Japan Railways West train derailment leaves 25 hurt
Japan Times: Nov. 20, 2006
This section of Tsuyama Line in Okayama has history of debris hitting tracks
A teo-car train on JR West's Tsuyama Line lies on its side after derailing Sunday morning in Okayama. Railway officials suspect the rails had been bent by a boulder that rolled down the mountain. KYODO
OKAYAMA (Kyodo) A two-car train derailed and landed on its side early Sunday on West Japan Railway Co.'s Tsuyama Line in Okayama, injuring 24 of the 25 passengers as well as the driver, fire department officials said.
The injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. Three suffered serious injuries, the officials said.
JR West suspects a 6-meter-long boulder found at the site may have been loosened by a landslide and rolled over the rails, bending them. The Tsuyama Line cuts through a deep mountain forest. Rails were bent up to 30 meters from the accident site.
The section has frequently been hit by landslides, including one in February 2005 in which a train hit rocks and mud that had fallen on the tracks. JR West said it has not taken preventive measures, such as installing a barrier to stop falling rocks.
Intermittent rain had been falling in the area since Saturday afternoon.
According to JR West, the train left Tsuyama Station at 4:29 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at Okayama Station at 5:45 a.m.
While running between Makiyama and Tamagashi stations, the train's two cars jumped the tracks at about 5:35 a.m. and came to a rest on the mountain slope running alongside the line.
JR West employees said they found fallen rocks around the rails. The rocks also created large holes in a road running alongside the tracks. One of them -- a boulder about 6 meters long, 3 meters wide and 2 meters tall -- might have bent the rails and caused the derailment, they said.
No rocks apparently hit the train itself, they said.
JR West quoted the driver of the train as saying that just before the accident he hit the emergency brake when he saw some ripped up plants on the tracks, suggesting there had been a landslide.
The train was traveling at 65 to 70 kph when the driver hit the brake, according to JR West.
Kenta Ninomiya, a 17-year-old high school student from the nearby town of Tatebe, was chatting with friends in the second car when he heard a loud noise. His body shot forward as the train's emergency brake kicked in.
Sunday's derailment comes about 18 months after a JR West train on the Fukuchiyama Line in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, jumped the tracks and hit a condominium building, killing 107 people and injuring more than 500.