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Tobu 200 Series / 東武200系

The 200 Series (200系) is a limited express type EMU operated by Tobu Railway since 1991.

As the population of the Greater Tokyo Area continued to soar in the 1980s, many formerly rural areas on the periphery saw rapid urbanization. As a result, there was increasing demand for express commuter services. The 200 series was developed for the express train Ryomo, which had been operated by the 1800 series. Tobu Railway also planned to upgrade the service category from express to limited express, which necessitated improvements in speed and customer service facilities in exchange for higher fares. The 200 series reused equipment such as bogies and motors from the 1720 series “Deluxe Romance Car”, which had a design maximum speed of 165km/h. Although the main body and interior were completely new, it was categorized as a structural renewal and renumbering of the 1720 series. To maintain the same capacity as the 1800 series while increasing the seat pitch, the third car on the Isesaki side became the first passenger car in Japan to have no exterior doors. There are a total of 9 sets of 6 cars in the 200 series, totaling 56 cars. In addition, Tobu also produced a single set of brand-new vehicles labelled the 250 series, it has an identical exterior, but the running equipment is drastically different. The fleet was operated exclusively on Ryomo, which connects various satellite cities in Saitama and Gunma Prefecture to Tokyo. Due to the advanced age of the running equipment, Tobu began introducing the 500 series as its successor in 2017, and the first 200 series set was scrapped in 2020. As of current, 6 sets remain in service, with the single 250 series set withdrawn despite its newer equipment. The type is likely to be fully retired before the end of the decade.

Basic Information:

Max Speed: 145km/h (provisional*)
Acceleration: 0.62m/s/s
Motor Output: 75kW x 4 per car
In Service: 1991-

The following formations are included:

200 Series (6 Car)

Configuration: 6M
Max Pax: 393
-can be coupled up to 3 sets

*While the 1720 series could have in theory reached 165km/h, it was never permitted to go above 145km/h even in testing. The 200 series reuses the same running equipment and thus is capable of the same performance, although the maximum operating speed of the type is just 110km/h.