Bullet train staff sit by tracks

Tokyo, August 27

A Japanese rail company has defended a safety exercise that requires employees to sit beside tracks in tunnels as bullet trains speed by at 300 kilometres an hour.

JR West said it has no plans to alter the exercise despite complaints from employees.

About 190 staff working on safety maintenance for Japan’s famed Shinkansen bullet train have undergone the training, a company spokesman said. “The training aims to teach our maintenance staff the importance of every part of their jobs,” he said.

“We will continue this training while ensuring it serves a purpose and is done safely.” JR West introduced the training in 2016 after an accident in August 2015 in which part of the bullet train’s exterior fell off, the spokesman said.

The purpose of the drill was reportedly to impress on the staff how fast the train moved and therefore how seriously they needed to take their jobs.

But it has proved unpopular. “It was a horrible experience,” an employee told a daily. Another described it as “just like a public flogging”.

The ultra-efficient train network connects cities along the length and breadth of the country.  — AFP

No fatality since operations began in 1964

• No passenger has ever been killed in a Shinkansen bullet train crash since commencement of operations in 1964
• It follows the ‘crash avoidance’ operating principle, which involves using dedicated tracks and automatic train control system to regulate speed
• The average delay of the train is less than 60 seconds. If a train arrives over a minute late, the driver has to give a formal explanation