Osaka Metro apologizes after Expo visitors stranded due to train disruptions
"We offer our apologies for causing trouble to visitors to the Expo and related parties," Motoharu Hori, head of the company's traffic business headquarters, told a press conference in Osaka on Aug. 14.
Services on Osaka Metro's Chuo Line connecting to Yumeshima Station, the closest stop to the Expo site in Konohana Ward, were suspended on the night of Aug. 13. Train services were resumed on all sections the following morning.
According to Osaka Metro, power outages hit the "third rail" that supplies electricity to train cars. Power transmission subsequently resumed after the railway operator removed a sheet from the parts filling in the rail joints. The company is investigating the cause of the power failure, suspecting that iron powder and moisture attached to the sheet may have caused the glitches.
The Chuo Line offers the sole railway connection to Yumeshima, an artificial island hosting the Expo. Services between Yumeshima and Nagata stations were temporarily suspended from around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 13. Many people including families visiting the Expo during the Bon holiday season were left stranded at the venue.
At around 10:10 p.m., about 40 minutes after the suspension across all segments, limited services between Yumeshima Station and neighboring Cosmosquare Station, located in Osaka's Suminoe Ward, were resumed. However, many Expo-goers swarmed to Yumeshima Station on their way home, prompting Osaka Metro to temporarily suspend operations. Services resumed again at around 11:50 p.m., but congestion at Yumeshima Station prolonged.
Cosmosquare Station was packed with people who managed to arrive there from the Expo site, and there was a long line of people waiting for taxis.
A 61-year-old housewife from the city of Higashiosaka was vising the Expo with her grandchildren aged 5 and 3 and her daughter-in-law, and was just about to head home after watching a water show that ended before 9 p.m. when she learned that the Chuo Line had stopped. It took the family three hours to get on a train at Yumeshima Station. "My grandchildren were crying, saying, 'We can't go home.' It was terrible," she said, looking exhausted.
At Cosmosquare Station, the automated New Tram services connecting to Suminoekoen Station in the Suminoe Ward were boosted to address the crowding.
According to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the Expo venue is normally closed at 10 p.m. But due to fears many people on their way home could flock to Yumeshima Station, organizers took an emergency measure to allow visitors to stay around within the venue by opening the eastern gate close to the station. People who could not take a train home even late into the night were seen sitting down near the eastern gate, apparently worn out.
According to Osaka Municipal Fire Department, there were 23 calls for emergency services from the Expo site and its surrounding areas after the suspension of the Chuo Line until late on Aug. 13. Many calls were made due to complaints about feeling ill or suspected heatstroke.
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