The pre-production set of the new JR West's 323 Series EMU has been revealed by JR West and Kinki Sharyo, it is stated that 21 sets (so 168 cars in total) will be built to replace the current fleet of JNR Era 103 and 201 Series EMU being used for the Osaka Loop Line.
http://news.mynavi.jp/news/2016/06/24/389/For the rumours about the N700S, it will have a redesigned front (location of the lights are pending). A pre-production set will be built by 2018 and will be put into production by around 2020 if everything goes well
PDF from JR Central:
http://jr-central.co.jp/news/release/_pdf/000030982.pdf>>972325Well, that one is just speculation and I'm pretty sure we will find out about the changes when JR Hokkaido officially announces it in December.
