Yamagata bullet train stoppage cause remains unidentified
One month after technical failures halted the Yamagata Shinkansen Line, train operations remain significantly reduced, affecting tens of thousands of passengers and significantly disrupting regional tourism and transportation.
Yoichi Kise, president of East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), apologized on July 15 for the inconvenience, as the operator has yet to identify a definitive cause of the malfunctions and resume normal operations.
Direct service between Tokyo Station and Shinjo Station in Yamagata Prefecture has been reduced to a single round trip per day, with passengers often needing to transfer at Fukushima Station in between.
JR East plans to increase the number to three round trips beginning July 19.
Seat reservations, which typically can be made one month in advance, remain suspended for the busy Obon holiday period due to the uncertain timetable.
The ongoing disruptions have dealt a significant blow to Yamagata's tourism industry, particularly during the popular cherry-picking season.
According to prefectural officials, local accommodations have recorded at least 6,000 cancellations. Some residents and businesses have expressed frustration over what they perceive as insufficient follow-up support from JR East.
"The biggest impact is on tourism and business travel," said Hideya Yano, who represents local chambers of commerce, on July 15 after urging the transportation ministry and JR East to take action.
"It's impossible to plan ahead and connections are extremely inconvenient," he added.
Yamagata Governor Mieko Yoshimura echoed public sentiment earlier this month, stating that some residents feel as though they've been abandoned.
Concerns are also rising among stakeholders in the popular Ginzan Onsen spa resort in Obanazawa.
"We're facing serious uncertainty about future bookings," said a spokesperson from the local tourism association. "There's a real fear that Yamagata is vanishing from travelers' destination lists."
SAME CHIP SUSPECTED RESPONSIBLE
The initial failures occurred on June 17, when four E8 series trains suffered malfunctions mid-journey between Tokyo and Yamagata.
A critical power supply unit responsible for cooling the motor control system failed, causing the trains to become inoperable.
A fifth train suffered a similar breakdown on June 30, raising concerns about a systemic issue in the new fleet that debuted last year.
Investigations revealed that a specific semiconductor component within the power units had been damaged in each case.
JR East engineers have since determined that each malfunction occurred under a specific combination of circuit boards and semiconductors.
While they suspect the issues arose under particular environmental conditions, such as high temperatures, the root cause remains unknown.
Currently, only six E8 trains remain in operation, coupled with other models. They are running exclusively on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, which connects Tokyo Station and Shin-Aomori Station.
The stretch between Fukushima Station and Shinjo Station–unique to the Yamagata Shinkansen Line–is currently serviced by older E3 Series trains.
However, up to 37 train services are canceled daily due to a shortage of operational vehicles, affecting more than 250,000 passengers so far.
(This article was compiled from reports by Ayateru Hosozawa, Koichi Anzai and Toru Saito.)
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