2025.03.07 Hanshin Electric Railway Hanshin Main Line Koshien/Nishinomiya
Announcement of the return of the Akado livery and Tigers wrapping
Following the previous day, I went for night photography after work.
A few days before this, the official announcement was made that the 8000 series would be returned to its former "Akado" livery.
Since it's not just a revival but a return for the entire fleet, I felt that "the 8000 series retirement is finally in sight," but my goal for the day was to photograph the 8211-8212 Tigers 90th Anniversary wrapping that started running on the 5th.
Unlike the Semboku line from the day before, Hanshin trains go all the way to Himeji and back when they enter the direct limited express service, so they don't return very often.
I checked the operation schedule while at work, confirmed a time when I could catch it, and headed to Koshien.
Thanks to the inspection that took place at the same time as the wrapping, the undercarriage is also clean.
At Hanshin, it is standard to turn off the headlights when stopped, and many drivers wait until they start moving to turn them back on, but today's driver was helpful and turned them on before applying the notch.
For the Umeda-bound platform at Koshien Station, track 1 is standard, but since trains waiting for passing enter track 2, the number of trains is small, but they stay for a long time when they do stop.
So, after waiting for a while, it looked like the 8523-8202 would come, but the schedule at Koshien would cause it to be blocked by another train, so I moved to Nishinomiya.
It wasn't blocked, but an express train starting from Nishinomiya pulled in before it departed, so the shooting time was a bit short.
With the blue-bodied 5000 series retired, the 8502 is the only remaining "Hanshin face," and since I couldn't photograph it in the Akado livery, I'm happy about its return.
By the way, a few days after this shoot, the announcement for the new 3000 series and the introduction of paid seating was made.
It seems the 8000 series will indeed be retired as it is replaced by the new models.
Especially since the 8502 is the oldest, I want to photograph it as soon as possible once it becomes Akado.
See you next time.