E353 series

The E353 series is a tilting Japanese limited express electric multiple unit operated by the East Japan Railway Company since December 2017, mainly on the Super Azusa and Kaiji services.
==History==
The E353 series was first announced by JR East in February 2014 as a train that would eventually replace aging E351 series cars on the Chūō Main Line. The pre-series sets, S101 and S201, were delivered in July 2015, with test-running commencing on the 29th of the same month. Four nine-car sets, numbered S101 to S104, and four three-car sets, numbered S201 to S204, were built by December 2017.
The sets were supposed to enter revenue service in spring 2016, but they were still undergoing test-running in July 2017; the first cars only entered service on 23 December 2017. The E353 series sets replaced the entire fleet of E351 series cars on Super Azusa services on 17 March 2018 with the introduction of the revised timetable; over the next two years, the E353 series will also replace all E257 series sets on Azusa and Kaiji services. All cars currently built are in service, all based at Matsumoto Depot.
Due to its outstanding functional and design features, it is one of three recipients of the 2018 Laurel Prize; the other two being the Tobu 500 series and the Kagoshima City Tram 7500 series.
==Design==
The E353 series uses a streamlined design with a white body with lavender and black accents. The E353 series and East Japan Railway Company logos can be seen splashed on the front of the end cars. The basic design of the sets was overseen by famed designer Ken Okuyama.
==Specifications==
Construction is of an aluminum alloy. End cars are 21 meters long while intermediate cars are 20 meters long. The train's traction system consists of insulated gate bipolar transistor variable frequency drives manufactured by Mitsubishi which make a wooshing sound as the train accelerates from idle. The trains use a pneumatic tilting system which allows them to maintain high speeds of the highly curved sections on the Chuō Main Line; the system allows the sets to tilt up to 1.5 degrees on curves.
The E353 series is equipped with a later version of a musical horn that is standard on most of JR East's Limited Express fleet. The musical horn is usually blasted when a set is about to depart. The musical horn used by the E353 series sets is not the same musical horn as used with its predecessor, the E351 series.
==References==
*Wikipedia.org
==Gallery==
File:E353 S204 Chūō Azusa 2018.jpg|S204 in February 2018
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Electric trainsets
Category:Tilting trainsets
Category:J-TREC locomotives