Two workers were injured in the incident, which led to the cancellation of 328 train services between Nagoya and Hamamatsu in Shizuoka prefecture. - PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO (The Straits Times/ANN): The Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train service between Tokyo and Osaka has fully resumed on Tuesday (July 23), following a derailment of two maintenance trains in Gamagori, Aichi prefecture, a day earlier, reported Japanese media outlets.
According to Kyodo News, the operator – the Central Japan Railway, or JR Tokai – said it completed its restoration work on the evening of July 22 and added more trains on the morning of July 23 to allay the disruption.
Two maintenance trains were involved in an accident at 3.35am on July 22, leading to derailment and causing train services to be cancelled. One of the trains was stationary on the track after it completed maintenance between Toyohashi and Mikawa-Anjo stations on the Tokaido Shinkansen line.
JR Tokai said the driver of the moving maintenance train, which was transporting rail track ballast on a slope, had applied the brake, but it failed to activate, reported Asahi Shimbun. Rail track ballast refers to crushed stones that make the bed for rail tracks.
The maintenance train, which was travelling at 40kmh, then hit the stationary track tamping train, which compacts track ballast under the tracks. The derailed trains were later towed to a maintenance depot.
Two workers were injured in the incident, which led to the cancellation of 328 train services between Nagoya and Hamamatsu in Shizuoka prefecture, affecting about 250,000 travellers.
According to Kyodo News, JR Tokai said it will inspect all maintenance trains to prevent such accidents from happening again. - The Straits Times/ANN
