by Komachi
Now the 3rd installment...
(Note: Article edited by Co-Moderator Komachi to comply with railroad.net policy on posting articles. Original text is in italics while my comments are in "regular" font)
Train crash toll rises to 106 / Body of train driver found in lead car as rescue efforts end
- The Yomiuri Shimbun
The death toll from Monday's train derailment on the JR * Line in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, rose to 106 Thursday, with the end of rescue operations at about 7:20 p.m..
Nine bodies, including the remains of the train's 23-year-old driver, Ryujiro Takami, were recovered from the mangled lead car that crashed into an apartment building along the line.
The train accident is the sixth since World War II in which more than 100 passengers have been killed, and is the worst since 161 people died when a commuter train collided with a derailed freight train on the Yokosuka Line in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, in 1963, during the Japanese National Railways era.
A five-meter section between the driver's compartment of the train and one of the passenger doors in the front car was crushed like an accordion, and the section had been reduced to about three meters in length. Automobiles were trapped between the train and a parking garage wall on the first floor of the apartment building, obstructing rescue efforts.
Using heavy machinery, rescue workers on Thursday morning supported and secured the automobiles and created space by pulling the lead car out several meters. They then entered the lead car and recovered the remains of four victims. The bodies were carried from the accident scene at 10 a.m., about 73 hours after the accident. The rescuers later recovered five more victims.
Experts have expressed surprise at the high death toll. Transportation expert Ryohei Kakumoto said it was very unusual for a railway accident to kill more than 100 people as safety measures have improved since the 1963 train accident in Yokohama. Kakumoto said, "Even if a train is considered safer than a car or an airplane, accidents can't be eliminated, although they can be reduced." He also added that Monday's accident resulted from JR West's failure to invest enough money on safety.
Prof. Shigeru Haga of Rikkyo University, a former researcher of Railway Technical Research Institute, said Japanese society had relied on an efficient railway system and congested train schedules, adding that priority therefore had been given to efficiency and services. He said Japanese firms had recently attempted to reduce necessary safety expenses, as passengers have continued to demand efficiency and added services.
Cost cutting and a priority on profit instead of sensibility on safety?
Curve became sharper
- The Yomiuri Shinbun
The curve in the train track where the train went off the rails was made sharper when the JR Tozai Line was opened in 1997, it was learned Thursday.
According to JR West, when the Tozai Line was opened to connect Kyobashi Station to Amagasaki Station, the tracks on the * Line leading to Amagasaki Station were moved. As a result, the 600-meter-radius curve on the former up track was changed to the current 300-meter-radius curve, where Monday's accident occurred.
The number of daily local and rapid train services on the * Line stood at 93 when it was run by the Japanese National Railways. But as the number of passengers increased due to residential developments along the line, the services increased to 370 daily when the Tozai Line opened. Currently there are 360, an unusually busy line.
So, a sharpened curve and increased train frequency may have also been contributing factors.
(Note: Article edited by Co-Moderator Komachi to comply with railroad.net policy on posting articles. Original text is in italics while my comments are in "regular" font)
Train crash toll rises to 106 / Body of train driver found in lead car as rescue efforts end
- The Yomiuri Shimbun
The death toll from Monday's train derailment on the JR * Line in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, rose to 106 Thursday, with the end of rescue operations at about 7:20 p.m..
Nine bodies, including the remains of the train's 23-year-old driver, Ryujiro Takami, were recovered from the mangled lead car that crashed into an apartment building along the line.
The train accident is the sixth since World War II in which more than 100 passengers have been killed, and is the worst since 161 people died when a commuter train collided with a derailed freight train on the Yokosuka Line in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, in 1963, during the Japanese National Railways era.
A five-meter section between the driver's compartment of the train and one of the passenger doors in the front car was crushed like an accordion, and the section had been reduced to about three meters in length. Automobiles were trapped between the train and a parking garage wall on the first floor of the apartment building, obstructing rescue efforts.
Using heavy machinery, rescue workers on Thursday morning supported and secured the automobiles and created space by pulling the lead car out several meters. They then entered the lead car and recovered the remains of four victims. The bodies were carried from the accident scene at 10 a.m., about 73 hours after the accident. The rescuers later recovered five more victims.
Experts have expressed surprise at the high death toll. Transportation expert Ryohei Kakumoto said it was very unusual for a railway accident to kill more than 100 people as safety measures have improved since the 1963 train accident in Yokohama. Kakumoto said, "Even if a train is considered safer than a car or an airplane, accidents can't be eliminated, although they can be reduced." He also added that Monday's accident resulted from JR West's failure to invest enough money on safety.
Prof. Shigeru Haga of Rikkyo University, a former researcher of Railway Technical Research Institute, said Japanese society had relied on an efficient railway system and congested train schedules, adding that priority therefore had been given to efficiency and services. He said Japanese firms had recently attempted to reduce necessary safety expenses, as passengers have continued to demand efficiency and added services.
Cost cutting and a priority on profit instead of sensibility on safety?
Curve became sharper
- The Yomiuri Shinbun
The curve in the train track where the train went off the rails was made sharper when the JR Tozai Line was opened in 1997, it was learned Thursday.
According to JR West, when the Tozai Line was opened to connect Kyobashi Station to Amagasaki Station, the tracks on the * Line leading to Amagasaki Station were moved. As a result, the 600-meter-radius curve on the former up track was changed to the current 300-meter-radius curve, where Monday's accident occurred.
The number of daily local and rapid train services on the * Line stood at 93 when it was run by the Japanese National Railways. But as the number of passengers increased due to residential developments along the line, the services increased to 370 daily when the Tozai Line opened. Currently there are 360, an unusually busy line.
So, a sharpened curve and increased train frequency may have also been contributing factors.
Last edited by Komachi on Fri May 06, 2005 1:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
~Erik Paulson
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