TOKYO, Nov 7 (NNN-NHK) – All 10 Shinkansen bullet trains that were inundated at a train yard in the city of Nagano last month, by deadly Typhoon Hagibis, will be scrapped, operators said Wednesday, which means that a third of the trains, that run on the Hokuriku- Shinkansen line, will be unusable.
President of East Japan Railway, Yuji Fukasawa, said, the motors and braking systems under the floors were swamped by the typhoon and the damage was difficult to repair.
The company, which owns eight of the 10 bullet trains, is one of the two operators of the Hokuriku-Shinkansen line, connecting Tokyo Station with Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture. The other two trains are owned by West Japan Railway and will be scrapped too.
According to the operators, the train cars have a total book value of about 135 million U.S. dollars. However, some of their components may be reused.
The companies said, they aim to get the Hokuriku- Shinkansen line completely back to normal by the end of Mar next year.
Typhoon Hagibis ripped through a wide area of the country in early Oct, cutting off electricity and water supplies, causing mudslides and flooding. The death toll from the typhoon stood at 87, with the victims in 13 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, according to the latest Kyodo News tally.– NNN-NHK