The was a bilevel suburban

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

(EMU) train type operated by

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...

(JR East) in the

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

of Japan from 1992 to 2021.

Design

The trains were built jointly by

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

and

Nippon Sharyo , formed in 1896, is a major rolling stock, Heavy equipment, heavy equipment, Diesel generator, generator, Special-purpose entity, special purpose vehicle and bridge manufacturer based in Nagoya, Japan. In 1996, it abbreviated its ...

. The trains were developed to accommodate the increasing number of long-distance commuters along the

Tōkaidō Main Line The Tōkaidō Main Line () is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo Station, Tokyo and Kōbe St ...

and to provide seated services and express services using the parallel freight lines. The bilevel designs are based on the Green car of the

211 series The is a suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in 1985 by the Japanese National Railways (JNR). The trains are still being used by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). They were formerly used by the West Japan Railwa ...

and the prototype Kuha 415-1901 of the

415 series The is a dual-voltage AC/DC outer-suburban electric multiple unit (EMU) train type introduced in 1971 by Japanese National Railways (JNR), and later operated in Japan by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu), ...

. Excluding the leading cars, all cars are bilevel with ordinary-seating cars fitting at most 120 passengers. A set can carry up to 1010 passengers. As the train was intended to be operated only on the warmer Tōkaidō Main Line, it was not designed to withstand the cold or snow. As such, the train operated on the

Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...

only between spring and autumn.

Formation

All sets consisted of 10 cars with only the first two cars at each end powered. Cars 4 and 5 were "Green" (first class) cars.

Interior

File:215 series Green Car seat 20060618.jpg, Lower level Green car seating File:Seat of JR 215.JPG, Lower level ordinary class seating File:Priority Seat of JR 215.JPG, Priority seat in lower level ordinary class saloon

History

The first trainset was delivered in March 1992, and entered service from 4 April 1992 on

daytime ''Acty'' rapid services and evening '' Shōnan Liner'' services. Three more sets were delivered in October 1993. The 215 series suffered from multiple issues related to the bilevel design while operating as the ''Acty''. The bilevel design meant each car only had two doors on each side of the vehicle, and the 10 car formation was considered short on the Tokaido Main Line which mainly operated with 15-car trains. Due to these problems, it took a considerate amount of time for passengers to get on and off at each stop, and delays became noticeable. From December 2001, the 215 series fleet was removed from Tōkaidō Line ''Acty'' services, and reassigned to new Shōnan-Shinjuku Line services between and . Their use on Shōnan-Shinjuku Line services continued until 16 October 2004, from which date all Shōnan-Shinjuku Line services were standardized with

E231 series The is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type used for commuter and outer-suburban services operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan since 2000. Design Trains were manufactured by Tokyu Car Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy In ...

rolling stock. From October 2004 onward, scheduled services using 215 series stock were limited to a small number of weekday ''

Home Liner is the generic name given to limited-stop commuter train services operated by railway companies in Japan, which require the purchase of a supplementary or in addition to the base fare ticket. The supplementary ticket guarantees passengers a seat ...

'' services, with only occasional holiday weekend workings, such as the ''Holiday Rapid View Yamanashi'' on the

. The 215 series was ridiculed amongst Japanese railroad fans as the "

NEET A NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", is a person who is Unemployment, unemployed and not receiving an education or Vocational education, vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in ...

Liner" as, besides the occasional limited services, the train was often moved between Shinagawa and Kōzu as an out-of-service train. With the abolition of the ''Shōnan Liner'' service with the 2021 timetable revision, the 215 series sets were withdrawn from service on 12 March 2021, a day before the timetable revision. No special events were held to mark their withdrawal. No 215 series cars have been preserved, with two sets being scrapped at Nagano General Rolling Stock Center and the other two sets scrapped at the Aomori branch of the Morioka Rolling Stock Center.

References

External links

215 series on JR East website
{{JR East EMU Electric multiple units of Japan East Japan Railway Company Train-related introductions in 1992 Double-decker EMUs Hitachi multiple units Nippon Sharyo multiple units 1500 V DC multiple units of Japan