Japan's railway danger zone: 1,900 km of track face mudslide risk

Nikkei Asia 
July 17, 2021 (Japan)

Workers tend to a train that derailed after sediment covered tracks on the Geibi line in Japan's Hiroshima Prefecture in 2020. (Photo courtesy of the Japan Transport Safety Board) 

TOKYO -- When the mudslide triggered by torrential rain came crashing down the hillside in Japan's coastal city of Atami this month, it made what witnesses described as a "horrible sound."

The river of earth and debris, which left at least 10 dead and 17 missing as of Tuesday, came perilously close to taking out the railway used for by the Tokaido shinkansen, the bullet train line that links Tokyo and Osaka, running under an elevated tracks. Those tracks also serve the Tokaido main line for conventional trains linking Tokyo with Kobe.

The close call underscored the need for Japan to disaster-proof its sprawling rail network, which will be costly as more than 1,900 km of railway in Japan run through areas designated by the government as risk areas for mudslides, Nikkei has found.

Experts have warned the affected area in Atami was at risk for mudslides. The home prefecture of Shizuoka designated the stretch of land as a sediment disaster prone area in 2012.

To evaluate the extent that railway companies are exposed to mudslides, Nikkei partnered with the Tokyo-based Nikken Sekkei Research Institute to compare rail maps with danger zones. The railway data, provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, is current as of 2019 and stretches nearly 28,000 km. The legally designated sediment disaster prone areas are current as of 2020.

The results show that over 1,900 km of rail lines fall within a danger zone.

The lines operated by West Japan Railway tops the list with 529 km of track at risk of mudslides. East Japan Railway comes in next at 417 km while Kyushu Railway is third at 212 km.

Among just the seven shinkansen lines, a total of 113 km of track fall within the disaster-prone areas.

Source:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Natural-disasters/Japan-s-railway-danger-zone-1-900-km-of-track-face-mudslide-risk