A number of train stations in Tokyo will conduct anti-terrorism inspections during the Olympics and Paralympics using sniffer dogs and body scanners, sources said Monday.
The transport ministry will revise a related law to allow railway firms to prohibit passengers from entering a train if they refuse baggage inspections, they said. The specific train stations where the procedures will be held are not yet known.
East Japan Railway Co. and Central Japan Railway Co. will provide sniffer dogs at hubs such as Tokyo Station during the Olympics and Paralympics, while detection systems for hazardous goods are to be placed around ticket gates in some subway stations.
Until now, inspections of personal belongings at train stations in Japan have only been seen at the station at Narita Airport.
Railway companies had been opposed to conducting inspections, arguing that they would significantly compromise convenience.
Operators can currently only deny passengers if they are carrying sharp-edged tools that are not wrapped or explosives.
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has been looking to improve railway security measures ever since a fatal stabbing on a shinkansen in June 2018.
The ministry has placed body scanners and sniffer dogs at some stations in Tokyo on a trial basis.
