Hundreds of Thousands of Commuter Train Passengers in Tokyo Affected by Power Outage

Illustration of the Yamanote Line commuter train fleet. (Wikimedia Commons/MaedaAkihiko)

JAKARTA - Tokyo's Yamanote Line commuter trains resumed service on Friday afternoon, after a power outage had stopped a key part of the capital's transport network from its first schedule of the day, affecting around 673,000 passengers, operator JR East said.

The power outage yesterday was reported at around 3:50 am local time, most likely caused by a problem in the electrical facility serving the section between Shimbashi and Shinagawa stations in central Tokyo.

Although trains on the Keihin-Tohoku Line, which parallels the Yamanote loop line on some routes, were initially operating, services were also suspended due to outages and delays on other lines in Tokyo and beyond.

On the Keihin-Tohoku Line, a power outage left train passengers stranded between stations. They were then asked to get off and head to the nearest station on foot.

The Tokyo Fire Department said 10 people aged 20 to 60 complained of nausea, shortness of breath, and other health problems, and five of them were rushed to hospital, quoted from Kyodo News (17/1).

Yasuko Yoshida, 51, an employee of a company from Yokohama, said the Keihin-Tohoku Line train she was riding on stopped between Takanawa Gateway and Tamachi stations.

"The train didn't move for more than an hour, and with the AC dying, some passengers on the train started taking off their jackets," Yoshida said after walking on the tracks to Tamachi Station.

"I want to know what will happen if I have urgent work to do," he said.

"I hope this does not affect those who take the integrated university entrance exam tomorrow," he continued.

Services on the line resumed in the afternoon.

As an emergency measure, JR East is running additional services on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line between Tokyo and Omiya in Saitama Prefecture.

"The power supply to the facility was turned off the night before due to ongoing infrastructure work at Tamachi Station between Shimbashi and Shinagawa, and the operator was unable to restore it before the first train that day," he said.

A fire was also reported at an electrical facility near Tamachi Station around 8 a.m., according to police and firefighters. It was extinguished about 90 minutes later.

Whether the fire and the power outage are related is still unclear, they said.

Transport Minister Yasushi Kaneko told a news conference he had ordered JR East to investigate the cause of the incident and prevent it from happening again.