Photo/Illutration The Nippori-Toneri Liner (Provided by the Tokyo metropolitan government)

The Nippori-Toneri Liner resumed operations on Oct. 11 for the first time since the front cars of the train derailed in an earthquake that rattled the Tokyo area last week.

The day’s first trains left Minumadai-shinsuikoen Station in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward at 5:13 a.m. and Nippori Station in Arakawa Ward at 5:38 a.m.

The Tokyo metropolitan government’s Transportation Bureau, which operates the line, reduced services on Oct.11 by about 10 percent compared with the normal schedule for the morning rush hour between 7 and 10 a.m.

The bureau is still dealing with damage caused by the Oct. 7 earthquake and investigating how exactly the derailment in Adachi Ward occurred.

The bureau said it finished removing the derailed vehicles from the line early on Oct. 9 and restored damaged parts of the tracks. It is also inspecting damaged train cars other than those that derailed.

After the earthquake, which registered upper 5 on the Japanese seismic scale of 7 in Adachi Ward, the bureau offered free alternative transportation services, such as buses, for people who normally use the line.

Those services will be downsized.

The train cars derailed at a turnout section that connects the main line to a neighboring track. The guide rails for the trains there are partially disconnected.

A woman in her 30s from Adachi Ward used a free alternative bus service on Oct. 8 to commute. She said the trip took more than one hour, compared with just 30 minutes by train.

“I am glad the train was restored earlier than expected,” she said on Oct. 11. “The frequency of the trains has decreased, so I left home early, but the congestion was the same as usual.”

A man, 43, from Adachi Ward rode his bicycle for 50 minutes to reach Nippori Station on Oct. 9.

“It was very tough, so I am relieved that the train resumed,” he said on Oct. 11.
 
(This article was written by Yoshitaka Unezawa and Mirei Jinguji.)

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