Narita airport chaos ending with resumption of train services

Sep 11, 2019 | News On Japan

Sep 11, 2019 (Kyodo) - Sleepless travelers left Narita airport on Tuesday, a day after Typhoon Faxai disrupted flights and train services and forced some 13,000 people to stay overnight at the major international airport near Tokyo.

Keisei Electric Railway Co. resumed normal services to and from the airport, while East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, was operating with some services connecting to the gateway delayed and canceled.

Long lines formed at train ticket counters even before the first train service on the Keisei Line began at around 5:20 a.m.

Faxai made landfall near the city of Chiba before 5 a.m. Monday, becoming one of the strongest recorded typhoons to hit the Kanto region of eastern Japan.

Although flights had resumed in and out of the airport after the typhoon passed the area on Monday morning, some of the train lines connecting Narita to Tokyo were forced to suspend services due to broken overhead power lines and other problems.

By evening, a few train and bus lines started running but could not keep up with the masses of travelers arriving from overseas. At one point as many as 17,000 people were stranded at the airport.

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