Society

Quake-damaged Tohoku Shinkansen to resume full service around April 20

Mar 21 (NHK) - JR East says it plans to resume full operation of bullet trains on the quake-damaged Tohoku Shinkansen line from around April 20.

Some sections of the line connecting Tokyo and northeastern Japan were damaged after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit the region on Wednesday last week.

The quake derailed a Shinkansen bullet train in Miyagi Prefecture. It also forced the line to close between Nasushiobara station in Tochigi Prefecture and Morioka station in Iwate Prefecture.

The firm said damage was found in about 1,000 places along the line, including rails, power lines, and elevated tracks.

JR East said on Monday that it will resume operation in the suspended section in phases, starting from Tuesday. It aims to operate the trains on the entire line by around April 20.

Meanwhile, the firm revealed it later found that three passengers, among the 80 on board, had sustained light injuries in the derailment. It initially said nobody was hurt.

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A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

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