data (as of 12 Jan 2024)

*Including 44 carriages transferred to small private railways.

History

This article is about Seibu 101 and 301 series. Do not be confused with JNR 101 series (1957-2003) and JNR 301 series (1966-2003).

There were two groups of the 101 series, those introduced in 1969-76 and 1979-84. As the former group retired in 2010, this article is only about the latter one (which is also known as N101 series).

The 101 series is a commuter train type with three sets of doors per carriage. They were mainly used on Ikebukuro Line, but a few of them were also operated on Seibu Shinjuku Line and other branch lines. The 301 series was a part of the 101 series, and formed of eight coaches. They could be formed of up to ten coaches.

In 2010, some units were converted to be compatible with driver-only operation on branch lines, and painted white. They were repainted into various liveries since the late-2010s. Many of them are traditional ones, but several units are painted like those transferred to Seibu's subsidiaries.

The series has been declining since the late-2000s as 30000 series was introduced. Several four-carriage units have been used only on branch lines since 2012, and the replacement resumed in 2020.

44 carriages were transferred to Chichibu Railway, Izuhakone Railway, Joshin Electric Railway, Ohmi Railway, Ryutetsu and Sangi Railway.

Current Operations & Future Prospects

Eight four-carriage units are used on Sayama and Seibu Tamagawa Lines. One of them was converted to an alternative for electric locomotive, but engages in passenger service when there is no ad hoc work. Seibu plans to replace all of them with newer trains (but not brand-new trains) within a few years.

Those owned by small private railways are used mostly on stopping services on their mainlines, but Chichibu Railway uses them on Express Chichibuji (Kumagaya - Mitsumineguchi).

Photos

The 301 series on Seibu Shinjuku Line. Seibu has painted the 101 and 301 series in a simpler way since 1996.

Many 101 series units were painted white when Seibu started driver-only operation on branch lines.

So-called "Seibu Red Train Livery", in a way old trains were painted in the 1960s.

Blue bands were added to a unit, which looks like Izuhakone Railway 1300 series.

Izuhakone Railway 1300 series looks like almost the same as when it was on Seibu's tracks.

Seibu repainted another unit sky blue, like Ohmi Railway 100 series.

The alternative unit for electric locomotive, whose power output is higher than others.