JR East Resumes Coupled Shinkansen Train Operations

Tokyo, March 14 (Jiji Press)--East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, resumed the operations of coupled trains on its Tohoku Shinkansen high-speed rail line on Friday, eight days after their suspension.

The company halted such train operations on the Tohoku line on March 6, when a pair of coupled trains accidentally became detached while traveling in Tokyo.

The decoupling was apparently caused by some kind of electrical abnormality, but the detailed cause has not been identified.

JR East resumed the coupled train operations after fixing the lever on the coupling device with metal parts. Coupled service will return to its regular schedule on Saturday.

"I was worried that the trains would be decoupled again," said a man in his 50s who arrived in Tokyo Station using a coupled train run.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]