disaster

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JCP makes on-spot investigation into train derailment

Amidst a blizzard on December 25, the East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) express train Inaho No. 14 derailed while crossing a bridge over the Mogami River on the Uetsu Line in Shonai, Yamagata Prefecture, killing five passengers and injuring more than 30.

The Japanese Communist Party soon established a task force, and sent a Dietmember to the site to carry out an investigation.

While investigations into the incident (believed to be caused by a sudden strong wind) are under way, JR East drivers and other workers testified that the company's measures against strong winds have many problems.

There was only one anemometer at the bridge, though the site is well-known for its strong winds.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport says that usually there is one anemometer at each bridge. The ministry plans to check the number and sites of anemometer at JR following the December 25 incident.

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Takahashi Chizuko on December 27 visited the accident site together with JCP local assembly members.

Finding an anemometer at the entrance of the bridge, she accused the ministry and JR for taking inadequate accident prevention measures. "They should have learned lessons from a similar 1986 incident at Amarube Bridge on the San'in Line in western Japan," she said.

Since 1987 when the National Railway was divided and privatized, JR pushed ahead with put forth "rationalization" schemes and "deregulation" aimed at more profits and higher speeds which resulted in neglecting safety.

A veteran driver said, "After the privatization, the top speed of trains running between Sakata and Niigata was changed from 90 to 120 kilometers per hour."

The number of crew members has been reduced from two to one, and the National Railway Workers' Union (Kokuro) requested JR-East to reverse this policy.
-Akahata, December 28, 2005