Power outage halts Tokyo commuter train lines, disrupting 673,000 thousands passengers in Japan

A railway power outage in Tokyo disrupted the morning commute for roughly 673,000 passengers on Friday (16 January) as two main lines with some of the world's busiest stations were halted after reports of a fire.

Passengers were seen being helped from an East Japan Railway (JR East) Keihin-Tohoku line train stranded between stations and walking along the tracks to evacuate the carriages, assisted by firefighters and railway staff.

Trains JR East's Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines were halted in all directions with no timetable for resumption, the railway said.

The rail company said a failure to restore power after overnight maintenance work at Tokyo's Tamachi Station left both lines without electricity early Friday. A spokesperson said smoke was seen coming from a track-side equipment box near the station.

Local media reports that the line has now fully resumed and that the rail company said the power cut happened around 03:50 local time and was probably due to an issue with an electrical facility.

The Yamanote Line passes through stations including Shinjuku, which handles about 3.5 million passengers daily. The Keihin-Tohoku Line serves major hubs such as Tokyo and Yokohama.

Previously, a fire had been reported on the tracks near central Tokyo's Tamachi Station, where both lines stop, shortly before 8 a.m. (2300 GMT on Thursday), public broadcaster NHK said. Flames were coming from a transformer in the track area, and the fire was nearly extinguished about 90 minutes later, NHK said.

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