Isumi Railway Urged to Improve Track Maintenance after Derailment

2 Ottobre 2025

Tokyo, Oct. 2 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Transport Safety Board on Thursday urged Isumi Railway in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, to improve its track maintenance system after a derailment incident last year. The public-private, or third-sector, railway operator lacks facility maintenance skills, the safety board, affiliated with the transport ministry, said in an investigation report, instructing the company to make improvements by obtaining cooperation from the central and local governments. The derailment occurred as the distance between the rails at the site of the incident had increased due to corrosion and cracks in the rails, the report said. Shortly after 8 a.m. on Oct. 4, 2024, a two-car Isumi Railway train derailed while traveling on a right curve between Kuniyoshi and Kazusa-Nakagawa stations on the firm’s Isumi Line at a speed of 41 kilometers per hour. None of the 105 people aboard–104 passengers, including local high school students, and the driver of the train–were injured in the incident. In inspections conducted before the incident, 1,656 areas of the entire tracks of the line did not meet required standards, but only 23 areas were repaired by a deadline set by the company, due to budget constraints and a lack of necessary skills, the report said. Nine of the 21 railroad ties at the derailment site were found to have been damaged, and the derailment caused one of the two rails to fall sideways, according to the report. The safety board urged Isumi Railway to improve its rail management and replace the current wooden railroad ties with concrete ties, noting that the company failed to carry out necessary repairs of the tracks. Isumi Railway has suspended the whole of the 26.8-kilometer line, which connects Ohara and Kazusa-Nakano stations, since the incident. The company aims to bring it back into service in autumn 2027. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] 

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