Japan

Nice to see a driver's point of view, even if it is from Densha de Go. Confirms that since the ROW is elevated and only occasionally connected to the rest of the network, that part should be relatively easy to create, especially since TransDEM has already placed the track in the correct locations. just have to elevate it and add the surrounding scenery. That's where some creative work will have to be used.
 
After a slight delay, due both to personal committments as well as due to it's sheer size (60 individual cars, about the same number of consists as well, each needing some form of troubleshooting), the New Year's Pack is finally here!

This year the "object" of the pack is particularily apt, being that this is the 5th release of this kind, and this year is also the 60th anniversary of the opening of it's line - here's the Tozai Line 05 Series!

2024-New-Year-s-Pack-TRTA-Tokyo-Metro-05-05-N-Serieses.png

A selection of consists from the pack - from left to right: TRTA's 1st batch trains with a GTO Chopper, 4th batch set 14 with wide doors and a GTO-VVVF inverter, the 05N Series in it's brief stint with TRTA logos, 6th batch (Toshiba-made IGBT-VVVF inverters) with Tokyo Metro decals, both standard-size doors (6th & 7th batch) and wide-door sets (4th & 5th batches sets 14 to 18) in their post-refurbishment guise, two 05N Series sets (pre- and post- refurbishment), and the 3-car sets for the Chiyoda Branch Line.
https://www.socimi.it/trta-tokyo-metro-05-series/
Already available on my website!


The 05 Series was introduced by TRTA in the late 1980s to supplement, and ultimately replace the ageing 5000 Series, with the double aim of both increasing capacity as well as providing the line with a fully air-conditioned fleet.
Indeed, up until the late 1980s, TRTA had been operating the Tozai Line with the same 5000 Series trains dating back to the line's opening in December 1964, around 25 years earlier. Depsite being sturdily built, the 5000 Series fleet was rapidly aging and deteriorating, due to their intensive usage, on what was then (and still is now) Tokyo's busiest subway line.
5000 Series trains were originally intended to be operated in 7-car sets during the day, and in 10-car sets during rush hour, by adding an "independent" 3-car set to each train. While this had been an acceptable solution for the past decades, by the late 1980s this was no longer: due to the increasing population living along the line, especially in it's eastern section, between Nihonbashi and Nishi-Funabashi, demand on the line warranted a uniform 10-car fleet at all times, and even then, that was even slightly insufficient during rush hours.

Thus, work started on a replacement for the 5000 Series - as with other "replacements" at the time, the Tozai Line's new trains were to be part of TRTA's broad "0X Family" of trains, spearheaded by the 01 Series entered in service on the Ginza Line in 1983, and also included the upcoming replacements for older rolling stock for both the Maronouchi Line (wich would eventually become the 02 Series) and the Hibiya Line (the 03 Series).
This latter one, the 03 Series, provided the base and most of the design elements to the new trains, accordingly classified as the "05 Series", as it was the closest match to the Tozai Line's requirements (both lines' sharing a similar loading gauge, 1500v DC overhead electrification and 1067mm gauge tracks).
There was only one key difference - the 05 Series was to use standard 20m-long bodyshells with four doors per side, rather than the 03 Series' 18m-long bodyshell with three doors.

Given that at the time the Tozai Line was the only one to offer rapid services (skipping all stops between Nishi-Funabashi and Minami-Sunamachi, except for Urayasu Station) on the whole of Tokyo's subway network (Express services would be introduced on the parallel Toei Shinjuku Line in 1997, and on the Fukutoshin Line upon it's opening in 2008), the 05 Series was given a slightly aereodynamic front, while retaining the same pleasantly rounded edges and front windshield of other 0X Series trains.
Equipment-wise, among other things, the new 05 Series were to be fitted with TRTA's distinctive high-frequency four-quadrant GTO Choppers, along with a modern computerized self-diagnostic system, a powerful air-conditioning unit for the comfort of the passengers (wich the 5000 Series was lacking). The only "main" equipment shared with the 5000 Series was the on-board equipment for the WS-ATC signalling system used on the Tozai Line since it's opening.

Originally, the 05 Series was supposed to be introduced first, but due to the even more deteriorated and aged state of the 3000 Series trains in service on the Hibiya Line, priority was given to the 03 Series instead, wich entered service on the 1st of July 1988.
The 05 Series would enter service after just a few months of delay, with the first three sets built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (sets 1 and 2) and Nippon Sharyo (set 3 only), beginning their career on the Tozai Line on the 16th of November 1988.

The reason behind this initial very small order, depsite the seemingly gargantuan task, is actually pretty straightforward: these first sets were used to replace the three 8000 Series surplus from Hanzomon Line requirements, wich had been transferred on a temporary basis to the Tozai Line in 1987 in order to supplement the 5000 Series after the whole fleet was reformed into seamless 10-car sets, and were now urgently needed back on their "home line", as the opening of it's extension to Mitsukoshimae loomed.

