The incident aboard a running Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train on Tuesday — in which a man doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire, killing himself and another passenger and injuring 26 others — was both shocking and frightening. It was the worst-ever incident involving a shinkansen in terms of the number of victims and the first involving a fire.

Eliminating the possibility of such incidents may be impossible, given the limitations to security measures that can be taken without sacrificing the convenience and accessibility of railway services. But operators of the shinkansen, and other public transit systems for that matter, should explore ways and means to minimize the risk of acts that endanger the lives of passengers and to limit the damage of such acts when they are committed.

The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. while the Nozomi 225 from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka was traveling between Shin-Yokohama and Odawara. Haruo Hayashizaki, a 71-year-old resident of Suginami Ward, Tokyo, poured gasoline from a plastic container over himself and set it alight in the front section of the No. 1 car, killing himself. A 52-year-old woman from Yokohama who was traveling to Ise Shrine to give thanks for her "peaceful life" died from suffocation after suffering throat burns while trying to escape the smoke-filled car.