The driver of a helper locomotive on a freight train nodded off at the controls on the JR Sanyo Line in Hiroshima Prefecture last month, possibly due to sleep apnea, sources at Japan Freight Railway Co. said Wednesday.
Sleep apnea is also suspected of having caused a West Japan Railway Co. bullet train driver to doze off at the throttle last month on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line.
The bullet train was traveling at nearly 300 kph when the driver dozed for about eight minutes on Feb. 26. An automatic operating system brought the train to a halt.