Tohoku Shinkansen to Resume Coupled Train Operations Fri.

Tokyo, March 11 (Jiji Press)--East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, said Tuesday that it will resume from Friday the operations of coupled trains on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, which have been suspended since last week.

JR East suspended the operations in response to an incident in which a coupler connecting the Hayabusa No. 21 and Komachi No. 21 bulllet trains on the line, which runs between eastern and northeastern Japan, came unfastened.

The incident occurred just after the double train left Ueno Station in Tokyo to head for Omiya Station in Saitama Prefecture.

JR East said that the decoupling is believed to have happened because of an electrical abnormality in the Komachi train although the exact cause has yet to be identified. The operations of coupled trains will be resumed after stopgap measures are taken.

Connections and disconnections of Shinkansen trains, including Hayabusa and Komachi, are conducted at Morioka Station in Iwate Prefecture and Fukushima Station in Fukushima Prefecture.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]