Driver of bullet train nods off at 170mph

Independent.co.uk ^ | 2/28/03 | Audrey McAvoy in Tokyo

[NormsRevenge]

The driver of a bullet train in Japan is under investigation after falling asleep for nearly ten minutes at the helm. The train was travelling at 170mph with 800 passengers on board.

No one was hurt in the incident because the train was on autopilot at the time.

A spokesman for West Japan Railway, the operating company, said they were investigating why the driver fell asleep. "We are very shocked," said Kosuke Sugiyama.

"Our business is all about passengers trusting us enough to travel on our trains."

Railway staff became suspicious when the train pulled into Okayama station, about 90 miles east of Hiroshima. It came to a halt about 100 metres before it was supposed to, leaving rear carriages outside the station.

They inspected the driver's car and found him asleep in his chair, according to a source at West Japan Railway. Staff knocked on the window but he continued to sleep. Eventually the conductor went inside the compartment and woke him up.

The driver, 33, told his superiors that he "had no memory" of what happened for a period of about eight minutes until he woke up.

A West Japan Railway spokesman said the driver had plenty of sleep and had not been drinking alcohol.

Police said the driver was under investigation for possible violations of the railway law and for causing danger due to professional negligence while driving.

Mr Sugiyama said this was the first time on record that someone had fallen asleep while driving a bullet train. The train was on autopilot at the time. Drivers normally take over and steer the train manually in the final stretch to a station.

[speechlesswonder]

Im glad to hear no one was injured. The whole thing sounds weird to say the least. Wonder what they will find out in the investgation on this one?

[leadpenny]

A West Japan Railway spokesman said the driver had plenty of sleep . . .

How does the WJR know that and how do they know that he wasn't up at all hours of the night checking the latest posts on FreeRepublic?

[Hank Rearden]

Drivers normally take over and steer the train manually in the final stretch to a station.

"Steering" a vehicle on rails. Must be a union job.

[76834]

Drivers normally take over and steer the train manually in the final stretch to a station.
Steer? I thought that was what the rails were for..
Am I missing something here???

[Movemout]

There are a number of medical conditions that might cause this. If he had not consumed drugs or alcohol, and had enough sleep to not doze off then it would seem likely that there might be a medical problem. I'm glad that the system was engineered well enough to ensure that a train didn't slam into a wall at that speed.

[leadpenny]

Welcome, #100750!

[dighton]

"Steering" a vehicle on rails.

The tracks are parallel. Go a degree off, and there's hell to pay.

;-)

[Tall_Texan]

"...and how do they know that he wasn't up at all hours of the night checking the latest posts on FreeRepublic?

Aw, c'mon! The servers aren't *that* slow!

[PFKEY]

Maybe these folks ought to invest in some additional manpower. 170 mph with 800 passengers. How about a co-pilot. I'd have to imagine that one mishap would cost far more than a few additional drivers or is that steerers.

[leadpenny]

LOL. They were yesterday. Seems as though John has things under control now. BTW, has anyone ever seen an actual server? For all I know, the Robinson's could be doing all of this with an old Army switchboard. I've seen one of those.