A man in his 70s fell off the platform at Daikokucho Station on the Midosuji Line in Osaka's Naniwa Ward and lay between the rails as a train bound for Nakatsu passed over him on Thursday morning. Police said the man escaped with only minor injuries.
According to the Osaka Transportation Bureau, a total of 33 trains in both directions experienced delays up to 20 minutes after the incident happened at 9:05 a.m. A total of 32,000 people were affected.
© News reports
26 Comments
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JoeBigs
Daaaaaaaamn! This cat must have nine lives!
wontond
I hope he went straight to the pachinko parlour after getting up off the tracks. It's his lucky day.
shinjukuboy
It just wasn't his time to go. If he is in his 70s, then his youth was lived during the war. Falling on the tracks was probably small potatoes for him compared to dodging bombs.
thedeath
lucky old man. hopefully he didn't get heart-attack during he was down there between the rails!
smithinjapan
Glad to hear a somewhat 'positive' story about this kind of thing. Lucky old codger. Hope he isn't charged or given any grief over the delays (they always try to get insurance from the dead, etc.). I agree, he better go buy some lottery tickets or something.
Den Den
Yeah, I was wondering...does he have to pay? I think it is about time for railings on platforms. Amazing it doesn't happen more often.
Fadamor
Ummm, if you put railings at the edge of the platform, how are people going to get on and off the train? DOH!
I'm guessing this guy wasn't overweight. If so, Thinness FTW!
Den Den
Are you serious? Modern subways and train stations have railings and some have automatic doors. Are you in South Dakota?
fds
quick thinking!
moonbeams
smart guy. everyone should take note in case this happens, but if you have time, best to get to the side, under the platform.
there was an incident in NY a few years back were a guy had a seizure on the platform, fell onto the tracks, and a bystander jumped down and held them both down between the rails as the train passed safely overhead
Statistician
Usually you would be OK between the rails if you like down flat, there is usually 30-40 cm clearance but you can't rely on it.
Safest if you fall and there is time is to lie in the centre beween the two sets of tracks, there is always safety clearance there
chuckers
moonbeams:
There are some platforms that don't have overhangs or places to shelter. They have tried to fix many platforms so as there are places to shelter after a guy fell on the tracks and a Korean exchange student jumped after him, trying to save him at Okubo (?) station several years ago.
bamboohat
Obviously, he learned this trick from watching "Get Smart."
Smart guy.
han2229
hahahaha
just lucky
peachy871
I agree...it is time to get railings on the platforms. I can certainly understand why they have them at the shinkansen stations but still can't gather why they don't have them for the other types of train stations. Cost prohibitive??
chuckers
Gates on the platform are not only expensive, they would be difficult to install as you can only do construction after the last train at night and before the first train in the morning. That isn't a lot of hours to work in.
The758
That gent better get himself a lottery ticket
KyotoChris
very fortunate for him and glad to hear he and nobody on trains were hurt if had to make sudden stop. Inconvenience is easier to understand than death or injury.
cadmium
I agree more railings should be installed.
If there are railings then some nutcase behind you can't push you onto the tracks...
Sarge
"a total of 33 trains in both directions experienced delays up to 20 minutes"
"a total of 33,000 people were affected"
How do they know how over 32,000 people and less than 34,000 people were riding those 33 trains?
That man needs to apologize to those 33,000 people who were delayed.
Just kidding about #2.Badge213
Cost prohibitive maybe to refit everysingle station in the country , with each station with x number of platforms, imagine the costs alone to retrofit JUST Shinjuku station. Are you willing to fork out extra dough on your train ride? Number of accidents vs. costs? I mean I would love to see barriers at all stations, but then again I can see it from the company stand point as well.
usaexpat
That is one lucky guy, must have used up one of his 9 lives.
BurakuminDes
Hmmm...makes you wonder about his sobriety (or lack thereof). I've seen old folk here drinking it up in and around train stations first thing in the morning. I guess there's probably little else for them to do.
JohnBecker
They don't need railings. Just paint the yellow lines 5 feet farther back from the edge. ;-)
Fadamor
I live in the DC Metro area. Metro (DC's subway) does not have railings on their platforms. They have lights embedded into the platform for people with poor vision that flash when a train is approaching. They also have the platform overhang the track bed with enough space under the overhang for someone to safely go if they fall down to the track bed.