#6472
Smart BEST
🇯🇵 Japan ·built by Kinki Sharyo· an experimental self-charging battery electric multiple unit (BEMU) train developed and built by Kinki Sharyo in Japan
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Smart Best Hello Kitty Wakayama-go01: Kansai explorer· CC BY 3.0
what is it?
The Smart BEST is an experimental Japanese two-car self-charging battery electric multiple unit (BEMU) train developed and manufactured by Kinki Sharyo in 2012 to demonstrate the feasibility of battery train technology for use on non-electrified rural lines. The name is an acronym for "Battery Engine Synergy Train". The train has been tested on JR West and JR Shikoku lines since late 2012.
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- 20 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 259: 5 full city buses (~50 seats each).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- —
- number built
- 2
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- battery
- origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- builders
- Kinki Sharyo
- top speed
- 100 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- Battery
- formation
- 2 cars per trainset
- length
- 20 m
- capacity
- 259 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7543937, Wikipedia: Smart BEST (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.