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A 25-year-old train driver for JR Kyushu in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, was found to be drunk when he came to work at Sasebo station on Monday morning. Company officials said the driver was immediately relieved of duty. He was replaced by another driver and there was no delay in the train schedule, JR said.
According to the Nagasaki branch of JR Kyushu, the driver admitted drinking at home from 12 midnight until 2 a.m. He was supposed to operate an express train from Sasebo to Hizenyamaguchi on Monday morning.
The company says its internal rules do not prohibit drivers from drinking but encourages them to show self-restraint.
© Japan Today
14 Comments
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NuckinFutz
If it has no rules that prohibit drinking within a certain time before reporting to work it should not be operating trains! What a lame response from a company responsible for the safety of so many lives each and every day!
paolo27th
Such shocking news! I think the government should release a statement on the matter. Or maybe even declare a state of emergency?
smithinjapan
I agree -- a VERY lame response from the company, although it's quite vague. It cannot demand that it's employees NEVER drink (ie. their free time), but a company CAN demand that when a driver not drink for a certain number of hours before a shift. It should be mandatory for jobs like this, where thousands of lives are in the hands of said drivers. Nothing happened, which is good, but I suspect this thing is much more frequent than we are hearing about.
tjfrancis
ah, yes, of course. rather than imposing common sense rules to protect their commuters they plead with their drivers to show self-restraint. is that why most japanese cops aren't armed? they plan on pleading with the criminals should a crime arise?
some14some
His logic might be if ANA pilots can why not JR drivers...!
timorborder
This story is not worthy of comment because it simple defies belief.
techall
Read: Drank from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m.
BlackFlag
it could have been all because of one can of chu-hai, no need for an all nighter
techall
BlackFlag, I think if that is the case, that's what he would have said. Doesn't make any sense to overstate what you had in this case. When they get caught it's always "I only had a couple of beers" when they have enough alcohol in their blood knock and elephant on it's ass.
Disillusioned
I don't intend to keep harping about Australia, but all train drivers have a mandatory breath test before every shift. Driving trains is a very high stress job and knowing the only way Japanese people relieve stress is by drinking it would not be in the least surprising to conclude a very large number of train drivers show up for work drunk.
likeitis
Did you see a quote from the man in the article? I didn't.
I would wait for the BAC before passing judgement.
techall
The article says he "admitted drinking at home from 12 midnight until 2". Not a direct quote but a statement of what he said.
usaexpat
I'm surprised that there is no set amount of hours before duty where drivers aren't allowed to drink. This is the case with Pilots and I'm not sure but I think it's 8 hours before flight no alcohol. Not that it's impossible to be stewed 8 hours later but there should be a standard.
Nessie
This could seriously impair his judgment in what upskirts to take.