JR Joban Line Halted Due to Power Failure at Tokyo’s Ueno

Tokyo, Jan. 30 (Jiji Press)–Train services on East Japan Railway Co.’s Joban Line were partially suspended for about seven hours Friday after an overhead power line snapped at Tokyo’s Ueno Station. The power outage occurred around 7 a.m. near Ueno Station in Taito Ward. Rapid and other services were halted on some sections in both directions, affecting about 230,000 people, according to the company, known as JR East. Four trains that had stopped between stations were evacuated, with some 7,000 passengers guided along the tracks to the nearest stations. Six people said they got unwell, and one was sent to hospital The suspension affected operations between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Tsuchiura Station in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. The services were fully restored around 1:50 p.m. The disruption also led to suspensions of services on the Utsunomiya and Takasaki lines. Operations on both lines resumed shortly after 8 a.m., but through services with the Tokaido Line were canceled. As a result, 81 trains were canceled, while 156 trains were delayed. JR East had a train service disruption also on Jan. 16, when services on its busy Yamanote Line were halted for about eight hours from the first train of the day due to a nighttime maintenance error. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]