A fleet of 52 11-car E231-500 series was delivered from January 2002 to April 2005 for use on Yamanote Line services, replacing the earlier 205 series
fleet. The first trains entered service on 21 April 2002. These trains
include digital automatic train control (D-ATC), and feature pairs of
LCD passenger information screens above each door internally. These
screens also show advertisements. Each 11-car set originally contained
two six-door SaHa E230 trailer cars (cars 7 and 10)
with six pairs of doors per side and bench seats that were folded up
until 10 a.m. on weekdays to provide standing room only during the
morning peak. From 22 February 2010, the seats were able to be used
during the morning peak.