By YUKA HONDA/ Staff Writer
August 17, 2023 at 15:30 JST
JR Shin-Osaka Station is crowded with passengers after services were suspended on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines on Aug. 17. (Kenta Sujino)
Services on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines were halted and delayed early on Aug. 17 as cancellations the previous day caused by heavy rain affected crew and train car preparations.
Operations were suspended from around 7:20 a.m., but trains began running around 8:30 a.m.
According to Japan Railway companies, 40 Shinkansen runs were canceled between Tokyo Station and Hakata Station in Fukuoka Prefecture by 10:30 a.m.
Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said on its website that stations between Nagoya and Shin-Osaka stations were extremely crowded. It called on passengers without seat reservations to refrain from coming to the stations, saying entry may be restricted.
Long lines formed in front of ticket booths at jam-packed Shin-Osaka Station.
Eriko Suemasa, a 26-year-old company employee in Osaka, returned from Yokohama, where she was visiting her parents’ home for the Bon holidays.
She initially planned to take a Shinkansen on Aug. 16, but switched to one leaving at 6 a.m. on Aug. 17 after hearing that services were suspended on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line.
However, her train was halted after leaving Nagoya Station around 8 a.m., and it arrived at Shin-Osaka Station more than an hour behind schedule.
“All information was vague,” she said. “I was at a loss at what to do.”
The train run cancellations the previous day affected many passengers.
On Aug. 16, services were temporarily suspended between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line as Typhoon No. 7, which moved northward in the Sea of Japan, brought heavy rain, mainly in the Tokai region.
The disruptions led to temporary suspensions between Shin-Osaka and Hakata stations on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line, which is connected with the Tokaido Shinkansen Line.
Stranded passengers were allowed to stay in two Shinkansen trains parked at Tokyo Station and three bullet trains at Shin-Osaka Station overnight until the morning of Aug. 17.
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