SAITAMA – A fire at a major substation facility near Tokyo run by East Japan Railway Co. caused a power outage on Sunday, forcing the operator to temporarily suspend train services on a number of lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area and affecting around 236,000 people, the company said.

The local fire department in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, received a call around 12:55 p.m. reporting a fire at the substation facility in the city. The fire was brought under control 3½ hours later and no one was injured, according to the local police and the fire department.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the police said a room that houses transformers inside the substation facility was destroyed.

The facility plays a critical role in sending electricity to trains operating in Tokyo and its nearby areas via other substations. JR East halted services, including on the Yamanote, Keihin-Tohoku and Joban lines.

Most of the affected lines, including the Yamanote, resumed operations but part of the Shonan-Shinjuku Line that links Gunma and Tochigi prefectures, north of Tokyo, and Kanagawa Prefecture, south of the capital, was out of service for the rest of the day.

Source: ANNnewsCH