Of all the JR train stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Shinjuku Station is the most dangerous in terms of reported acts of violence against station employees.
A total of 162 cases of violence against railway workers were reported in fiscal 1999, a 28 percent increase from the previous year, the Tokyo office of East Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday.
About 30 percent of the cases occurred at Shinjuku Station. Ikebukuro, Tokyo and Shinagawa stations followed, in that order, in terms of number of violent incidents, according to the railway operator.
The most serious cases involved rib fractures and broken noses, the company said.
Some 65 percent of the acts of violence were committed by apparently drunk passengers, according to JR East.
The company believes that the current economic slump and increasing unemployment are behind the jump from the previous year's incidents.