Japanese Train Crash Kills 50, Injures 340

By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, April 25, 2005; 6:49 AM

TOKYO, April 25 -- A packed commuter train in western Japan derailed and smashed into an apartment building on Monday just after the morning rush hour, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 340 in the nation's worst train disaster in four decades.

Rescue workers scrambled for hours in a desperate operation to pry free victims still trapped in the seven-car train. Ambulances, paramedics and police swarmed over the crash site near the city of Amagasaki, about 250 miles west of Tokyo. The train operator, West Japan Railway Co., said at least 343 people had been taken to hospitals.

67 Killed in Japan Train Derailment
Updated: Monday, Apr. 25, 2005 - 6:54 PM

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press Writer

AMAGASAKI, Japan (AP) - Investigators focused on excessive speed and a 23-year-old train driver's lack of experience after a crowded commuter train jumped the rails on a curve Monday and plowed into an apartment building, causing Japan's deadliest rail accident in four decades.

Rescuers worked through the night trying to free survivors from twisted rail carriages left when the train hit the nine-story building's parking garage, killing at least 67 people and injuring 442.

It was not clear if any bystanders or apartment residents were among the victims, but the number of dead increased overnight by 10 _ from 57 to 67 _ when more bodies were found early Tuesday.

Workers Struggle to Reach Train Wreck Survivors

By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, April 26, 2005; Page A10

TOKYO, April 25 -- Rescue workers struggled for more than 11 hours to free survivors of a packed commuter train in western Japan that derailed and smashed into an apartment building toward the end of the morning rush hour on Monday, killing at least 73 people.

An estimated 340 people were injured in the crash, the nation's worst train disaster in four decades. Officials said at least four survivors were stuck in the seven-car train's first car, which was wedged deeply into the building.

Toll Rises to 73 in Japan Crash; Riders Blame Train's Speed

TOKYO, April 26 - The packed commuter train that crashed into an apartment building in western Japan on Monday morning, killing at least 73 passengers and injuring well over 400 more, may have been speeding to make up for a brief delay, survivors said. The authorities here described the train accident as the deadliest in four decades.

The train had been running 90 seconds behind schedule.

Japan Train Wreck Toll Reportedly Hits 91
Death Toll in Japan Train Wreck Reportedly Rises to 91; Survivor Pulled Out 22 Hours Later

AMAGASAKI, Japan Apr 26, 2005 — Twenty-two hours after Japan's worst train crash in decades, the final survivor was pulled from the wreckage Tuesday. Meanwhile, the death toll increased by nine to 91 as more bodies were recovered, the Kyodo news agency said. At least 456 people were injured.

Kyodo on Wednesday estimated that at least 52 people were missing, while the NHK broadcaster said there were more bodies still inside, and that the death toll would likely rise.

Rescue teams had found the survivor, Hiroki Hayashi, in an open space of the shattered train in Amagasaki in western Japan. His legs were badly hurt, but he was still conscious.

Train drivers live in fear of being just a minute late

THE young train driver who crashed into a block of flats, killing at least 89 people and injuring more than 450, was subject to a system of penalties for running late that had allegedly pushed another driver to suicide.

In Japan Crash, Time Obsession May Be Culprit

AMAGASAKI, Japan, April 26 - Anywhere else in the world, a train running 90 seconds late would perhaps be considered on time. But in Japan, 90 seconds would foil commuters who depend on trains' connecting to one another with balletic precision, often with only a couple of minutes to spare.

And so to make up for a lost 90 seconds, a 23-year-old train driver, it became increasingly clear on Tuesday, was speeding when his train jumped off the tracks on Monday morning at a curve here in western Japan and hurtled into a nine-story apartment building.

Toll in Japan Train Crash Looks Set to Hit 100

By REUTERS

Published: April 27, 2005

AMAGASAKI, Japan (Reuters) - The death toll in Japan's worst rail accident in four decades looked set to top 100 Wednesday as hopes of finding more survivors in the wreckage faded along with the light of the third day of rescue efforts.

As darkness fell, the official death toll stood at 94 and there was little hope for the 20 or so people still believed to be trapped inside the front carriage of the train, embedded in the ground-floor car park of an apartment building.

No survivors have been found since early Tuesday when three people were extracted from the twisted mass of metal.

Japanese Rethink Trains After Deadly Crash

AMAGASAKI, Japan - Ayumi Tanaka never worried about living within yards of the railway tracks — until a train slammed into her apartment building.

