In September, Odakyu Electric Railway announced that it has begun designing a new Romancecar train. “Romancecar” is the name given to Odakyu’s luxury limited express trains, which run a variety of services, but are best known for connecting Tokyo with resort areas such as Hakone, Enoshima and Kamakura.
The original Romancecar, the SE #3000 series
The Romancecar was first introduced in 1957 as a rapid tourist train, with the SE #3000 series. Its name is said to come from the original train’s “romance seats” — two person seats that have no armrests between them. Since then there has been a long series of Romancecar trains that have carried generations of passengers to holiday destinations outside Tokyo. The Romancecar trains are popular and in 2021, Odakyu opened its own Romancecar Museum in Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
The Romancecar Gallery at Odakyu’s Romancecar Museum
Currently, four different trains run under the name of Romancecar. The newest Romancecar train, the #70000 series GSE (Graceful Super Express), was introduced in 2018. This train is notable for its special observation seats at the front and rear of the train.
The #70000 series GSE
In April 2027 Odakyu will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Odawara Line that runs between Shinjuku in Tokyo and Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture. As it looks towards the company’s next 100 years, Odakyu has decided to introduce a new Romancecar, and it began working on fresh designs in September.
The new Romancecar is scheduled to start operations March 2029, but no doubt Odakyu will be releasing some design plans before then.
Article by Michael Lambe. Photos courtesy of Odakyu Electric Railway. All rights reserved.
