Seven 4+6-car trainsets were built between 1996 and 1999 to replace ageing Odakyu 3100 series NSE trains. Unlike earlier Romancecar trainsets, which used articulated carriages, the 30000 series sets have 20 m long bogie cars. The inner driving cabs of the 4+6-car formations have gangway doors. The passenger doors use wide sliding doors, with wide doors on cars 2, 5, and 8 to provide wheelchair accessibility.
Operations
The 30000 series trains are used on Odakyu Odawara LineHakone services between in Tokyo and Hakone-Yumoto Station in Kanagawa Prefecture, as well as Sagami and Homeway services. They are also on Odakyu Enoshima LineEnoshima services between Shinjuku and. Trainsets were introduced on combined Hakone and Enoshima services, with trains dividing at, and later at. 10-car Hakone services to Hakone-Yumoto also divide at with just the 6-car sets continuing onward to Hakone-Yumoto.
Formations
, the fleet consists of seven 4+6-car trainsets, formed as follows, with car 1 at the western end. All seven sets are based at Ebina Depot.
Unrefurbished sets
Cars 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9 are each fitted with a single-arm pantograph. Only one bogie on car 9 is motored.
Refurbished sets
Refurbished trainsets are formed as follows, with five motored cars per ten-car formation.
Car No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Designation
Tc2
M3
M2'N
T1
M1'
Tc1'
Tc2'
M2
M1
Tc1
Numbering
3055x
3050x
3040x
3035x
3020x
3025x
3015x
3010x
3000x
3005x
Weight
33.45
42.32
41.60
35.99
40.50
35.36
37.02
42.45
41.44
33.56
Capacity
56
58
56
68
54
60
58
58
54
56
Cars 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9 are each fitted with a PT7113-A single-arm pantograph.
Interior
Passenger accommodation consists of monoclass unidirectional 2+2 abreast seating, with wide seats and a seating pitch of. The first eight half-sets delivered had green-coloured seats in the six-cars sets and blue-coloured seats in the four-car sets, but from 1999 onward, the seats in all sets was standardized with grey and brown seat covers. Wheelchair spaces are located in cars 5 and 8. Refreshment counters are provided in cars 3 and 9. Toilets are provided in cars 2, 5, and 8, and the toilet in car 5 is a universal access type.
The fleet is scheduled to undergo a programme of refurbishment from fiscal 2016, with the first 4+6-car trainset treated returning to service in March 2017, rebranded "EXEα". Refurbishment is being carried out by Nippon Sharyo, with the design overseen by Noriaki Okabe Architecture Network. It includes the following changes:
Redesigned interiors and seating
Replacement of Japanese-style squat toilets with Western-style toilets
Installation of security cameras in vestibule and passenger saloons
Fully enclosed traction motors
Conversion of one former trailer car to a motored car, and the addition of a second motored bogie to car 9, which previously only had one motored bogie.
The first train set to be refurbished, four-car set 30051, was returned to Odakyu from the Nippon Sharyo factory in Toyokawa, Aichi, in November 2016.
