October 13, 2021

The Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblymembers’ group on October 12 submitted to Governor Koike Yuriko a written demand requesting that in order to protect passengers in the automated guideway transit (AGT) system during a disaster, AGT stations and trains be staffed with sufficient numbers of personnel.

This action took place following a derailment accident of the Tokyo government-run Nippri-Toneri Liner using the AGT system. In the accident which occurred on October 7 when a magnitude 5.9 quake hit Tokyo, several passengers were injured. However, as the line is operated without drivers and all train stations are unstaffed, injured passengers were unable to receive proper first aid.

In the submission, JCP member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Saito Mariko reported on passengers’ experiences in which they said that they felt uneasy with the driverless trains and unstaffed stations and that injured passengers had to be taken care of by other passengers because the train was unmanned. She demanded that unmanned operations and unstaffed stations be eliminated.

Other demands in the JCP document included providing information at stations when services are canceled and introducing measures jointly with the relevant state authority to prevent a recurrence of a similar accident and ensure passenger safety based on the results of investigations of the latest accident.