"If it happened once, it can happen again," Tanaka said Wednesday of the rail disaster that killed at least 97 people and injured more than 450 right outside her living room window in western Japan.

The horror of Monday's crash, when a crowded commuter train skipped the tracks and barreled into Tanaka's apartment house, has prompted many Japanese to rethink their faith in the rail system.

As workers uncovered more bodies Wednesday at the site of Japan's worst train crash in decades, Tanaka said she, her husband and their three children had decided to move.

"All of the building's other residents I've spoken with say they will move," Tanaka, 36, said outside the hotel where they are staying. "With so many dead in the crash, there might be ghosts in the building."

Body Of Japan Train Driver Found

(AP) Rescue workers on Thursday pulled from the wreckage of Japan's worst train disaster in decades the uniformed body of the 23-year-old driver who is at the center of the crash investigation, bringing the death toll to 106.

Job fears may have led to Japan wreck, union say

TOKYO (AP) — Fear of punishment for overrunning the platform at a station and falling behind schedule probably clouded the thinking of the 23-year-old driver of a train that derailed earlier this week, killing more than 100 people, railway union leaders said Thursday.

Japanese commuter rail crash investigated as a crime

Investigators looking into Japan’s deadliest train accident in more than 40 years say they were treating the crash as the result of “possible criminal negligence,” according to news reports.

Better Late Than Never, Japan Learns

FOR a New Yorker who once lived in Tokyo, the commuter train derailment in western Japan this week came as a fetch-the-smelling-salts shock.

There were the obvious reasons: the wreck itself and the appalling death toll, now more than 100. But what sent the eyebrows soaring were post-disaster musings from some Japanese. Perhaps, they said, the real problem is that their rail system is normally too reliable.

Japanese Continue Train Crash Investigation

Police expanded their investigation today at the site of Japan’s worst train crash in decades, but workers called off the search for bodies after the death toll reached 106.

Japanese trains getting new brakes

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- The railway company whose train derailed in a deadly crash in Japan last week has started installing a new emergency braking system.

It was responding to the transport minister's warning that its service could not resume until upgrading is completed.

Rail Workers' Post-Crash Actions Appall Japanese

TOKYO — In the hours following Japan's worst train crash in more than 40 years, with the death toll soaring and rescuers still struggling to free injured passengers from the wreckage, 43 executives and staffers of the company that operates the line responded to the emergency by sticking to their original plans for the day.

They went bowling.

Angry passengers taking revenge on train drivers after fatal crash

JAPANESE train drivers have taken to working in pairs after physical attacks and threats from passengers angry about last month’s fatal train crash.

Abused Japan rail staff get help

Railway unions in Japan have opened special help lines for employees facing public harassment in the aftermath of last month's huge train crash.

Driver involved in fatal train wreck reprimanded for delay

OSAKA, Japan - (KRT) - The driver of the train that derailed on the JR Fukuchiyama Line in April, killing 107 people, was forced to write 19 essays expressing his regret for overshooting a stop line last June.

JR West says it won't press drivers anymore to make up for delays

OSAKA — West Japan Railway Co will not press drivers anymore to speed up even when a train falls behind schedule until next spring when it plans to rework its timetable in response to criticism that a tight timetable could have been behind a deadly derailment of a commuter train in April, senior officials of the railway operator said Wednesday.

Mourners remember 107 killed in train crash

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- Relatives and friends of the 107 people killed when a West Japan Railway Co. train crashed into a building one month ago gathered Wednesday here at the site of the accident for a memorial service.

About 20 West Japan Railway Co. officials, including President Takeshi Kakiuchi, arrived at the site at around 8 a.m. for the service.

Train crash reveals fatal flaw of obsession with punctuality

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. (Kyodo) The fatal train wreck in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, has revealed how JR train drivers are under constant pressure to make up any delay, prompting the public to have second thoughts about a society obsessed with punctuality.

JR West to fully resume June 13
Trains are to go slower at curve where crash took place

OSAKA (Kyodo) West Japan Railway Co. has set June 13 as the day it will resume services between Amagasaki and Takarazuka stations on the Fukuchiyama Line in Hyogo Prefecture, which have been suspended since a deadly accident last month, sources said Sunday.

JR West vows to relax strict timetables

West Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday it will increase the flexibility of its timetables to reduce the pressure on drivers to be on time, according to a report on safety measures submitted to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.