Snakes on board the swift “shinkansen” services are even more unusual than even minor delays in Japan’s much-heralded bullet trains.
A passenger on a train between Nagoya and Tokyo on Tuesday night reported to security about a 40-centimeter (about 16-inch) snake that was hiding there, causing a 17-minute hold-up.
A representative for the Central Japan Railway Company told AFP that there were no injuries or reports of panic among the passengers, but it was unknown how the cold-blooded commuter got on the train or whether it was poisonous.
Shinkansen customers can bring small dogs, cats and other animals, including pigeons on board — but not snakes.
“It’s difficult to imagine wild snakes somehow climbing onto the train at one of the stations. We have rules against bringing snakes into the shinkansen,” the spokesman told AFP.
“But we don’t check passengers’ baggage,” he said.
There was a delay of approximately seventeen minutes, he claimed, as the firm opted to utilize a different train for the trip instead of the one that was originally planned to continue on to Osaka.
The number of uniformed security guard patrols on bullet trains was increased following the 2018 deadly stabbing on a shinkansen, which startled Japan’s usually extremely safe society.
For the 2021 Summer Olympics and the Group of Seven summits last year, more security was deployed.
According to Japan Railways, since the network’s inception in 1964, there has never been an incident that has left a passenger dead or injured.
The trains have an average delay of 0.2 minutes and can move up to 285 kilometers (177 miles) per hour.
