Japan’s busiest bullet train route abruptly halted over a snake on the tracks | Japan

Japan’s busiest bullet train line was brought to a halt on Wednesday after a snake wrapped itself around a power line, causing a power outage and stranding hundreds of passengers. Shinkansen trains running between Tokyo and Osaka were affected, with passengers waiting inside trains for services to resume. The outage happened at 5.25pm between Maibara and Gifu-Hashima stations, and power was not restored until after 7pm. The incident occurred during the Golden Week series of national holidays, when millions of people are traveling across Japan. Satoshi Tagawa, a passenger, stated that this is the first time he has experienced suspensions due to a power outage. The tokaido shinkansen has a good safety record, with no injuries or accidents recorded. However, reptiles have delayed shinkansen before. In April last year, a snake inside a carriage caused a 17-minute delay. In 2009, an electricity outage was also caused by a snake climbing onto power lines.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/01/japan-snake-bullet-train