By AYATERU HOSOZAWA/ Staff Writer
July 22, 2024 at 12:09 JST
Business travelers, tourists and countless others were left stranded by the suspension of the Tokaido Shinkansen Line from the morning of July 22 due to a collision of maintenance vehicles.
All bullet trains between Hamamatsu and Nagoya stations were suspended from the first train of the day.
Direct connections to the Sanyo Shinkansen Line, which connects Shin-Osaka and Hakata stations, were also canceled.
At Tokyo Station, all Nozomi and Hikari bullet trains were canceled, leaving only Kodama trains operating.
Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) stated that there is no estimated time for the resumption of service due to the prolonged repair work on the tracks, including cleaning spilled oil from the accident.
The repair work is expected to continue until about 7 p.m.
The company urged passengers to refrain from traveling to stations to avoid congestion.
To aid stranded passengers, All Nippon Airways Co. has added extra flights between Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Osaka's Itami Airport.
Two maintenance vehicles collided and derailed on the inbound lane in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, at 3:37 a.m., according to local authorities.
Two workers suffered head and foot injuries.
Used for tamping and transporting ballast on the tracks, the maintenance vehicles collided when one struck the other while stationary.
At Tokyo Station's Shinkansen gates, passengers could be seen crowding around station staff, inquiring about the status of train services or using their smartphones to search for alternative routes.
Some passengers were carrying large suitcases, suggesting they were foreign tourists caught up in the disruption of services.
One couple from Saitama, in their 50s, had been planning a trip to Himeji and Kobe since June, eagerly anticipating their annual vacation. They had booked hotels and made other arrangements, and were devastated to learn of the train cancellations en route to Tokyo Station.
"We just hope we can get there somehow today," the husband said. They decided to wait out the delay near the station.
A businessman in his 40s from Tokyo had been scheduled to travel to Hiroshima. He immediately searched for flights to Hiroshima, but all morning flights were already sold out.
His meeting with clients was scheduled for 1 p.m. and he was supposed to be traveling with three colleagues, one of whom had already arrived in Hiroshima.
"I'll wait for my other colleagues who haven't arrived at Tokyo Station yet and then we'll decide what to do," he said.
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A Tokaido Shinkansen maintenance vehicle derailed after colliding with another vehicle on the morning of July 22 in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture. (Koichi Ueda)
