Services resumed Sunday morning after around 1,500 passengers were trapped for nearly two hours in a train on the Tokaido Line the previous night near Tokyo, with some complaining of heatstroke and hyperventilation, after it crashed into a power pole, local authorities said.
The driver and three passengers sustained light injuries after the JR train, which was temporarily operating for a fireworks festival, crashed into the pole that was tilting over the tracks, at around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, police and East Japan Railway Co. said.
With temperatures soaring across the country, passengers were initially asked to stay inside the train for their own safety before they were accompanied by staff to Ofuna Station on foot, according to JR East.
Some of the passengers were taken to hospital, with one saying the air conditioning in the train had stopped. The accident caused other railway services to suspend operations and affected about 150,000 people, it said.
Services restarted around 8 a.m. Sunday. The incident occurred between Fujisawa and Ofuna stations in Kanagawa Prefecture and saw the window of the driver's cab severely damaged.
JR East quoted the driver as saying, "I suddenly saw the pole in front of me and (the train) crashed into it." The operator said it is investigating the cause of the incident, as another train, which passed the accident site 10 minutes prior, saw no abnormalities.
