[JTND] Off Topic: Bullet Train Driver Fell Asleep

[Matatabi Report <editor@matatabi.com>]

[Automatic train control (ATC), the railroad equivalent of auto-pilot
stopped the train safely at the station. Bullet Train has not had a
fatal accident involving passengers since the service started in 1964.]

From JapanTimes:

Dozing train driver creates a nightmare

The transport ministry said Thursday it is considering administrative
penalties against West Japan Railway Co. over an incident in which a
driver fell asleep at the helm of a bullet train.

(snip)

On Wednesday afternoon, the 33-year-old driver of the Hikari No. 126
bullet train on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line nodded off for eight minutes
until he was woken up by a conductor after the train pulled into
Okayama Station. The train originated in Hiroshima and was bound for
Tokyo.

Running at speeds of up to 270 km per hour, the train covered a
distance of 26 km while the driver was in the land of Nod.

(snip)

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20030228a2.htm

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