After the stop-gap 8000 Series sets were returned to the Hanzomon Line in early 1989, the replacement of the 5000 Series finally began with the delivery of the three 2nd-batch sets, formations 04 to 06, identical to the 1st-batch, except for having been built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries only.
Three more sets (07 to 09) were introduced in 1990 as the 3rd batch, also manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, but this time fitted with the ATS-P and ATS-B systems for trough-services on JR East's (newly-inherited) network.

The following year, in 1991, four more sets (10 to 14) were added to the fleet as the 4th-batch. The first three sets were identical to the previous batches - set No.14 was instead "special", as it was used as a sort of prototype to test two new implements that would be equipping all following batches of the 05 Series, firstly a Mitsubishi Electric GTO-VVVF inverter (identical to the ones fitted on several of the new 9000 Series sets for the Namboku Line), and most notably a new bodyshell design with four (three on cab cars) "wide" 1800mm doors per side, instead of the standard 1500mm-wide ones, intended to relieve congestion on the line by speeding up boarding and alighting at stations.

Depsite the relatively minimal timesavings (especially compared to JR Easts' infamous 6-door cars), TRTA proceeded for an order of three more "wide door" sets, these the 5th-batch sets 15 to 18, essentially identical to set 14 save for a few fetaures, namely a return to the GTO Chopper control system (rather than set 14's GTO-VVVF inverter control), the fitting of wheelchair spaces in the second and second-to-last cars, and the fitting of JR East's ATS-P system only (besides the Tozai Line's WS-ATC), as the older ATS-B system was in the process of being replaced by it.

A new batch of 05 Series sets, the 6th one, was delivered in 1993, comprising sets 19 to 21. This batch, manufactured entirely by Nippon Sharyo, saw the return to the "standard" 1500mm door width, but also saw the ditching of the distinctive GTO Chopper control in favour of an extremely modern IGBT-VVVF inverter control manufactured by Toshiba, something that would become commonplace in Japan (and elsewhere) only a decade later, making this batch of the 05 Series the first trains in Japan (and easily in the world) to adopt IGBT-VVVF inverters.
Three more identical sets, formations 22 to 24, were delivered in 1994 as the 7th batch, manufactured by Kinki Sharyo. Of this batch, set 24 is notable for having interior fittings (handrails, baggage racks, seat supports and many others) made out of recycled alluminum coming from 5000 Series car No. 5453, scrapped in August 1993, and was accordingly fitted with distinctive stickers on the front and sides.

With the introduction of set No.24 in 1994, the last non-air conditioned 5000 Series sets were replaced, and for the first time, the 5000 Series was outnumbered by the 05 Series by a one-set margin (23 sets, 230 cars for the 5000 Series and 24 sets, 240 cars for the 05 Series). However, it soon became clear that a complete replacement of the 5000 Series was to be necessarily a long-term affair, due to the sheer size of the fleet and the finite financial resources on TRTA's side. It was thus decided to temporarily halt procurement of the 05 Series in favour of life-extension works and small-scale refurbishments for the remaining 5000 Series sets, especially those in the best overall condition, in order to have them in service for ten or fifteen years more, until their replacement could be finally concluded.

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Deliveries re-started in 1999, but since the 05 Series' original design was now nearly ten years old, TRTA decided to considerably update it for the soon to be-delivered new batches.
Most notably, the front was completely changed, with the new design being drawn up with the aim to give "a sense of speed", with a new vertically-curved front, a front windshield shaped more or less like an octagon, and diagonal headlights inserted in a molded plastic casing. The color scheme was also slightly changed: on the new batches, the "upper" section (above the white line) of the side coloured band was to be painted a much darker shade of blue, closer to Navy Blue, rather than the minimally darker skyblue of the older 05 Series batches.
Known as the "05N Series", the first batch of the newer trains (the 8th for the 05 Series overall) was completed in November 1999, and comprised sets 25 to 27, fitted with a Mitsubishi Electric IGBT-VVVF inverter. These entered service on the 3rd of February 2000, with a slight delay of a couple months, necessary to complete drivers' training on the new trains.
These were followed by three more sets, 28 to 30, as the 9th batch, identical to the 8th, and essentially only notable due to the re-use of on-board WS-ATC equipment from scrapped 5000 Series sets.
Three more sets, 31 to 33, were delivered in 2001 as the 10th batch, and this time fetaured Hitachi-made IGBT-VVVF inverters, rather than Mitsubishi Electric's ones.

