KiHa 283 series

KiHa 283 series
A KiHa 283 series set in August 2023
Technical specifications
Manufacturer(s)	Fuji Heavy Industries, JR Hokkaido's Naebo Works
Type of locomotive	Diesel multiple unit
Constructed	1995 – 2001
Number built	63 cars
Dimensions	21,300 mm × 2,840 mm × 4,050 mm
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Prime mover	N-DMF11HZA prime mover
Service information
In service	22 March 1997 – Present
Branding	Furico 283
Formation	3, 5 – 9 cars per set
Number in service	33 cars
Fleet numbers	KiHa 283-1 – KiHa 283-21, KiHa 283-901 – KiHa 283-902, KiHa 282-1 – KiHa 282-8, KiHa 282-101 – KiHa 282-111, KiHa 282-2001 – KiHa 282-2009, KiHa 282-3001 – KiHa 282-3004, KiRo 282-1 – KiRo 282-8
Scrapped	2011, 2020 – Present
Preservation information
Preserved	None
Number scrapped	30 cars

The KiHa 283 series, branded the Furico 283, is a tilting Japanese limited express diesel multiple unit operated by the Hokkaido Railway Company since March 1997.

History

Built from 1995 to 2001 by Fuji Heavy Industries (now known as Subaru Corporation) and JR Hokkaido's Naebo Works, the KiHa 283 series was meant to complement the older KiHa 281 series sets introduced three years prior.

Branded the Furico 283, a three-car pre-production set was delivered to JR Hokkaido from Fuji Heavy Industries in 1995 for testing and evaluation. Full-production cars were delivered from 1996 until 2001.

The sets entered service on 22 March 1997 with the introduction of the revised timetable. The tilting abilities of the cars allowed them to maintain high speeds around curves and shave off 40 minutes of travel time off the Ōzora services operated by the older KiHa 183 series sets. 54 cars are operational and are based at either Kushiro or Sapporo Depot.

Scrapping of the cars began in 2020. The trains were removed from regular service on 11 March 2022, the day before the revised timetable; this was due to the Ōzora service having its rolling stock standardized to KiHa 261 series cars. The sets would be reallocated to the Othotsk and Taisetsu services from 18 March 2023, operating in 3-car sets replacing the KiHa 183 series sets.

Design

The cars have a modern streamlined style which would later be adopted by later limited express diesel multiple units ordered by JR Hokkaido, such as the KiHa 261 series. This design was started by the older KiHa 281 series sets.

Specifications

Construction is of stainless steel. Each car is 21.3 meters long, 2.84 meters wide and 4.05 meters tall. The cars all use N-DMF11HZA prime movers which produce 355 hp (265 kW) each. The sets have a bearing-guide tilting mechanism which allows them to tilt up to six degrees around curves.

Incidents

Extent of the damage

Sectioned front end of KiHa 283-9

On 27 May 2011, a six-car KiHa 283 series set on the Super Ōzora 14 service bound for Sapporo, consisting of cars KiHa 283-1, KiHa 282-3001, KiRo 282-7, KiHa 282-1, KiHa 282-101 and KiHa 283-9, derailed and made an emergency stop at around 9:55pm JST inside the 685 meter-long (0.42 mi) No.1 Niniu Tunnel on the Sekishō Line. The entire six-car set was lit ablaze shortly after, with all six cars ending up being gutted by the fire. The cause of the incident was later determined to have been an issue with the reduction drive of car 3 (KiRo 282 7), having scraped on the wooden sleepers which caused the car's drivetrain to suffer a catastrophic failure, causing the fire.

In response to this, four months after the accident, then-President of JR Hokkaido Naotoshi Nakajima committed suicide; the will he left behind encouraged current and future employees of JR Hokkaido to increase safety awareness in the company. As a grim reminder as to what happened during the incident, the front end of car KiHa 283-9 was sectioned and placed in JR Hokkaido's Employee Training Center to remind current and future employees of JR Hokkaido as to what could happen if the correct safety precautions are not taken to ensure that such an incident will not be repeated.

Preservation

The following KiHa 283 series cars have been preserved:

Car number	Manufacturer	Date manufactured	Date retired	Previous sets	Location	Notes
KiHa 283-9	Fuji Heavy Industries	February 1998	May 2011	N/A	JR Hokkaido Employee Training Center, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan	Cab only, destroyed in fire in May 2011; sectioned and placed on display within facility

Gallery

A KiHa 283 series set in March 2018

References

• Wikipedia.org