TOKYO, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- East Japan Railway Co. said Wednesday that a bullet train running at a speed of 280 km per hour had a door open during its journey from Sendai in northeastern Japan to Tokyo. However, no passengers were injured.
According to the train operator, the Tohoku Shinkansen train bound for Tokyo left Sendai at 10:07 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday. Ten minutes later, while the train was running at about 280 km per hour, the driver was alerted that a door on one of the cars had opened.
The driver engaged the emergency brakes, and the train stopped inside a tunnel. The door was found to be fully open, a rare incident for the Japanese Shinkansen known for its safety and punctuality.
The train resumed its journey 15 minutes later after a checkup. At the time of the incident, nobody was standing near the door and none of the around 340 passengers were injured.
The problem was caused by a cleaner who forgot to close the car's device that manually opens and closes doors, the train operator said.
The train arrived at its final destination 19 minutes late. The problem delayed seven Shinkansen services up to 28 minutes, affecting around 3,300 passengers.
East Japan Railway Co. has apologized for the incident and is considering measures to prevent a recurrence.
