A passenger noticed a 40-centimetre (practically 16-inch) snake lurking on a prepare from Nagoya to Tokyo in Japan on Tuesday, leading to a 17-minute hold-up. It was unclear how the cold-blooded commuter ended up on the prepare. However, there was no damage or panic amongst passengers, a spokesman for Central Japan Railway Company advised AFP.
“It’s tough to think about wild snakes in some way climbing onto the prepare at one of many stations. We have guidelines towards bringing snakes into the Shinkansen,” the spokesman mentioned.
“But we do not verify passengers’ baggage,” he added.
Japan Today reported {that a} workers member of Central Japan Railway Company captured the snake afterwards and handed it to native authorities. The snake was present in automotive no. 6 of the 16-car prepare.
The railway operator is investigating the matter, the report mentioned.
The prepare was initially scheduled to go to Osaka. However, following the incident, the corporate determined to make use of a distinct prepare, inflicting a delay of about 17 minutes, the spokesperson advised AFP.
Security inside bullet trains in Japan was scaled up following the stabbing incident in 2018 inside a Shinkansen prepare. The prepare carried greater than 800 passengers on the time of the incident. Japanese authorities additionally sentenced a person to life imprisonment in reference to the incident.
Security was additionally elevated inside Japan’s trains in reference to the Summer Olympics in 2021 and the Group of Seven conferences final 12 months.
Launched in 1964, the Shinkansen prepare community in Japan has by no means suffered any accident leading to passenger fatalities or accidents, Japan Railways mentioned.
(With inputs from AFP)
