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Japanese man arrested for opening door and jumping off bullet train while it was still running

Dale Roll Apr 16, 2019
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The man was responsible for causing delays for dozens of trains and thousands of people.

We’ve all had that moment at the train station. You hear the music or the sounds that signal the doors are closing, and you think, “Shoot! I need to get on!” So you dash in between the closing doors, only to realize that you’ve boarded the wrong train and are now heading in a completely wrong direction.

Most people would just wait for the next stop and get off, right? Even if you’re riding the bullet train, which might take you several hours out of your way? Not one Japanese man in his fifties, apparently. After he realized he got on the wrong train, it seemed important for him to get off as soon as possible, so instead of waiting for the next station, the unemployed 54-year-old, who is from Osaka, chose to jump off of a moving bullet train that had departed from Shin-Osaka Station.

At approximately 11:11 in the morning of April 14, a few minutes after the train had left Shin-Osaka Station for Hakata Station in Kyushu, and shortly after it had entered Hyogo Prefecture to the west, he apparently used the emergency latch to open the door of a reservation-only Green Car, and then, as the train began to make a sudden stop, hopped off with what we can only assume was the intention to return to the station via the tracks.

https://twitter.com/kyesanraizu/status/1117261050343120896

Luckily, the train was stopping and had likely already been moving slowly, which kept the man from getting gravely injured. West Japan Railway Company officials arrested him and brought him back on to the train, and 45 minutes after stopping the train resumed its course. At the next stop, Shin-Kobe Station–which, by the way, is only 12 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station–the man was arrested by officials for violating Bullet Train Special Case Laws.

The man has admitted to his crime, saying, “I was in a hurry and got on the train, and then I realized it was the wrong one!” When police investigated, they found he had, indeed, been in possession of a ticket going in the opposite direction, from Shin-Osaka Station to Tokyo Station.

For safety reasons, while JR West officials were arresting the man on the tracks, electricity on the rail lines in the area had to be turned off, and train service going in both directions was suspended. In total, 25 trains were affected with a delay of up to 45 minutes, affecting approximately 14,000 people. The man also suffered a broken leg from his jump from the train car, though he was lucky not to have experienced worse injuries.

新幹線人立ち入りって…#山陽新幹線 pic.twitter.com/eceC03qqRg

— ねたにん (@Dr_y_ntnn) April 14, 2019

Boarding the wrong bullet train could cost you a pretty penny should a train official check your ticket, but it’s certainly not worth jumping off of the train and walking on the tracks for. Not only is it extremely dangerous–you run the risk of getting hit by another train as well as getting electrocuted–it is illegal, and trust us when we say that you don’t want to mess with the Japanese legal system.

So don’t panic if you get on the wrong train! Just ride it out–if this man’s folly teaches us anything, it’s that everything will be much better for you if you do.

Source: Kyodo via Hachima Kiko, FNN Prime via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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