KYOTO - A Kintetsu Railway train derailed inside Kyoto Station on the morning of June 29, forcing partial suspensions on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line for the rest of the day and causing long delays that hit commuters, students and tourists.
The train, which had been operating the first service of the day on the line connecting Kyoto and Nara, came off the tracks at around 5 a.m., about one minute after leaving Kyoto Station and roughly 120 meters from the platform.
The derailed cars were left bent along a gently curving section of track, with the coupled section visibly shifted and wheels off the rails.
"I have the impression that Kintetsu trains do not derail very often, so I was surprised," one passenger said.
Another passenger said station staff were using megaphones to tell people that services had stopped. "It was like, what is going on? It was scary, and I was a little worried whether everything was all right," the passenger said.
There were 33 passengers and crew members on board the train, but no injuries were reported. Railway staff guided those on board back to the station on foot.
According to Kintetsu, the train was traveling at about 20 kilometers per hour when it derailed. The company said no abnormalities had been found in a pre-service inspection of the switch where the track branches.
The driver told officials, "After passing the switch, I felt as if the train was being pulled from behind, so I stopped it."
Kintetsu Kyoto Station is used by more than 70,000 people a day, including many commuters and tourists, and the disruption continued throughout the day.
The train remained at the scene about six hours after the derailment.
The Japan Transport Safety Board dispatched accident investigators to examine the cause of the derailment. Kintetsu said services remained suspended on part of the line and there was no timeline for resumption.
