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Man dies after being hit by train in Tokyo

32 Comments

A man died after he fell off the platform at a station in Tokyo and was hit by a train.

Police said the 51-year-old man -- who appeared to be drunk, according to witnesses -- fell off the platform at Tamagawagakuen-mae Station at about 12:10 a.m. Saturday and was hit by an incoming train, Fuji TV reported.

Police said surveillance camera footage showed the man walking unsteadily near the edge of the platform just before the incident.

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32 Comments
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So, when will the Japanese media finally start seeing this as negligence on JR's part?

Tamagawa Gakuen Mae isn't a JR station.

14 ( +14 / -1 )

The platforms should have had platform gates installed years ago. They are cheap

I doubt it is cheap to install them everywhere. And frankly, that should come after making all stations with access for people in armchair or with reduced mobility. Mmaybe 2/3 of local stations are not at level... and 30 % of population is walking, limping into reduced mobility age).

100% effective against accidents (and nearly 100% against suicide).

No, just diversion. The drunk guys, the fight victims and suicide candidates will fall from somewhere else... The stations are not unsafe, it's people's attitudes. Don't "treat" the station, treat the sick persons.

11 ( +14 / -4 )

isn't it about time someone put a barrier or automated gate on several more of these platforms, even a simple retractable guardrail?

7 ( +10 / -3 )

ohayo:

" isn't it about time someone put a barrier or automated gate on several more of these platforms, even a simple retractable guardrail? "

If you live in Tokyo, you must have noticed that they install more of these all the time.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Should it be the responsibility of JR to accommodate for the drunken fools that fall off the platforms? I think not! Yes, train platforms are dangerous, but everybody learns that from a very early age, except for a drunken few, obviously!

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Pffffft.......In Australia, the licensed premises that served him alcohol beyond inebbriation would be charged with this crime.

Why is this the TRAIN company's fault?????

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I feel most sorry for the driver and train crew. Can you imagine how they must feel about something that they could do nothing about?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I think JR would recoup the cost of putting those barriers up pretty fast when you consider on a average day 1.2 million people go through shinjuku station alone.

Cheap ! But I imagine they lose more money than they make off the taxi system, cars require a lot of maintenance and if you see the amount of time these drivers sit idling at a major station every night hard to see them as profitable. I say run the trains all night and reduce emissions and accidents.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I hear they're going to have barriers installed on all train station platforms in another decade or so.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

RIP to this nameless man that died at the train station. I am not sure who I feel bad for. The man or his family? Isn't someone liable for monetary damages when they delay the trains from their schedule? And the inconvenience to the passengers?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

But on the other side of the coin, Having alcohol involved with this incident will enrage the locals on why the mans family let him out of their home in his condition which which led to his death at the train station. Luckily he wasn't able to grab someone near by to balance himself and possibly pull them with him into the trains path.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If he was the only person responsible, seems like Darwin was working to thin the herd.

There's an old saying, if something is made idiot-proof, we won't have to wait too long for a bigger idiot to be created.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

" Merry Christmas "

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hope someone was quick enough to take photos..............

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In Australia, the licensed premises that served him alcohol beyond inebbriation would be charged with this crime.

That would be setting quite the precedent considering it has never happened before. And besides, it wasnt a crime.

No barriers please. I prefer that people hold themselves responsible for their own actions. That's what is wrong with society today - people's problems are always someone else's fault. It was the bar's fault for serving him alcohol, it is the railways fault there wasn't a barrier, it was the taxi's fault for being too expensive...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

That's an old small train station near Machida on Odakyu Line. I can see an accident like that happening there because of low traffic. A year ago a teenager committed suicide at that same station reported here on JT.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/boy-struck-by-train-dies-in-apparent-suicide

0 ( +0 / -0 )

CosDec. 09, 2012 - 05:12PM JST

I doubt it is cheap to install them everywhere.

