NEWS: Train Derails in Japan Killing Dozens

A commuter train in Japan derailed today, hitting an apartment building and killing at least 49 and wounding around 340. It's feared the death toll will rise as rescue and recovery operations continue. The cause of the disaster is currently under investigation, but speeding and an inexperienced operator are currently being focused on by investigators.



This is a horrible, tragic accident. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

Related News Links:
abcnews.go.com
www.usatoday.com


[edit on 4/25/2005 by djohnsto77]

This truly is a horrible accident, however, I hope it does not tarnish the mass transit system in Japan.

From the Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com):

"Japan maintains one of the world's largest, busiest and most sophisticated networks of trains in the world, yet derailing and serious accidents are extremely rare. Monday's accident marked the nation's worst rail disaster at least 42 years. A three-train crash in November 1963 killed 161 people in near Tokyo."

Yes, truly horrible accident.

I saw it on the TV News. Passengers said also that the train was moving really fast, much faster then it is supposed to right before a turn. And a young inexperienced driver. Then there was also a report about a car, being parked on the railway.

[edit on 25/4/05 by Souljah]

woh!!! nice crash, how did it go of the track?

As I understand it, it looks like the young driver lost 1 minute on schedule on the previous stop by braking too late/or softly , thereby halting the train a bit past the station and had to put the train in reverse, for people to get in/out.

To save face (and perhaps be spared from complaints from his employee), it looks like the driver attempted to make up the lost time by driving at a risky speed, motives very understandable but a more seasoned driver would probably take the boss complaining instead of risking the passengers.

Best intentions, bad ending, sad story, hopefully the railway company makes it clear to new drivers that they shouldn't try to repair a misstake at all cost...

Originally posted by ulshadow
woh!!! nice crash, how did it go of the track?

Words Nice and Crash do not go very well togather in this sad story.

Several people have died today - have that in mind when you are choosing words when you write about it.

Such are the costs of overpopulation and never-ending urbanization.....When placing an apartment complex twenty feet from train tracks seems like a reasonable idea, then maybe it's time to step back and reanalyze your approach...

Very sad....

Now we'll see the difference between America and Japan. One of them, anyways.

In America, the lawyers and pundits against such programs will complain loud and long, lawsuits will fly and the system will be ground to a halt. Public transportation will end up being set back a decade, and it will be used a spolitical sound bite fodder to accuse the other party of mismanagement, or the anti-government folks will come up with conspiracy theories.

In Japan, this will be the opportunity to replace the outdated braking systems and replace damaged track and cars with the newest, safest available. The whole system will be improved as much as possible to prevent this from happening again. Most likely, more of the human element will be taken out of the loop.

Considering the traffic load on their public transit system, it is amazing that such things are so rare. Airline accidents and crashes cost hundreds more lives each year. But we can't have decent public transportation here, thanks to morons who run stoplights at railroad crossings, idiots claiming their "right" to walk the tracks, enviro-luddites opposed to even a single blade of grass being disturbed, and the NIMBY folks buying up cow pastures, slapping a poorly framed house on it, and selling it for $600K because it's "countryside", further reducing places to run light rail and high speed trains.

But we'll spend billions on highways and lame. ineffective "hybrid" cars that get the same mileage as economy cars ten years ago. And we'll subsidize outdated air transport systems and spend billions more setting up laughable security measures.

Death toll rises to 73

More than 440 were injured...

CBS News: Japan Train Crash Toll Now 73

Investigators focused on excessive speed and a 23-year-old train driver's lack of experience after the crowded commuter train jumped the rails Monday on a curve and plowed into the apartment building just a few yards from the tracks.

Wow, a second train derailed in Japan just a day after the other. This one derailed after hitting a truck. No injuries this time.

Another train derails in Japan; no injuries

Oops..missed this when I submitted a few minutes ago.

(realized my mistake after getting NO:Repeat votes) I'll just cut and paste the link and my comments and get the other story removed. Sorry.

www.cbsnews.com...

Derailments in Japan are certainly rare, they occur (with deaths) about once a decade. The last crash this serious was in 1963. Generally, the Japanese have an excellent safety record, so the suspicion of professional negligence in this case is somewhat surprising.

It appears that the driver was young and inexperienced. He had also been warned once previously. Also, the speed of the train appears to have contributed to the accident, it was going about 20 m.p.h. faster than the speed limit at that section of track allowed.

What's most strange is the way in which the raid was conducted. It appears to be part of a criminal investigation, as opposed to an internal governmental investigation. It's not often one hears reports of Japanese police storming the offices of companies to remove documents. It almost makes one wonder if there isn't something else going on...

Update:

The Australian: Japan train toll at 89

THE death toll from Japan's worst train crash in more than 40 years rose to 89 today as rescue operations entered a third day, police and the fire department said.

"We have newly confirmed the deaths of 89 people - 50 men and 39 women - and injuries of 456," a police spokesman said after additional bodies were pulled out of the debris.

There were reports that 10 to 20 people could still be trapped under the debris.

Yet another train accident in Japan. What is going on?

Driver injured in train accident

A DRIVER has been seriously injured after his car hit a moving passenger train near Tokyo.

The car broke through the railway crossing bar in Yokohama and crashed into the side of the fourth carriage of the eight-car train, which was carrying 130 passengers

The incident was the third on successive days amid heightened safety fears following Japan's biggest train wreck in four decades.

Wierd coincidence?

Sabotage?

I'm at a loss to explain this...

This is Japan for cryin' out loud, they hold up safety like a religion over there...

Very strange to say the least. At least the last two accidents didn't cause any deaths (right?). That's something to be thankful for. Still, I imagine this series of events has somewhat shaken the Japanese commuters, who are very dependant on the public transportation of their country.

I wonder if we'll have another tommorrow?

The Australian: Japan train toll hits 101

The death toll in Japan's worst train crash in four decades topped the 100 mark Thursday, with the discovery of four more bodies bringing the death toll to 101, the fire department said.

"We are continuing our rescue operations. There are still people unaccounted for inside the trains," said a police spokesman