Fri, Apr 29, 2005 page9

• Deadly Japanese crash triggers new fears about train safety

  Company obsessions with making tight schedules and aging equipment may have been factors in Monday's accident, raising questions about priorities

  • AP
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  This week's rail disaster has train-dependent Japan deeply concerned about safety on the tracks, focusing scrutiny on driver training, carriage design and the ever-present pressure to make the trains run on time.

  Monday's wreck would be a shock for any nation.

  A packed commuter train jumped the tracks in Amagasaki in western Japan and slammed head-on into an apartment complex, killing at least 105 people and injuring some 430 others.

  But the blow has been especially troubling in Japan, which prides itself on a highly efficient, punctual rail system.

  Japan's first steam train ran in 1872 as a heady symbol of the nation's emergence from feudalism, and today 7.2 million people ride on some of the country's 27,516km of track every day.

  "It would worry me to get on a train now," said Amagasaki resident Shoko Hirao, 28.

  "Until the accident it had never really occurred to me that we would have a major train accident like that -- it's frightening," Hirao said.

  Rising suspicions that the train was traveling well over the speed limit have prompted harsh questions about the training of the 23-year-old driver, who overshot the station just before the crash and had only 11 months of experience on the job.

  Time pressure may have played a key role. The train was 90 seconds behind schedule -- a significant delay in a system that, like many things in Japan, is expected to operate with clocklike precision.

  The operator of the train, West Japan Railway Co (JR West), issued an internal memo earlier this month telling employees that running late would betray customer trust, and the driver is suspected of speeding to make up for lost time.

  The doubts have expanded beyond the competence of a single driver.

  Experts said train advances -- such as the automatic brake system being examined in this latest crash -- may have made younger drivers less able to manage the train in the event of a technical failure.

  Speculation is high that the brake system on that line was an older model and not up to the standards of newer systems -- a potential danger for a driver expecting the mechanism to work at the latest levels.

  "For the old-timers, having a system like that in place can be of help, but new drivers start out taking it for granted," said said Kunimichi Takada, a professor at Nihon University.

  "In the past, drivers were professionals, like craftsmen. Driving has become easier and drivers trained now are different," he said.

  JR West is also facing tough questions. Dozens of investigators scoured eight of the company's offices on Wednesday at the launch of an investigation into possible professional negligence.

  Some attention has centered on competitive pressures among train companies since the old state-run Japan National Railway was privatized and split up into regional companies in the 1980s.

  While the project is often cited by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as successful case of privatization, the accident has raised worries that companies such as JR West have been pushed by competitive pressures to make ever lighter -- and quicker -- train cars seen as less safe, and adhere to strict timetables.

  "We wonder if safety was sufficiently addressed, given the fierce competition for business between JR West and private railway companies," the national daily Asahi Shimbum said on Tuesday in an editorial.

  Despite the concerns, train safety has actually increased steadily in Japan, though progress has leveled off in recent years. In the year ending March 31 last year, the latest period available, there were 833 accidents nationwide, down from 1,180 a decade earlier.

  Train accident deaths have also leveled off. There were 330 in the last fiscal year, down from 392 in 1994, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

  The deadliest crash in modern times was outside Tokyo in 1947, killing 184 people.

  While some thought reliance on technology could have eroded driver competence, officials see modern advances as the key to reduced crashes and deaths.

  "Development of technology has contributed to the decrease in the number of train accidents," said Akihiko Kusumoto, a ministry official.

  Monday's accident has also highlighted another danger in highly populated Japan -- the practice of running high-speed trainlines through congested, urban areas.

  The apartment building hit in Monday's accident was a mere 6m from the tracks.

  "If the train had plunged into an open field, the damage would not have been so horrific," Takada said. "Instead, cars crumpled when they crashed into the building and its pillars."

  Still, the nation's infamously crowded highways and high population density mean that the train is a way of life -- despite the safety concerns.

  For Hirao, getting to surrounding cities will mean she has to use the same train line that crashed on Monday.

  "If you have to go somewhere, it's not like you can avoid it," she said.
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