An official of railway operator Tokyu Corp. suggested Saturday that snow may have caused a commuter train collision shortly after midnight in Kawasaki that left 19 passengers with light injuries.

At around 12:30 a.m., a train on the Tokyu Toyoko Line linking Tokyo and Yokohama rammed another train that was waiting at Motosumiyoshi Station after having overrun the stop line by about 30 meters. The first and second cars of the moving train derailed from the impact.

Fumiaki Shiroishi, general manager of Tokyu's railway business, said the brakes of the train that rear-ended the other "were not as effective as expected due to the effects of snow."