Japan's bullet train tracks were flooded in Typhoon Hagibis
Japan's nationwide high-speed train system, known as the Shinkansen, felt the brunt of the deadly cyclone Typhoon Hagibis after flooding, relentless rain, and mudslides.
The railways run by the Japan Railway Company were battered by torrential downpours, as the storm led to 50 deaths and knocked out power to thousands the over the past few days. Japanese news outlet NHK reported train service shutdowns throughout the weekend. A travel blog from Japan Rail Pass posted warnings about the storm: "Super Typhoon Hagibis forces Japan to cancel hundreds of flights and trains."
Impressively, most bullet rail lines are up and running in some capacity as of Monday, although trains and stations were damaged in the storm. The route from Nagano to Jōetsumyōkō station on the coast is still closed as of Monday evening. The East Japan Railway website listed suspended operations because of the typhoon. Most trains were running with unreserved seats and the Nagano to Tokyo line had a modified schedule posted online.
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The bullet trains are known for efficiently getting passengers around the country — some trains can go nearly 200 mph. Flooding prevented most trains from moving at all, with depots filled with muddy water.
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Before the 150 mph winds and nearly 3 feet of rain pummeled the country, train stations were closed and cleared out, eliminating some travel options for storm-struck regions. More than 23,000 residents were evacuated and millions notified about evacuations before the storm made landfall.
Extreme weather could become a regular issue for mass transit systems like a national railway, especially for a storm- and earthquake-prone country like Japan. It's also really expensive to rebuild infrastructure, housing, and more after a disaster.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
