Tobu 8000 series

Data (as of 1 Sep 2026)

History

The 8000 series is one of the most famous train in Japan for the number of carriages introduced, as 712 is the biggest number among all trains in history of private railways. It was initially introduced to deal with skyrocketing demand in Tokyo in the 1960s. Each unit consists of two, four or six coaches, and there were also eight and ten-carriage units in the past. It is also worth noting that Tobu retained all of them until 2004, meaning that the company did not withdraw any of them for more than 40 years. However, many of them were scrapped as the time went by, and nearly 600 carriages have already been disposed of so far.

The 8000 series was designed as an ordinary commuter train, with four sets of doors per carriage and longitudinal seating. The original livery was dark beige and orange, but repainted pale beige to reduce costs of painting in 1974, and repainted again to white with blue bands in 1985. Tobu refurbished almost all units in 1986-2007, and the front end of units which were refurbished after 1987 became almost identical to that of 6050 series.

The 8000 series has been used on the entire Tobu network except the Tobu Kawagoe Line, which was permanently closed in 1983. Some of them were used even for long-distance journeys between Asakusa and Aizukogen-ozeguchi (which took more than three hours) in the 1980s despite seating was longitudinal and there was no toilet. Some units were converted to be three-car units (commonly known as 800 series) compatible with driver-only operation when reallocated to branch lines. However, the series were withdrawn from the Isesaki Line (Asakusa area) by 2010 and the Tojo Line (Ikebukuro area) by 2015, respectively.

Current Operations & Future Prospects

The 8000 series runs the Isesaki Line between Tatebayashi and Isesaki (Gunma Prefecture), the Tojo Line between Ogawamachi and Yorii (Saitama Prefecture), branch lines such as the Kiryu, Koizumi and Ogose Lines. Though declining, it is worth noting that some services on the Noda Line are still provided by the 8000 series. A six-car unit with the original front end has been preserved by Tobu Railway Museum and had been used for rail tours, but it has been temporarily allocated to the Noda Line services since 2023.

Those on the Noda Line will be confined to services between Omiya and Kashiwa in March 2027, and will completely be replaced by 80000 series in the following year. 800 series (three-car units) for branch lines are also soon to be withdrawn.

Photos

Considerable number of 8000 series still serve the Noda Line.

The original style on the Tojo Line (retired in 2011).

The original livery.

The ivory livery, seen in the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, and in 2014-25.