(Update) Tohoku Shinkansen Services Affected by Decoupling Incident

   Tokyo, Sept. 19 (Jiji Press)--The coupler of a Tokyo-bound train on the Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed railway line came undone while it was heading for Tokyo on Thursday, causing it to make an emergency stop and services on the line to be halted for hours.
   The Hayabusa-Komachi No. 6 train, comprising 10 Hayabusa cars and seven Komachi cars, did not derail, according to East Japan Railway Co., or JR East.
   Following the train uncoupling incident, services were suspended for about five hours on both directions of the bullet train line between Tokyo Station and Shin-Aomori Station in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Aomori, resulting in the cancellation of 72 trains on the line and affecting about 45,000 people.
   The coupler came undone shortly after 8 a.m., and the Hayabusa-Komachi No. 6 train stopped at a point some 6 kilometers past Furukawa Station in Miyagi Prefecture, according to JR East. There have been no reports of injuries among around 200 passengers of the Hayabusa cars and some 120 passengers of the Komachi cars.
   The Hayabusa part of the train and the Komachi part stayed at the locations where they stopped for about four hours and then headed for Sendai Station, next to Furukawa Station.

(2024/09/19-18:48)

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