Osaka public transport authorities said Sunday that a woman was trapped for around 4 1/2 hours in a subway car which had reached the terminus at Yaominami Station on the Tanimachi line.
The 20-year-old woman got on the last train home and fell asleep in the fifth car. The driver, a 37-year-old man, is being held responsible for the incident for failing to properly confirm that the train was empty before leaving at about 12:15 a.m., subway officials said.
According to transport authorities, standard practice is for the driver to walk through the entire length of the train before disembarking. However, the driver in question is believed to have checked the 5th car from the adjoining carriage but failed to notice the woman who was sleeping in a blind spot just below the window.
The train was left at the platform as it was scheduled to be used as the first train the next morning. The passenger told authorities that she woke up at around 4 a.m. and then waited until around 4:40 a.m. for the morning driver to arrive.
Osaka transport authorities have issued a public apology to the passenger for any distress caused by the ordeal and have pledged to perform more thorough checks in the future.
© Compiled from news reports
27 Comments
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TrouserEnthusiast
So, essentially she was only trapped for 40 mins because she was sleeping the rest of the time! :D
Beelzebub
This is a reliable indicator that the bonen-kai season has already begun...
noirgaijin
I see no reason for an apology here. I often see folks get on the train and within minutes they are sound asleep and have to be awaken only after three stops at the final destination. The rail system should post warnings "Sleep at on Risk."
goddog
If it was the Maid train, it could have been fun.
thepro
Who cares, she was sleeping anyway
TSRnow
So, is a 20-year-old a girl or a woman?
About the article, I agree. It was only 40 min. Who cares.
yokomoc
Ludky her, she got a free hotel
goddog
Windows didn't open? Could have climbed out.
Maria
If she'd climbed out, she'd've still ahd to wait for the subway to open, to get home. The time she was asleep / awake is irrelevant. The driver was supposed to check the carriages, and he didn't. What if, for example, she had been unconscious through illness, not fatigue?
Disillusioned
Ad, pissed off her tits, no doubt!
dreamdrifter
I really do wonder if this would ever make news in another country.
koiwaicoffee
So the woman felt sleep.. aha..
The point to me here is that the early shift driver has to be at work at 4.30am so everything keeps being "benri".
WilliB
She slept through most of it, so what is there to complain.
LoneWolfwfk
No apology is necessary at all. People need to start taking responsibility for their own actions. If you fall asleep on the train, maybe you should not have stayed out so late. If you pee yourself while drunk, maybe you should learn to handle your booze. Japan caters too often to the immature in name of convenience. Besides, although the driver claims to not have seen her, he may have been afraid to try to wake her up in fear of being falsly accused of being a chikan.
DentShop
Well, the subway does have a duty of care to its passengers and would not want her to have been epileptic or diabetic (or both). The subway does owe her an apology but little more.
Had it happened in a more litigious-crazy country, she would look forward to becoming very, very rich.
smithinjapan
I disagree that an apology is not necessary, but I think that's all that's necessary. The bottom line is that the man did not do his job. I agree that it's likely the woman was dead drunk, and pretty irresponsible, but nonetheless.
Sunjovi
She should be better fined for using the cab for sleeping.
nandakandamanda
Maybe she needed to go to the little girls' room. Those 40 minutes must have felt like 4 hours.
lincolnman
Well, lucky for the Subway company that she was only 20 years old, if it had been a typical "Osaka Oba-han", there'd be hell to pay.......
mikehuntez
Yes they should apologize because the driver didn't do his job 100% but there is no need for more than that. She bears some responsibility too for falling asleep. I saw a show once about a man who got trapped in an elevator in NY City for 41 hours. He got $200,000 out of it. He was pretty dehydrated and hungry by the Sunday he got out of it. She didn't have this experience so deserves no compensation.
TheGyozanator
Did no one else think to kick her foot and be like 'Hey lady last stop' ?
People in this country are so frickin helpless and retarded sometimes.
Anyway you put it, this is not the drivers fault, but someone's gotta take the blame, poor fella.
Tom DeMicke
"The Gyozanator"...you are spot on! I like your commend. People here are not known for helping one another. They just look around and assume someone else will step in. Unbelievable story though. Glad it didn't happen on an airliner.
Elbuda Mexicano
I know Osaka, too many aho there, so nothing ever surprises me anymore if the news,says ...OSAKA.
delrennich
Yeah, again, why is this news?!
Fadamor
Based on the article, it sounds like the lady was just the other side of the car door and out of view from the window. People getting off using the 5th car's doors might never have seen her at the very front of the car.
Say what? Part of the driver's job is to walk through all the cars making sure the train really is empty before locking the train down for the night. He did NOT do his job completely and as a direct result, this lady was locked in. It IS the driver's fault she got locked in. SHE didn't lock the train, HE did.
S7ro9kGm3aQ
So she actually only waited for 40 mins.
I've been left waiting on the platform in London in the driving rain and freezing wind for longer...
Potida
I have to get off at the last train station in my country and I sometimes wake up people sitting next to me. Is it a no-no in Japan (Osaka)?