Japan bullet train makes emergency stop near Tokyo, services halted for 3 hours

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The Tohoku Shinkansen Line has been plagued by issues recently

ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

TOKYO – A Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train made an emergency stop near Tokyo on Aug 24 after its safety brakes were automatically activated, halting services for nearly three hours, JR East said.

A bullet train travelling between Omiya and Oyama stations with 560 passengers on board stopped at around 2.10pm in Kuki, Saitama Prefecture. There were no reports of injuries.

Services in both directions between Tokyo and Morioka in Iwate prefecture, north-eastern Japan, fully resumed around 5pm.

JR East is investigating the cause of the incident, suspecting the emergency brakes were triggered by a malfunction onboard.

The Tohoku Shinkansen Line has been plagued by issues recently, including the

decoupling of two carriages

In March, there was

another decoupling

In June, a series of failures occurred with power supply devices in the latest series of the Tohoku and Yamagata Shinkansen lines, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of trains on the Yamagata Shinkansen for around a month and a half.

On Aug 22, an oil leak was discovered on a bullet train used for construction, disrupting services on part of the Tohoku line for around an hour. KYODO NEWS