Based on other countries with similar heavy rail systems, about $1 million a platform at most. That's far less than the cost of electricity alone in many stations.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Check out the below links from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000209349.pdf

http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000209970.pdf

First link shows the increase in barriers on platforms over the last 10 years. 180 stations had barriers by the end of 2001 and this has increased to 539 stations by the end of September this year. The second link shows which stations and has photos of two types of barriers.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

why not put some emergency switches to alert train operators and other control personnel ? about a decade ago when i was on the subway i noticed that drunk women had an emergency button to avoid harm from men. they call this a " designated waiting area ".

0 ( +0 / -0 )

you cant stop someone from purposefully committing suicide. However, accidents are a different matter. If people saw this man as drunk and wandering towards the oncoming train should they have not stepped in and try to prevent him from falling. Then again I don't know the situation at the time so i cannot say

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is his own fault... don't get drunk, and then go stand by a 120 ton train...first off, use a little common sense ...RIP 51 year old man.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Who knows and who can judge why the guy got heavily drunk and wobbled near to the edge? I have seen people buying those One Cup Ozeki on the platform, peeling the top off the free glass and chugging it straight down. Neat sake! If that is not a call for liberation...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@ WilliBDec. 09, 2012 - 11:17PM JST

Why do you assume he got drunk at home and then when out?? That sounds rather unlikely to me.

I try not assume anything but if he had a responsible family (assuming he has one, not being sarcastic) that knows his drinking habits keep him out until late hours, he may be alive today if they were able to have him come home at a decent hour instead of wondering around after midnight in a drunken state.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@ WilliB Dec. 10, 2012 - 08:33PM JST

People drink in Japan, and sometimes that drink more than they should. It is a fact of life.

Exactly! Thank you for driving the obvious point out of a problem Japan seems to have. But if the wife would of been there to "drag him home", he may be alive today!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

martyman:

" But on the other side of the coin, Having alcohol involved with this incident will enrage the locals on why the mans family let him out of their home in his condition "

Why do you assume he got drunk at home and then when out?? That sounds rather unlikely to me.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Nothing new here!!! This seems a norm in Japan. People often get drunk of their nut after work and then accidents or stupid things happen to them. I don't get it why self control doesn't sink in their brains. I mean if you know your feeling tipsy, stop and have some water, then continue on your drunkeness :P I guess some people just can't use their brains or have no self control. I see and smell too many of these drunk guys on the trains specially at late friday nights on the trains. Like someone said it is a good idea to put barriers on but who would be paying for these to be installed..... yes the tax payer!!!! hmmmm.....

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I will have to agree with those commentators who like me fail to see a problem here....

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

martyman:

" f he had a responsible family (assuming he has one, not being sarcastic) that knows his drinking habits keep him out until late hours, he may be alive today if they were able to have him come home at a decent hour "

And how in the world do you have a family "have him come home" at a certain hour? You are talking about a 51 year old adult here. What do you expect his wife to do? Hang out in front of his company and drag him home every evening?

Frankly, that line of thought is silly. People drink in Japan, and sometimes that drink more than they should. It is a fact of life.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Ban platforms!

In the good ole US of A folks stood at ground level or on simple planking, and climbed the steps into the cars. A drunk could possibly have tripped onto the tracks into the way of a locomotive, but you certainly could not have fallen off the edge.

There could of course be a special section of platform for wheelchairs.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

AkariYoshidaDec. 10, 2012 - 05:54AM JST

you cant stop someone from purposefully committing suicide.

100% wrong in the context of train platforms. You can stop 100% of train platform suicides with full height barriers, and 99%+ with 2m or higher gates. Half size gates (1m-1.5m) will prevent a huge number of attempted suicides, and if built with sensors and conductor warning system it can prevent most attempts from being successful .

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

So, when will the Japanese media finally start seeing this as negligence on JR's part? The platforms should have had platform gates installed years ago. They are cheap and 100% effective against accidents (and nearly 100% against suicide).

With 40 minutes delay on average and several hundred a year across the nation, we're talking about billions of yen a year in losses. Platform gates for most places are no more than a few dozens of millions of yen, which can easily be recovered in a single decade.

-9 ( +4 / -14 )

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