Another three more sets, 34 to 36 were delivered in 2002 as the 11th batch, fetauring some desing and manufacturing improvements derived from the new 08 Series, being built at the same time for the Hanzomon Line's extension from Suitengu-mae to Oshiage. Among other things, these sets fetaured improved bogeys based on data collected from the investigation of the March 2000 derailment and deadly crash of a Hibiya Line 03 Series set at Nakameguro station.
Three more sets built to the same specifications, 37 to 39 (as the 12th batch) were delivered in December 2003, and bear the distinction of being the last trains delivered to TRTA before it's restructuration into the current Tokyo Metro on the 1st of April 2004.
Coinciding with this restructuration, all 05 Series trains (as evry other now ex-TRTA train) lost it's "Arrow S" logo in favour of Tokyo Metro's new "Heart M" logo, applied both on the sides (between the cab door and the first passenger doors and near the side destination indicator) as well as upfront, with a sticker placed on the top-left corner of the front windshield.

The restructuration didn't however stop the deliveries of the 05N Series, with four sets, 40 to 43, being delivered starting from November 2004 as the 13th and final 05 Series batch.
These final four sets are notable as they were designed jointly with Toyo Rapid Railway, wich was looking to replace it's 1000 Series trains, introduced in 1996 for the opening of the line, but converted from withdrawn Tozai Line 5000 Series sets (replaced by the early 05 Series batches in the first half of the 1990s). The rationale in this case was to set up a joint order in order to save costs. The contract was awarded to Hitachi, wich based both the final 05N Series batch as well as Toyo Rapid Railway's new 2000 Series trains on it's "A-Train" platform.

Thus, by the mid-2000s, after the delivery of the 13th and final batch, the 05 Series fleet was formed by fourty-three 10-car sets, for a grand total of 430 cars (of wich 19 sets being of the 05N Series), a huge number, but not enough to finally fully replace the old 5000 Series. Indeed, further additional batches of the 05N Series were envisioned (a 14th one, and eventually even a 15th one, for a total of four sets, wich would have been numbers 44 to 47), but soon fate intervened: as works on Tokyo Metro's newest line - the Fukutoshin Line - came to a close, an issue arose: the six 07 Series sets in service since 1993 on the Yurakucho Line, wich was to be interlinked with the Fukutoshin Line, posed a problem with their non-standard door spacing, as both the Fukutoshin and Yurakucho Lines were to be fitted (or retrofitted) with platform screen doors. Thus, a new series with standard door spacing had to be introduced to replace the 07 Series due to the afromentioned interlinked nature of the two lines (as they share the same fleet). The solution was natural: the six modern and up-to-date 07 Series sets were to be transferred to the Tozai Line, finally replacing the last surviving 5000 Series sets. Further 05 Series orders were thus obviously curtailed in favour of transferred stock, ending it's admirable 16-year long production run.

Repainted 07 Series trains began to enter service on the Tozai Line in late 2006, and as planned, on the 17th of March 2007, the last 5000 Series train made it's final run on the Tozai Line, ending a 43-year long career.
The following day, the signalling system on the line was switched from the old WS-ATC of 1960s vintage to a relatively modern CS-ATC system, enabling an increase in frequency and thus capacity.
Works to update the signalling system on the line had already begun a few years earlier, with the final obstacle being the retirement of the 5000 Series, as none of the sets were to be retrofitted with the necessary onboard equipment for CS-ATC, as they were nearing the end of their career.

However, depsite the increase in service frequency, and an entirely brand-new fleet, the Tozai Line was still severely overcrowded during rush hours, easily reaching a 200% crush.
Thus, among the various attempts at reducing overcrowding by increasing capacity, Tokyo Metro decided to "dig up" the "1800mm-wide doors" idea after a little less than 20 years - the plan being to introduce a fleet of a dozen or so 10-car trains to be put in service specifically for rush-hour services. As time progressed, the design for the new trains started to take a more well-defined form, with the idea being more or less to make the previously-curtailed 14th, 15th and more batches of the 05N Series, but with the same 1800mm-wide doors configuration of the 05 Series sets 14 to 18. However, as time progressed, it was decided to base the new trains on the brand-new 10000 Series instead, the Fukutoshin and Yurakucho Line trains that had displaced the 07 Series to the Tozai Line. Thus, the new trains gained the distinct "15000 Series" classification, ending the 05 Series lineage for good.
The new trains began services on the Tozai Line on the 7th of May 2010, with Tokyo Metro opting to have them replacing the oldest 05 Series "standard door width" sets, 01 to 13 (from the 1st trough the 4th batches), wich were retired by 2012. However, since these sets were still relatively new (19 years for the newest, 22 years for the oldest), Tokyo Metro, in collaboration with JICA (the Japan International Cooperation Agency) opted to donate six of the surplus sets (02, 04, 05, 07, 10 and 12) to Indonesia, where they were put in service on the KRL Jabotebabek commuter rail network of Jakarta, joining a variety of former japanese trains likewise donated.

