The Sotetsu 8000 Series underwent its own unique evolution to suit the era of through services to central Tokyo, incorporating features rarely found on other railway operators’ trains, including semi-cross seating, automatic windows and onboard mirrors.
The cars are basically fitted with longitudinal seating, but in Cars 5 and 8, the seats in the centre of the spaces between the doors are arranged to face forward, creating semi-cross seating and increasing seating capacity by 6 per car. The automatic windows can be opened and closed with buttons, and the crew compartment has a button for controlling all the windows at once. Mirrors are also installed inside the cars so that passengers can check their appearance.
As part of Sotetsu’s distinctive traditions, the area around the underfloor equipment and the outer sides of the wheels have notable features. In particular, the use of disc brakes on the outer sides of the wheels stands out. The trains also retain the right-angle Cardan drive system, in which the axles and motors are arranged at right angles.
These features can be cited as examples of equipment that strongly preserves Sotetsu’s traditions, demonstrating the distinctive character of the trains in operation on the Sotetsu Line.