Posted on May 14, 2018
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On this day in 1991, two diesel trains carrying commuters crash head-on, killing more than 40 people and injuring 400 near Shigaraki, Japan. This was the worst rail disaster in Japan since a November 1963 Yokohama crash killed 160 people.
Shigaraki, a town near Kyoto, is famous for its ceramics. On May 14, the World Ceramics Festival was being held in the town. Passengers filled a train in Kibukawa, which was to run along a 14.7-kilometer single-track rail line away from Shigaraki, at just after 10 in the morning. However, workers on the Shigaraki Kogen Railways (SKR) line could not get a green signal in order for the train to depart the station. The system showed that a train was approaching, but the workers, believing this to be incorrect, overrode the system and sent the train out, 11 minutes late.
Unfortunately, the system had been correct: there was another train on the line, a JR West commuter train carrying passengers toward Shigaraki for the festival. When a faulty-departure detector failed to work correctly, this other train was sent straight on a collision course with the SKR train.
The resulting crash derailed both trains and cost 42 people their lives. A subsequent investigation faulted the SKR workers for allowing the train to depart without a green signal, an action found to be dangerous and illegal. A signal engineer was also blamed for the defective wiring that led to the failure of the faulty-departure detector that should have prevented the collision. A 1999 civil trial resulted in a 500 million yen award to the victims against SKR and JR West jointly.
Shigaraki, a town near Kyoto, is famous for its ceramics. On May 14, the World Ceramics Festival was being held in the town. Passengers filled a train in Kibukawa, which was to run along a 14.7-kilometer single-track rail line away from Shigaraki, at just after 10 in the morning. However, workers on the Shigaraki Kogen Railways (SKR) line could not get a green signal in order for the train to depart the station. The system showed that a train was approaching, but the workers, believing this to be incorrect, overrode the system and sent the train out, 11 minutes late.
Unfortunately, the system had been correct: there was another train on the line, a JR West commuter train carrying passengers toward Shigaraki for the festival. When a faulty-departure detector failed to work correctly, this other train was sent straight on a collision course with the SKR train.
The resulting crash derailed both trains and cost 42 people their lives. A subsequent investigation faulted the SKR workers for allowing the train to depart without a green signal, an action found to be dangerous and illegal. A signal engineer was also blamed for the defective wiring that led to the failure of the faulty-departure detector that should have prevented the collision. A 1999 civil trial resulted in a 500 million yen award to the victims against SKR and JR West jointly.
Two trains crash in Japan - May 14, 1991 - HISTORY.com
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Thank you TSgt Joe C. for reminding us that on May 14, 1991 two diesel trains carrying commuters crashed head-on, killing more than 40 people and injuring 400 near Shigaraki, Japan.
Image: 1991-05-14 Shigaraki_crash.
Background from .japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/05/15/national/1991-head-on-train-wreck-remembered-with-service/#.WvqJEIgvxaQ
"1991 head-on train wreck remembered with service
KYODO
MAY 15, 2006
ARTICLE HISTORY PRINT SHARE
OTSU, SHIGA PREF. – A memorial service was held Sunday in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, to mark the 15th anniversary of a train collision that killed 42 people and injured more than 600.
Participants observed a moment of silence in memory of the victims.
Shunzo Yoshizaki, head of a group of victims’ families, was among the participants. The 72-year-old Yoshizaki, from Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, lost his wife in the accident.
West Japan Railway Co. President Masao Yamazaki also attended.
On May 14, 1991, a JR West train carrying visitors to a world pottery fair in the town of Shigaraki collided head-on with a Shigaraki Kogen Railway train on a single-track railway. Shigaraki later became the city of Koka through a municipal merger.
“We should not forget about the incident,” Yoshizaki said in a speech. “JR West pledged safety improvements (after the Shigaraki accident), but it again had an accident in Amagasaki. I feel distrust.”
He called on JR West to do its best to promote corporate reform for the sake of safety.
Attending the memorial service was Mitsuko Fujisaki, 66, who lost a daughter in the fatal JR West train accident in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in April 2005.
Since the Amagasaki accident, Fujisaki has kept in touch with a group formed by the families of the victims and people who were injured in the 1991 accident."
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F. Cpl Scott McCarroll
Image: 1991-05-14 Shigaraki_crash.
Background from .japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/05/15/national/1991-head-on-train-wreck-remembered-with-service/#.WvqJEIgvxaQ
"1991 head-on train wreck remembered with service
KYODO
MAY 15, 2006
ARTICLE HISTORY PRINT SHARE
OTSU, SHIGA PREF. – A memorial service was held Sunday in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, to mark the 15th anniversary of a train collision that killed 42 people and injured more than 600.
Participants observed a moment of silence in memory of the victims.
Shunzo Yoshizaki, head of a group of victims’ families, was among the participants. The 72-year-old Yoshizaki, from Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, lost his wife in the accident.
West Japan Railway Co. President Masao Yamazaki also attended.
On May 14, 1991, a JR West train carrying visitors to a world pottery fair in the town of Shigaraki collided head-on with a Shigaraki Kogen Railway train on a single-track railway. Shigaraki later became the city of Koka through a municipal merger.
“We should not forget about the incident,” Yoshizaki said in a speech. “JR West pledged safety improvements (after the Shigaraki accident), but it again had an accident in Amagasaki. I feel distrust.”
He called on JR West to do its best to promote corporate reform for the sake of safety.
Attending the memorial service was Mitsuko Fujisaki, 66, who lost a daughter in the fatal JR West train accident in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in April 2005.
Since the Amagasaki accident, Fujisaki has kept in touch with a group formed by the families of the victims and people who were injured in the 1991 accident."
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F. Cpl Scott McCarroll
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LTC Stephen F.
I concur Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen. When I tried to find a video on this incident I couldn't easily do it. There are so many train accidents and so many videos of the accidents - especially in this nation and Europe, I gave up.-
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Vivid reminder that these incidents happen in places other than the US.
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