The Aru Ressha (或る列車) is a replica of a J. G. Brill Company two-car deluxe coach operated as an excursion train by Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) in Japan since August 2015.
Overview
Details of the planned excursion train, provisionally called the "Sweets Train", were first announced in January 2014. The train entered service on 8 August 2015.
The name "Sweets Train" derives from the sweets served on board. They are designed and created in a Japanese-French style by Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa, who owns an eponymous restaurant (NARISAWA) in Tokyo.
Design
The train is formed of two modified former KiHa 47 diesel cars, renumbered KiRoShi 47 9176 (car 1) and KiRoShi 47 3505 (car 2), and is intended to replicate the design and ambience of the luxury Brill coaches purchased by the Kyushu Railway in 1908. The purchase occurred just before the company was nationalized under the Railway Nationalization Act) and the cars were never put into service.
The rebuilding project was overseen by industrial designer Eiji Mitooka, using scale models of the original coaches built by the railway modeller Nobutaro Hara.
Operations
Between April and September, the train runs a daily round trip between Ōita and Hita, and is intended for the revival of tourism and the local economy.
The train runs a daily round trip from Sasebo to Nagasaki between July of one year to March of the following year, mostly on weekends.
Individual car details
Car 1 (KiRoShi 47 9176)
This car was formerly numbered KiHa 47 176, and was previously operated by JR Shikoku until it was withdrawn from service on 30 April 2011. Rebuilding work was carried out at JR Kyushu's Kokura General Rolling Stock Centre, and included removal of the original toilet.
Car 2 (KiRoShi 47 3505)
This car was formerly numbered KiHa 47 1505, and was previously operated by JR Shikoku until it was withdrawn from service on 30 April 2011. Rebuilding work was carried out at JR Kyushu's Kokura General Rolling Stock Centre, and included addition of a new toilet.
See also
- List of named passenger trains of Japan
- Joyful Train, the generic name for excursion and charter trains in Japan
References
- ＪＲ九州:「スイーツ列車」久大線と大村線に [JR Kyushu to run "Sweets Train" on Kyudai and Omura Lines]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Japan: The Mainichi Newspapers. 28 January 2014. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ 「或る列車」としてデビュー！ キロシ47形 [KiRoShi 47 series debuts as "Aru Ressha"]. Japan Railfan Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 55, no. 654. Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. October 2015. pp. 66–68.
- ^ "Luxury 'dream train' designed over 100 years ago goes into service in Kyushu". The Japan Times. Japan: The Japan Times Ltd. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ "Luxury train begins second phase of service in Nagasaki". The Japan Times Online. Kyodo News Agency. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- "Aru Ressha Sweets". Aru Ressha Overview. JR Kyushu.
- "Aru Ressha Concept". Aru Ressha Official Website. JR Kyushu.
- "Aru Ressha 運行情報" [Aru Ressha Operation Information] (in Japanese). Retrieved 15 March 2017.
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