Four other formations instead (01, 03, 06 and 13) were instead retained by Tokyo Metro and converted into four three-car sets for services on the Chiyoda Branch Line shuttle between Ayase and Kita-Ayase stations, replacing the 6000-1 prototype set of the 6000 Series and two 5000 Series sets (all in a 3-car formation) - the very last ones still surviving on Tokyo Metro's network - wich had been introduced in 1999 (replacing two other 5000 Series sets) and were similarly former Tozai Line trains that had been replaced by the first batches of the 05N Series back in the day.
Extensively refurbished, with a new green color scheme, new interior fittings, a new cab and, most notably, the fitting of a new traction package with Toshiba IGBT-VVVF inverters controlling PMSM motors, the four 05 Series sets entered services on the Chiyoda Branch Line on the 28th of April 2014, with the 6000-1 and two 5000 Series sets being retired shortly after.

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Finally, two cab cars from set 11 were bought by Kinki Sharyo and sent off to the company's plant in Kobe to act as load-bearing testbeds for the company's "SmartBEST" experimental battery-electric multiple unit - specifically the test consisted in retrofitting the two 05 Series cars with the underfloor battery and traction package to be used on the SmartBEST to check how a standard frame would be strained by such an heavy load.

The remaining 05 Series sets still in service on the Tozai Line, 14 to 24, were instead extensively refurbished starting from the same year with more or less the same equipment as the four Chiyoda Branch Line sets: Toshiba IGBT-VVVF inverters controlling PMSM traction motors, new interiors based on the 15000 Series' ones, LCD passenger information screens, full-colour LED destination signs and a slightly different livery, closer to the 05N Series' one. The first set to undergo these refurbishment works was No. 14, the oldest one, in 2014 and was naturally followed by the 5th batch ones between 2013 and 2017, and by the 6th and 7th batches starting from 2019.

As of today, the ten 05 Series refurbished sets (14 to 24) and all the nineteen 05N Series sets (25 to 43) are still in service on the Tozai Line, alongside the 07 and 150000 Serieses, as are the four 05 Series sets for the Chiyoda Branch Line and seven out of eight (02, 04, 05, 08, 09, 10, 12) sets donated to Indonesia (set 07 having been retired from service after suffering a severe crash against a CC201 diesel locomotive at Cilebut Station). These are also slated for a refurbishment (at the hands of INKA, the most important domestic Indonesian rolling stock manufacturer) in the following years.




Trivia #1:

At the time, the total pricetag for the three 3rd-batch sets was 4'028'696'000 yen, or about 1'342'890'000 yen per set.

Trivia #2:
Thanks to the joint order between Tokyo Metro and Toyo Rapid Railway for the 13th batch 05N Series and 2000 Series trains respectively, Tokyo Metro's cost savings compared to previous 05N Series batches was about 15%.

Trivia #3:
The 13th-batch 05N Series sets were the first trains built by Hitachi for TRTA and it's successor Tokyo Metro in 40 years, the last ones having been two Marunouchi Line 500 Series cars (801 and 802) built in 1964.

Trivia #4:
Four sets seem a bit overkill for such a short shuttle as the Chiyoda Branch Line. Indeed, of the four (at a rotation), one is used on actual Ayase-Kita Ayase services, one sits as a reserve set and one generally undergoes maintainance at Kita-Ayase depot. The remaining one is instead used on a special non-pubblicly accessible line: Tokyo Metro's "General Training Center" within Shin-Kiba depot, where the company built a fully-functional (complete with proper signage, platform screen doors and all necessary equipment), full-sized station and subway tunnel section to train station staff and emergency personnel (Police and the Fire Department generally).
This training line (built out of a scarcely-used siding) is equally fully functional and powered, with trains able to run up and down the line (at obviously reduced speeds). Usually one of the four 05 Series sets is used, but in rare cases, if any of those is unavailable, Tokyo Metro will use the 6000-1 Series prototype it has preserved within Shin-Kiba depot!

 
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...(set 07 having been retired from service after suffering a severe crash against a CC201 diesel locomotive at Cilebut Station)...
Correction : set 07 was retired after having its intermediate motor car (which is car 05-307) derailed and slammed the middle platform of Cilebut station on October 4th, 2012, where it sustained extensive damage on nearly all of its underframe components like air compressors etc (with the cause of accident itself was one of crossover turnouts that went faulty due to neglected maintenance in the past). In contrast, the CC201 itself does not have any direct correlation with this accident; it only appeared on the evacuation process of damaged 05 (with the 05-107F was later having all of components stripped off to supply spare parts for remaining trainsets).
 
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