MTR SP1900

SP1900 is the name used to refer to a series of high-capacity suburban electric multiple units operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and its successor the MTR Corporation on the East Rail, West Rail, Ma On Shan and Tuen Ma Lines of the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway since September 2001. These trains are referred to by a number of names but are collectively referred to under the names of SP1900 or IKK Train.
==History==
The SP1900 was designed for service on the East Rail Line, with a contract won by a consortium comprising of Itochu, Kinki Sharyo and Kawasaki Heavy Industries in 1999; this consortium is collectively known as IKK which is why these trains are often referred to as such. The sets were ordered by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) and were the last rolling stock type the company ordered before their merger into the MTR Corporation in 2007.
Between 1999 and 2006, the KCRC ordered three batches of trains under contracts SP1900, SP1950 and KRS991. The first batch ordered, under contract SP1900, comprised a total of 250 cars, split into eight twelve-car and twenty-two seven-car sets. The first of the twelve-car sets arrived in Hong Kong in March 2001 and began service on 4 September 2001; the remaining seven-car sets were progressively delivered in 2002 and put into operation on the West Rail Line (now part of the Tuen Ma Line) when it opened on 20 December 2003. The SP1950 sets were ordered in December 2000 for the Ma On Shan Line (now part of the Tuen Ma Line) and were arranged in 4-car formations; these began operation on 21 December 2004. The last batch of sets ordered by the KCRC was a 34-car order for the Kowloon Southern Link linking the East and West Rail Lines, ordered in January 2006 under contract KRS991. Twenty-eight cars from this order were formed into four seven-car sets while the remaining six cars were inserted into two four-car sets, lengthening them to seven cars. These arrived in Hong Kong from October 2007.
When the KCRC was merged into the MTR in December 2007, the MTR Corporation took over operations of the sets. The MTR Corporation would later place an order for 36 cars to convert all existing SP1900 sets into eight-car units for the future Tuen Ma Line, under contract 1151; while the sets were being converted they would remain in service on the East Rail, West Rail and Ma On Shan Lines. A separate order for 136 cars for a similar train was placed by MTR for CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles to form similar sets for use on the East West Corridor (planning name for what would become the Tuen Ma Line) for operation alongside the SP1900 sets.
The SP1900 sets would be removed from service on the East Rail Line on 6 February 2021, being replaced with R-Trains and moved to the Ma On Shan and West Rail Lines. Both the Ma On Shan and West Rail Lines would be merged into the Tuen Ma Line on 27 June 2021 with the completion of the section between Kai Tak and Hung Hom Stations. A total of forty-eight sets, numbered D301~D302 through D395~D396, are in operation on the Tuen Mun Line; when not in service the sets are stationed at Pat Heung and Tai Wai depots. Eight surplus cars were generated from the conversion due to not being able to be formed into 8-car sets; these were later removed from service due to severe structural cracking on their roofs and scrapped.
==Design==
The SP1900 feature a streamlined design with quadrant-shaped headlights; their bullet-shaped design allows them to accelerate faster against air drag at high speeds. They feature a silver body with gray and red accents. An orange LED display above the driver's cab acts as a destination indicator and a warm orange LED display just below it displays the train running number.
==Specifications==
Construction of the sets is of stainless steel. The sets use Mitsubishi MAP-242-A25V93 or 93A 2-level IGBT variable frequency drives, powering Mitsubishi MB-5084-A or A2 three-phase AC induction traction motors. Sets constructed by Kinki Sharyo sit on KD312 or KD312A bogies, depending on whether the car is powered or not powered, while sets constructed by Kawasaki sit on Kawasaki KW165 or KW166 bogies, depending on whether the car is powered or not powered.
Category:Electric trainsets
Category:Kawasaki locomotives
Category:Kinki Sharyo locomotives
Category:KCR trains
Category:MTR trains