Society

Typhoon-damaged bullet trains to be scrapped

Nov 07 (NHK) - All 10 Shinkansen bullet trains that were damaged last month by Typhoon Hagibis in Nagano, central Japan, will be scrapped.

That represents a third of the trains that run on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to the Sea of Japan coast and the historic city of Kanazawa.

The president of East Japan Railway, Yuji Fukasawa, said on Wednesday that the motors and braking systems under the floors were swamped by the typhoon. The company owns eight of the 10 trains.

He says it is difficult to repair all the damage. The other two trains are owned by West Japan Railway, and will be scrapped as well.

The train cars have a total book value of about 135 million dollars. Some of their components may be reused.

The companies say they aim to get the Hokuriku Shinkansen line completely back to normal by the end of March next year.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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