Keisei Electric Railway held a ceremony at a hotel in Tokyo on July 17th to commemorate the third generation ‘Skyliner’ reaching 50 million passengers. Kentaro Nakajima, who plays the image character ‘Keisei Prince’ in commercials, appeared and remotely signaled the departure of a commemorative train from Narita Airport Station.
The third-generation Skyliner, which coincided with the opening of the Narita Sky Access Line, debuted on July 17, 2010. It is the fastest conventional train in Japan, traveling at a maximum speed of 160 km/h, connecting downtown Tokyo and Narita Airport in as little as 36 minutes. The service surpassed 50 million users on June 9 this year, approximately 14 years after commencement.
Nakajima appeared in a dark blue suit and blue striped tie that he said were inspired by the Skyliner’s color scheme. Regarding the milestone, he expressed joy that the Skyliner, which he is involved with, has been used by so many people, and commented, “I hope you continue to gently, coolly, and gently escort all customers. I hope you will continue to escort princesses all over Japan.”
Nakajima, a regular Skyliner user both for work and private reasons, shared a selfie he took with the train on the platform. He introduced the man next to him as “my daddy,” and revealed a “Keisei love” story of riding together in matching Keisei blue clothes.
During the ceremony, a live connection was established with Narita Airport Station, where ‘Skyliner No.16’, the commemorative train, was awaiting departure. As the train appeared on screen, Nakajima looked on admiringly, calling it “the most beautiful train in the world.” He then watched the train depart, following his cue of “50 million commemorative liner, depart!” and remarked on its cool departured.
▲ Kentaro Nakajima (left) and Toshiya Kobayashi, President of Keisei Electric Railway, unveiling a logo to commemorate reaching 50 million passengers
Lastly, Nakajima expressed his desire to “accelerate further into the future alongside the phrase ‘depart!'”, and mentioned the hopeful future of the Skyliner in connecting Japan and the world more closely, especially as travel increases post-pandemic.
The ceremony also featured Yūsuke Nandaba, a talent manager at Horipro known as a railway enthusiast. Nandaba reminisced about his childhood admiration for the original AE model and passionately discussed the Skyliner’s allure, including a unique signal only seen at Narita Yūkawa Station,
The third-generation Skyliner’s milestones include passing 10 million passengers in December 2013, 20 million in September 2016, 30 million in October 2018, and despite facing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, reached 40 million in October 2022, before finally achieving 50 million passengers approximately 1 year and 7 months later.
Toshiya Kobayashi, President of Keisei Electric Railway, acknowledged the impact of COVID-19, but also the increased foreign travelers and the influence of Nakajima, which led to the earlier than expected achievement of 50 million passengers. He expressed the company’s commitment to further improve convenience in terms of frequency and travel time.
Furthermore, Keisei Electric Railway has been operating the ‘KENTY SKYLINER’ (AE5 formation), modeled after the ‘Keisei Prince’ character played by Nakajima, since July 17, 2021. The train features special announcements by Nakajima, but it will be temporarily suspended from operation on July 23 due to vehicle maintenance.
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This article was generated using automatic translation by GPT-4 API. The translation may not be accurate.
