JR West held a public test ride event on March 23rd for the new 273 series ‘Yakumo’ express train, which will start operation between Ayama and Izumo City stations and between Okayama and Niimi stations from April 6th.
The 273 series, introduced about 42 years after the current 381 series that debuted in 1982, is the new version of the ‘Yakumo’ express train. It is basically a 4-car train set, equipped with green cars, standard cars, and semi-compartment seats for 2 to 4 passengers in four sections.
▲273 series green car
Around 600 people, selected by lottery from members of JR West Group’s common service ‘WESTER’ and others, were invited to the test ride event. According to the company, the oversubscription rate was about 56 times. Time was also set aside for experiencing the green cars and compartment seats, and the semi-compartment seats, which can be pulled out to form flat seats, were extremely popular among families.
Initially, six 4-car train sets of the 273 series will be introduced at the start of operations on April 6th, eventually reaching a total of eleven 4-car train sets. With the introduction of the 273 series, among the current 381 series, the Panorama formation including the Super Yakumo colored formation will end its operation on April 5th, and the JNR color formation and green Yakumo color formation will end on June 14th. Some sets in a relaxed Yakumo color scheme are expected to remain in service beyond June 15th as wave motion units.
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This article was generated using automatic translation by GPT-4 API. The translation may not be accurate.
