Press Releases（Archive）
Approaches to Rescuing Passengers and Providing Information
Supplement 6
Events during the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake showed the benefits of training conducted immediately before the tremor.
We have been conducting emergency training for Shinkansen personnel on a regular basis. Now, learning a lesson from the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake, we intend to conduct further training to ensure smoother passenger rescues in the event of a major earthquake.
- Implementation of Shinkansen Passenger Rescue Training for a Major Earthquake Scenario
(1) Training to ensure smoother passenger rescues
- Training for personnel of branch offices and local sites on acting autonomously in conducting passengers from trains to the nearest station or to escape routes down from viaducts and out of tunnels, on the assumption that the Shinkansen Transport Department may cease functioning if an earthquake hits Tokyo
- Training on prompt arrangement for passenger rescue (buses, etc.)
- Training on the transport of emergency supplies using maintenance vehicles, etc., on the assumption that providing emergency supplies to passengers through other routes may be difficult
(2) Training results (fiscal year 2005)
Training took place as follows:
May 25, 2005: on the Tohoku Shinkansen line, from Morioka to Hachinohe
June 15, 2005: on the Nagano Shinkansen line, from Karuizawa to Nagano
June 30, 2005: on the Tohoku Shinkansen line, from Shin Shirakawa to Sendai
October 11, 2005: on the Joetsu Shinkansen line, from Echigo Yuzawa to Niigata
Training is scheduled to be held on a systematic basis in the future as well. - Improvement of Equipment for Provision of Information to Passengers
(1) Personnel to carry portable radios (Shinkansen, conventional lines)
During the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake and other major disasters that have occurred recently, many passengers requested information on the conditions and damage incurred in local communities.
To be prepared for a major earthquake or other disaster, therefore, conductors will carry portable radios. Using these to monitor damage conditions in local communities, railway personnel will endeavor to provide passengers with appropriate information.- Implementation schedule
This plan will be implemented as soon as preparations have been completed, sometime in or after November 2005. - Affected personnel:
All conductors
These special mobile phones (JR telephones) were used by train crews during the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake as a means of communicating with the Shinkansen Transport Department. The supply of these JR telephones will be increased so that train crews and the Shinkansen Transport Department can collaborate more closely.- Implementation schedule: The supply will be increased gradually from around March 2006.
- Implementation schedule
