Snake on a train delays Japanese bullet service
Passengers wait on the platform as a Kodama bullet train, or “shinkansen” service to the city of Nagoya arrives to pick up passengers at Tokyo station in central Tokyo on April 17, 2024. A passenger on the evening of April 16 alerted security to a 40-centimetre (nearly 16-inch) snake lurking on a train between Nagoya and Tokyo, resulting in a 17-minute hold-up. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
Tokyo, Japan — Even small delays in Japan’s much-vaunted bullet trains are rare, and more unusual still are snakes on board holding up the speedy “shinkansen” services.
On Tuesday evening, a passenger alerted security to a 40-centimeter (nearly 16-inch) serpent lurking on a train between Nagoya and Tokyo, resulting in a 17-minute hold-up.
READ: Snake on a plane alarms passengers on AirAsia flight
It was unclear whether the cold-blooded commuter was venomous or how it ended up on the train, and there was no injury or panic among passengers, a spokesman for Central Japan Railway Company told AFP
Shinkansen customers can bring small dogs, cats and other animals, including pigeons on board — but not snakes.
Article continues after this advertisement“It’s difficult to imagine wild snakes somehow climbing onto the train at one of the stations. We have rules against bringing snakes into the shinkansen,” the spokesman told AFP.
Article continues after this advertisement“But we don’t check passengers’ baggage,” he said.
The train was originally scheduled to go on to Osaka, but the company decided to use a different train for the trip, causing a delay of about 17 minutes, he said.
READ: Python in Mandaue: 4-m long snake gets attention of passersby, motorists
Patrols by uniformed security guards onboard bullet trains were scaled up after a fatal stabbing in 2018 on a shinkansen that shocked normally ultra-safe Japan.
Additional security was added for the Summer Olympics in 2021 and Group of Seven meetings last year.
First launched in 1964, the shinkansen network has never suffered an accident resulting in any passenger fatalities or injuries, according to Japan Railways.
The trains can travel at 285 kilometres (177 miles) per hour, with an average delay of 0.2 minutes.
